And for his encore performance, on Wednesday LSU’s Leonard Fournette just about blew up the Internet as effectively as he’s been demolishing defenses.

It ran the gamut.

How much, if at all, should he play this week against Eastern Michigan? How does he rank among the all-time greats? And — the real bait — should he sit out next season to preserve himself for his earliest possible entry into the NFL (and its instant millions) a year later?

Even Alabama coach Nick Saban checked in on the Southeastern Conference teleconference in the midst of preparing for his huge game with Georgia.

Meanwhile, the center of all the attention was unavailable for comment — by head coach Les Miles’ choice.

The same week that LSU had originally planned to start handling the hoopla by setting Fournette up with his own weekly news conferences, the school instead muted him completely. It canceled all his media opportunities for the week, even though the opponent is lightly regarded Eastern Michigan.

“We canceled some of those (news conferences),” Miles said on the SEC teleconference. “We just want Leonard to go to class, to go to football, to enjoy a smattering of media opportunities, play ball on Saturday and have fun with his college.”

It’s not like über mature Fournette has said anything brash or out of line with the media — to the contrary he’s gone out of his way to do little but give credit to his offensive line for the three consecutive career-high rushing games to open the season. He even deflected a team offensive MVP award by giving it to blocking fullback John David Moore.

“I think the approach that we have for him is quality,” Miles said.

The school did not, however, shut down Fournette’s Twitter account.

“I will never jump ship,” Fournette said via that medium. “I’m drowning with my brothers.”

That was apparently in response to several national columns Tuesday suggesting that Fournette, a sophomore, should sit out next season entirely, just to protect himself against injury before entering the NFL a year later.

“This is insulting to Leonard the person,” LSU Sports Information Director Michael Bonnette responded via Twitter. “Can’t he get credit for also being (a) high-character guy (who) loves his team.”

Fournette was sure getting the love.

He got a not-so-suprising Heisman Trophy endorsement from former LSU basketball star Shaquille O’Neal. But also this from former Georgia Heisman winner Herschel Walker, the gold standard for SEC running backs:

“He’s better than I was,” Walker told TMZ. “He’s like a fullback because he can take punishment and keep on going.”

“Leonard Fournette (and) Adrian Peterson are the best college RBs I’ve seen in the last 20 years,” ESPN star analyst Kirk Herbstreit posted on Twitter.

It’s not like Miles and LSU haven’t had to deal with NFL prospects before. The Tigers lead all college teams with 41 former players in the NFL, most of whom left early after their junior seasons.

“We’re all about this season,” Miles said when asked if he might handle a potential future NFL millionaire differently. “We’re all about the next opponent, we’re all about finishing where LSU wants to finish.

“You never say never, because there’s those exceptional players that you just need to visit with sometimes about things … you want to take care of a guy like Leonard Fournette.”

Saban is no stranger to dealing with the subject either.

The former LSU coach said he was of the opinion that players benefitted by playing their junior seasons before making the leap.

“I think you only get better by playing,” said Saban, who had a similar situation with wide receiver Julio Jones, who, like Fournette, was the consensus No. 1 recruit in the nation coming out of high school. Jones is now one of the NFL’s top receivers for the Atlanta Falcons.

“The notion that, I guess you shouldn’t play because you might get injured … I don’t look at football as a dangerous game,” Saban said. “You can get injured playing any game, so that would mean you could never play.

“Julio improved. Julio was a very good player when he came here, but he got better and better and better every year.

“He might arguably be the best receiver in the NFL or one of them, at least. So how did that negatively impact him?”

Miles did hint that he’d like to see Fournette get fewer than the 24 carries he’s averaged through the first three games.

“We want to keep him fresh,” Miles said. “We have good backs, as long as he’s playing (with) fresh legs and not nicked in any way, we feel like calling his number is a very positive thing … for many reasons.

“In the same vein, if he’s not (fresh) we want him out, we’re going to (give him a) break with a number of very capable backs that we have that are ready to go.

“We feel like getting him to the key contests, certainly this Saturday and thereafter, allows us the opportunity for him to do the things he’s capable of doing for our team.”

(Associated Press)

Mike Groll