To see a slideshow from LSU’s win over Vanderbilt, click here.The LSU football team’s 23-9 victory Saturday night against Vanderbilt wasn’t graceful by any means. “I didn’t say this is the prettiest win I’ve ever seen,” said LSU coach Les Miles. “There were no style points with this one. That’s a fact.”Sophomore quarterback Jordan Jefferson didn’t have career-best stats in his first start in Tiger Stadium. He didn’t even have his best stats of the season after two games, completing 20 of 29 attempts for 138 yards in LSU’s victory.But in his fourth career start, Jefferson, along with the rest of the offense, did just enough to manage the game without making too many mistakes.”He gets out of trouble with his feet, and he gets out of trouble with his eyes and throws it away,” Miles said. “If he keeps making quality decisions like that, he’s going to be a really fine quarterback for quite some time.”Jefferson said the Vanderbilt defense kept sagging in coverage and wasn’t allowing him to throw any balls deep, which opened up the short-range game. Jefferson had 20 completions but only averaged 6.9 yards per completion.”There weren’t a lot of yards but a lot of receptions, and he was very efficient throwing it,” Miles said.Although he threw for 172 yards and three touchdowns against Washington in the season opener, Jefferson said he’s learning how to command the offense better. “I thought I did a good job of reading Vanderbilt’s defense and progressing the game plan as much as I could,” Jefferson said. Jefferson kept the Commodores on their heels and distributed the ball to six different receivers. “He throws the ball real good, and his receivers always seem to get open,” said Vanderbilt sophomore cornerback Casey Hayward.The LSU sophomore quarterback was sacked three times by the Vanderbilt defense after only getting sacked once in Washington. Jefferson was forced to leave the game for the second week in a row after he was hit behind the line-of-scrimmage in the beginning of the second quarter.But the injury didn’t keep him out for long, and Jefferson trotted back onto the field after sophomore quarterback Jarrett Lee completed a 10-yard pass for a first down to senior running back Charles Scott to keep the drive alive.”I felt like today’s game plan did not require him to take the pounding like he took at Washington,” Miles said. Scott and his offensive teammates helped Jefferson manage the offense Saturday night.Senior wide receiver R.J. Jackson had a career night for the Tigers. Jackson led all receivers with 55 yards receiving on six catches and had the game’s longest play from scrimmage when he cradled in a 30-yard pass from Jefferson in the second quarter. Prior to Saturday’s game, Jackson only had one reception for a 1-yard loss in his LSU career.”R.J. Jackson and those style of men, when they get to their senior year and are playing their best football, that’s when we need them,” Miles said.Senior running back Keiland Williams danced around defenders for 72 yards and two touchdowns to give Jefferson the ground support that he needed.”He made some great cuts,” Miles said. “That was, in my opinion, the style of running back that Keiland Williams can be — very elusive, explosive and tough to tackle.”The highly anticipated unveiling of freshman quarterback Russell Shepard was no disappointment, as Shepard entered the game at quarterback and ran the ball three times for 27 yards.”We had heard we might see some stallion or wildcat formations with him, and he’s pretty fast,” said Vanderbilt senior defensive end Broderick Stewart. “When he gets on the edge he makes plays with his feet, and that’s what they recruited him for.”Junior running back Richard Murphy went down early in the third quarter grasping his knee after he was hit head on by a Vanderbilt defender following a 7-yard reception. LSU sports information director Michael Bonnette told The Daily Reveille on Sunday that Murphy will have an MRI some time this week. Bonnette did not specify the extent of the injury. Murphy is expected to be out for the season, according to The Times-Picayune.————Contact Jarred LeBlanc at [email protected]