SPORT SHOWTIME REPORTER
The LSU Tigers 23-9 victory over the Vanderbilt Commadores was a lot like the weather in Tiger Stadium on Saturday night: rough & sloppy.
“There were no style points with this one, that’s a fact,” said LSU coach Les Miles after the game.
But usually when a game is rough and sloppy, that means the game was controlled by the winning team’s defense, which was the case for the LSU Tigers.
After giving up 478 yards of total offense last week versus Washington, the defense for the Tigers was dominant. LSU gave up 210 yards of total offense on 63 plays and only 81 yards on 31 plays in the second half.
Though many Tigers contributed to the defensive performance, Harry Coleman and Rahim Alem stole the show with 17 combined tackles and one sack.
“Harry Coleman and Rahim Alem had big nights,” said Miles, “It seems like they were all over the field.”
The offense for the Tigers kicked into gear near the end of the first quarter when Keiland Williams, the offensive star of the night, scored on a 6 yard touchdown run to cap off a 8 play, 69 yard drive.
After a Vanderbilt three and out, LSU’s next drive during the second quarter ended with a Josh Jasper made one of his three field goals on the night to make it 10-0.
In Jasper’s career as a kicker for LSU, he is a perfect 16 for 16 combined on field goals and extra points.
The Commodores next drive was the only tidbit of success they would have versus the Tigers on the night as they went 12 plays for 82 yards, ending with a Larry Smith quarterback scramble resulting in a 6 yard touchdown run.
Two drives later, the Tigers took the ball over from their own 31 yard line with a 1:05 remaining in the second half.
The Bayou Bengals would march all the way down the field to the Commadore 5 with only five second remaining in the half.
Miles then elected to take a field goal after an 8 play, 64 yard drive with only a 1:05 remaining. The field goal by Jasper was good to make it a 13-7 ball game going into half.
After a third quarter highlighted by an LSU field goal and a Vanderbilt safety due to a LSU bad snap, the fourth quarter was dominated by the Tigers.
It started when a Larry Smith pass was intercepted by Brandon Taylor at the LSU 16 yard line, ending a drive that could have resulted into tied ball game.
Smith realized that after the game.
“It hurt,” said the Vanderbilt sophomore quarterback, “That changed the whole ballgame. If we score there, it’s tied up.”
Williams would later score his second touchdown on the night, which sealed the deal with a 14 yard scamper into the end zone.
The senior had 73 yards rushing and two touchdowns on only ten carries. The two touchdowns ended up being the only two times the Tigers passed the goal line for the night despite five trips to the red zone.
Though LSU fans were rowdy the whole game, the most exciting part of many fans night came when true freshman quarterback Russell Shepard entered the ball game for the first time in his LSU career during the first quarter.
Shepard gathered 33 yards of total offense on three runs at quarterback and one catch as receiver, which resulted in a lost fumble.
Miles said after the game about his highly touted freshman, “We have to get him more touches and some more experience.”
In Jordan Jefferson’s encore performance as starting quarterback after last week’s 172 yards and 3 touchdowns, the sophomore went a rather pedestrian 20 for 29 for 138 yards and no touchdowns.
As a whole, LSU amassed 326 yards of total offense, numbers that were similar to last week’s win in Seattle.
But after Saturday night’s game versus Vanderbilt, Jefferson said about his unit, “I’m not dissappointed, but I did feel like the offense fell short today.” Jefferson would then add on ,”We still won, and I’m happy with the victory.”
The LSU Tigers now move to 2-0 on the season, 1-0 in the SEC. After the loss, Vanderbilt moves to 1-1with an 0-1 mark in conference play.
Next week, LSU will look to take on in-state rival UL-Lafayette in Tiger Stadium at 6 p.m.
