BATON ROUGE, La. -- Facing the leakiest rushing defense in the country, LSU tailback Leonard Fournette was expected to make little more than a cameo appearance against 45-point underdog Eastern Michigan on Saturday night and then retire to the Tigers' bench sometime early in the second half to rest his Heisman hamstrings.

Instead, the running back with a longshoreman's work ethic put in a full night's work, rushing for 233 yards on 26 bruising carries and scoring three touchdowns to power the No. 9 Tigers to a tougher-than-expected 44-22 victory over Eastern Michigan before 102,321 at Tiger Stadium.

Fournette became the first running back in SEC history to rush for at least 200 yards in three consecutive games. He had 228 yards on 19 carries in a 45-21 victory over Auburn on Sept. 19 and 244 yards on 26 runs in a 34-24 win over Syracuse last Saturday.

The 233-yard output against Eastern Michigan gave him 864 yards during LSU's 4-0 start, an average of 216.0 yards per game.

Fournette's scoring runs of 3, 75 (a career long) and 11 yards against the Eagles also raised his season touchdown total to 11.

"It's nice to have a back that sets an all-time SEC record," LSU coach Les Miles said.

Fournette was hearing none of it.

"I was kind of upset about our performance," Fournette said. "We came out sloppy. It all starts with practice. We have to pick it up."

Fournette’s 75-yard run on the first play of the second half was the kind of haymaker he has been throwing regularly during his Heisman Trophy showcases.

The score gave LSU some breathing room at 27-14 after a closer-than-expected first half. Fournette turned a simple pitch off left tackle into a 12-second score, swatting away cornerback Anthony Brown with a stiff arm and then outracing the entire Eastern Michigan secondary to the end zone.

"Leonard's liable to do that at any time," Miles said. "There's not a time where you hand him the ball where he does not have the opportunity to hit a home run."

Fournette said, "I just didn't want to be caught from behind."

The game's turning point came late in the third quarter after Eastern Michigan quarterback Brogan Roback hit wide receiver Justin Creel for a 12-yard touchdown, drawing the Eagles within 30-20. Eastern Michigan converted a two-point conversion with a pass from wide receiver Eddie Daugherty to Roback, who snuck into the right corner of the end zone, making it a one-score game at 30-22.

Eastern Michigan coach Chris Creighton then gambled with an onside kick, but the ball squirted out of bounds and LSU took over at the EMU 43. Five Fournette runs later, LSU led 37-22. Fournette scored on a steamrolling run through a big hole on the left side.

"I called an onsides kick down eight (points)," Eastern Michigan coach Chris Creighton said. "I was trying to steal a possession, but it didn't work out. That's on me. I told my guys I'm proud of them, and I am. We're building something special here."

LSU linebacker Deion Jones iced the game on the next possession by picking off a side-armed Roback throw and returning it 26 yards for a touchdown and a 44-22 lead. It was one of three interceptions by LSU defenders.

LSU appeared to be cruising when it jumped out to a 17-0 lead, scoring touchdowns on its first two drives of 73 and 66 yards. Fournette got the first score on a 3-yard run, and quarterback Brandon Harris got the second with a nifty fake to Fournette and a sweep around left end on the read option for 21 yards.

That put the Tigers up 14-0 midway through the first quarter.

Kicker Trent Domingue stretched the LSU lead to 17-0 with a 26-yard field goal by failing to convert a touchdown after having a first down at the Eastern Michigan 12.

Then, suddenly, it became a game. Eastern Michigan scored two touchdowns in a 38-second span of the second quarter to cut the deficit to 17-14.

Running back Shaq Vann climaxed a 59-yard, eight-play drive with a 6-yard sweep around right end to make it 17-7. Then, on LSU next possession, defensive end Clay Dawson plowed into Harris from behind while he was throwing and the ball popped high in the air and came down in the hands of defensive end Luke MacLean, who returned the interception to the LSU 3.

Darius Jackson made it 17-14 two plays later with a run up the middle with 2:10 left in the half.

"Playing LSU, under the lights, SEC school, the environment is what we expected," Jackson said. "It was electric. We fed off it. We loved it."

NOTES: LSU RB Leonard Fournette is just 170 yards shy of his rushing total for the entire 2014 season (1,034 yards in 13 games). ... Eastern Michigan picked up a $985,000 payday for the road trip to Tiger Stadium. ... The last time Eastern Michigan faced a ranked opponent, it lost 73-14 at Michigan State in 2014. ... LSU has not trailed in its four consecutive victories. ... The interception of Brandon Harris in the second quarter was LSU's first turnover of the season. Harris had thrown 86 consecutive passes without an interception.