BATON ROUGE, La. - LSU didn’t need any small-school sacrificial lambs on its early season schedule to post a couple of gaudy blowouts. The tenacious Tigers made Virginia Tech look like a pushover instead of the ninth-ranked team in the nation.

Keiland Williams ran for 126 yards and two touchdowns and quarterback Matt Flynn led LSU to scores on four of its first five possessions as the Tigers cruised to a 48-7 victory over the uncharacteristically hapless Hokies on Saturday night.

The performance was so overwhelming that head coach Les Miles tried to dissuade people from pumping up his players.

“You can save the accolades. We’ve just won two games and we have a lot of football to play,” Miles said. “Don’t make too much of this. It’s all about what we have to get done in the future.”

But there was little Miles could say to undercut what everyone saw — LSU (2-0) looked awesome in handing Frank Beamer his most lopsided loss since he took the head coaching job at Virginia Tech in 1987, and the national title talk will only ramp up among Tigers fans.

The vaunted Virginia Tech defense, the best in the land the past two seasons, got pushed around. Tech hadn’t given up that many points since a 52-21 loss to Syracuse in 1996, but they also allowed 52 in the 2003 loss to Cal in the Insight.com Bowl.

By contrast, LSU drove Virginia Tech starting quarterback Sean Glennon from the game midway through the second quarter.

“Virginia Tech’s always had one of the top defenses. We weren’t playing against their defense, but in a way we were,” said LSU safety Craig Steltz, whose first-half interception set up a field goal. “We just came out and made a statement about how special this defense really is.”

Williams highlighted a stunning first half for the Tigers with a career-long 67-yard run for a touchdown.

LSU had a 24-0 lead after the first 18 minutes and outgained Tech 327-40 in the first half — a week after its 45-0 dismantling of Southeastern Conference rival Mississippi State.

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Williams added a 32-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter. Jacob Hester had 81 yards rushing, scored LSU’s first touchdown, and also caught a pass for 28 yards.

Flynn didn’t last the whole game either, but only because there was little need for him to play much beyond the third quarter. He ran for a touchdown early in the game and wound up with 217 yards passing.

Brandon LaFell, who had six career catches entering the game, had seven against Tech for 125 yards, including a 56-yarder on LSU’s second scoring drive.

“What a football team. They really took it to us,” Beamer said. “We’re certainly disappointed in how we played, but certainly, give LSU a lot of credit for that. ... They got us good.”

The Hokies can still hope for an Atlantic Coast Conference title, but their national title chances are pretty much gone.

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Virginia Tech (1-1) did not score until 4:38 remained in the third quarter, when backup quarterback Tyrod Taylor ran in from a yard out.

That made it 27-7, but LSU got those points back when backup quarterback Ryan Perrilloux found Early Doucet wide open for a 34-yard TD. Perrilloux also connected with freshman Terrance Tolliver for a 28-yard score.