LSU redshirt freshman quarterback Jarrett Lee was never told he was going to be the Tigers starting quarterback.But with his counterpart, sophomore Andrew Hatch, on the sidelines all week at practice, Lee sensed it was his time to shine in just his fourth game as a collegiate quarterback. “Not one time this week did they tell me I was the starter,” Lee said. “But I’ve been working with the ones since spring, so I knew it was not anything I couldn’t handle.”And Lee delivered on Saturday, completing 18-of-27 passes for 261 yards and a touchdown in LSU’s 34-24 win against Mississippi State. “That’s all we wanted from Jarrett Lee,” said LSU coach Les Miles. “To get the ball to the guys that the play calls for. Read it and throw it, and he did that. I thought he handled the game very well.” The Bulldogs struck first with a 59-yard kickoff return by senior defensive back Derek Pegues to push Mississippi State inside the LSU 35.Senior kicker Adam Carlson converted a 42-yard field goal four plays later to give Mississippi State a 3-0 lead.Like Jarrett Lee, Bulldogs junior Tyson Lee made the first start of his career Saturday.The Columbus, Miss., native completed 17-of-26 passes for 176 yards and a touchdown but said he didn’t make enough plays down the field to stay with LSU throughout the game.”I didn’t play well enough,” he said. “We made some good plays, but not enough good plays.” The field goal was the first points LSU has given up in the first quarter this season. The Tigers have outscored opponents 37-3 through the first four games of the year.Following the field goal, LSU reeled off 17 unanswered points to take a 17-3 lead with 10 minutes to play in the first half. Junior running back Charles Scott scored a pair of one-yard touchdowns in the half. On the season, Scott now has six touchdowns, surpassing his 2007 total of five. Scott also surpassed the 100-yard plateau for the fourth straight game  and rushed for 141 yards on 27 carries.Bulldogs senior linebacker Dominic Douglas said the team’s inability to contain Scott in their basic 4-3 set made defending LSU’s other weapons near impossible.”We tried to run our same defense,” he said. “Tried to not do anything out of the ordinary. But we came up short, and we fell hard.” The turnover bug bit LSU in the final seven minutes of the first half as a Lee interception and a Quinn Johnson fumble allowed the Bulldogs to begin in LSU territory on consecutive possessions. The turnovers allowed  the Bulldogs to close out the half with a 5-yard touchdown by junior halfback Christian Ducre to close the deficit to 17-10 at halftime. LSU shed the bug in the second half, marching 57 yards on six plays to move ahead 24-10. Junior receiver Brandon LaFell caught a pass and fumbled at the 1-yard-line, but junior tight end Richard Dickson recovered the football in the end zone to help LSU extend the lead.Despite the good fortune, Miles said LSU will emphasize ball protection and fixing small mistakes in its upcoming bye week.”We have to play better than that,” Miles said. “And that will be the push [in the bye week].” Scott picked up where he left off in the first half on that drive, getting 50 of his yards on four carries on the drive. After a Mississippi State three-and-out, LSU chipped in three more on a 39-yard field goal by senior kicker Colt David to give LSU a 17-point lead.With the kick, David moved into second-place on the all-time LSU scoring list with 307 points, trailing only former tailback Kevin Faulk’s 318.The Bulldogs methodically closed the gap to 10, using an 18-play, 74-yard drive capped by a 1-yard touchdown by junior Anthony Dixon to cut the LSU lead to 10 with 10:20 to play.But for the game Dixon was kept in check, rushing for just 48 yards on 15 carries. LSU answered with a another score a 43-yard strike from Lee to senior receiver Demetrius Byrd before the Bulldogs scored one final time on a 11-yard reception from Lee to Ducre with more than two minutes to play.With the Tigers’ win and the losses of No. 1 USC, No. 3 Georgia  and No. 4 Florida, the Tigers figure to make a significant jump in the polls heading into the bye week.But with eight games left on the schedule, the last thing the Tigers are concerned with is their national ranking.”Those only matter at the end of the season,” said senior Ricky Jean-Francois. “Right now, it’s just a number next to your team’s name on the bottom of the screen on ESPN.” Miles agreed, saying if LSU handles its Southeastern Conference schedule, everything will take care of itself. “If we win all of those in front of us, I guarantee we’ll conquer the rankings,” Miles said.
 
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Contact Casey Gisclair at [email protected]