Louisiana-Lafayette was one yard away.One yard from scoring their first touchdown against LSU since 1924, not to mention their first ever in Tiger Stadium.But it was not to be. LSU’s stuffed ULL running back Undrea Sails short of the goal line on fourth and goal, forcing the back to fumble.That stop, along with excellent defense and adequate offense led to the 31-3 victory Saturday.”I liked our defense,” Miles said. “I thought our defense played hard and tackled crisply and played the way an LSU defense is expected to play.”The ULL offense could only muster 272 total yards on offense, a number that marks the second week in a row LSU has allowed less than 300 yards.Senior linebacker Perry Riley said he didn’t think about ULL’s touchdown-less streak, but he relishes the stat nonetheless.”Now that the game is over, it definitely makes it sweeter knowing that stat,” Riley said. “I didn’t know it going into the game, but we’ll definitely take it.”The LSU offense had a shaky start. The Tigers finally got on the board with a 16-yard throw and catch from Jefferson to LaFell with 3:09 left in the first quarter.On the ensuing possession, Tiger safety Chad Jones picked an errant Masson pass and returned it to the ULL 23-yard line. Senior speedster Trindon Holliday took a pitch from Jefferson into the end zone on the next play, pushing the LSU lead to 14.The Ragin’ Cajuns managed to notch three points on a Tyler Albrecht 40-yard field goal on the scoreboard on their next possession to close the gap to 11.ULL threatened again with more than six minutes left in the half, only to be stuffed on a fourth and one on the LSU 34.After a couple of three-and-outs, Jefferson orchestrated a 13 play, 66-yard drive culminated by Josh Jasper’s 52-yard field goal as time expired in the first half. The kick was a career long for the junior.Jasper said he was confident going into the kick.”It’s just like an extra point,” Jasper said. “You go out there and have the same swing connecting on the ball.”LSU received the ball in the second and didn’t waste any time.Jefferson threw a 20-yard touchdown to LaFell to conclude a seven play, 58-yard drive that took four minutes off the clock.The two teams would play to a stalemate for the next 17 minutes.Meanwhile, the Tigers once again stifled a threat from ULL. Chad Jones picked off another Masson pass around the 20-yard line and returned it to the LSU 44. The interception was Jones’ second of the night.LSU took advantage of the turnover. The Tigers drove 57 yards down the field and were set up with a first and goal from the three yard line. After a quarterback sneak, Jefferson came up limp.Jarrett Lee entered the game one-yard from the goal line. Lee, who threw 16 interceptions last season, tossed a touchdown to a wide-open Charles Scott in the end zone.The touchdown pushed the score to its final tally. LSU coach Les Miles said following the game Jefferson should not miss any practice time next week with the injury.
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Tigers defeat Cajuns 31-3 – 10:24 p.m.
By Chris Branch
September 18, 2009