SYRACUSE, N.Y. - Leonard Fournette ran for a career-high 244 yards and two touchdowns, Tre'Davious White returned a punt 69 yards for another score, and No. 8 LSU held off fired-up Syracuse 34-24 on Saturday.

LSU (3-0), which beat Southeastern Conference rivals Mississippi State and Auburn to start the season, used big plays to hand Syracuse (3-1) its first loss despite being called for 14 penalties for 120 yards.

No play was bigger than Travin Dural's 51-yard catch on a third-and-5 play in the fourth quarter after the Orange moved within a touchdown. Brandon Harris hit Malachi Dupre with an 11-yard TD with 9:14 left to seal it.

Fournette gained 48 yards to set up his first-quarter score, White found a seam up the middle and raced untouched into the end zone to give LSU a 17-3 lead in the third, and Fournette tacked on a 62-yard scoring run later in the period for a 24-10 lead.

It was the fifth straight 100-yard game for Fournette, eighth of his career, and a fitting place for him to shine again. Syracuse's tradition is based on its stellar running backs from the past, the great Jim Brown, Heisman Trophy winner Ernie Davis and Floyd Little. The Carrier Dome field is named in honor of Davis, the first black player to win the coveted trophy (1961), and Little, now an administrator at Syracuse, watched from the chancellor's box.