King Midas may have the golden touch, but LSU senior kicker Josh Jasper has the golden foot.
 
Jasper dominated the scoreboard with a school-record five field goals while leading No. 15 LSU (3-0, 2-0) to a 29-7 victory against Mississippi State (1-2, 0-2) in front of 92,538 fans in Tiger Stadium on Saturday.
 
The Memphis, Tenn., native accounted for more than half of the Tigers’ offensive output by tallying 17 of the team’s 29 points.
 
“This showed me that the coaches are confident in me,” Jasper said. “Going out there and kicking the same kick the same way every time and just trying to kick it straight and long, that’s what I do.”
 
Jasper’s first field goal of the game gave the Tigers a 3-0 advantage with 9:38 remaining in the first quarter. They never looked back from there.
 
Even though LSU dominated the first half stats —  it had the ball nearly four minutes more than Mississippi State and an average starting field position of its own 44-yard line — it could not muster a touchdown but went into the locker room with a 12-0 lead.
 
The inability to cross the goal line is something LSU coach Les Miles wants to change.
 
“We’d like to finish with sevens,” Miles said. “In the first half, four possessions down in the red zone, we kick threes; we’d like to have sevens. If you have sevens there, it makes the score much different.”
 
The Bulldogs opened the second half with a sense of new life, using a 13-play, 81-yard drive to make the score 12-7. They were able to score even after junior quarterback Chris Relf was knocked out of the game early in the drive. Redshirt freshman Tyler Russell replaced Relf and went 2-of-2 on the drive for 36 yards and rushed for nine yards.
 
But the shift in momentum was temporary.
 
After Mississippi State senior kicker Sean Brauchle’s kickoff went out of bounds, LSU’s offense finally awoke.
 
Junior quarterback Jordan Jefferson methodically led the offense 60 yards on seven plays, capped by his 16-yard scramble for a touchdown, that gave LSU a 19-7 edge.
 
“I just followed my seam,” Jefferson said. “Once I saw the end zone, I felt there was no stopping me. I just got in there as quick as possible.”
Jefferson completed 10 of 16 passes and threw for 97 yards, failing to reach 100 yards for the second consecutive week.
 
Jefferson, though, is uninterested in his own personal                  statistical output.
 
“As a leader on this team and a quarterback, I don’t really follow my yards,” Jefferson said. “I’m here to win games. If you sit there and follow by yards, you’re a selfish player.”
 
LSU junior running back Stevan Ridley tacked on another touchdown with 1:23 remaining in the third quarter to give the Tigers some cushion with a 26-7 lead.
 
Jasper capped the scoring with his record-breaking 21-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter.
 
“I didn’t realize it until halftime that I was close to doing that,” Jasper said. “I was really hoping I’d get to kick the fifth one in the second half. I got to do it, and I got my name in the [record] book.”
 
Though LSU’s offense gained just 264 total yards, its defense didn’t give it much more room to work with.
 
The Tigers’ defense ball hawked all night, baiting the Bulldogs into throwing five interceptions.
 
LSU junior cornerback Patrick Peterson snagged two of the interceptions, including the team’s first of the season in the second quarter.
 
Peterson, a preseason All-American, was glad the Bulldogs tried to test him and joked about postseason awards.
 
“I’m happy they threw it my way so I can get some more opportunities and better chance to maybe win the Jim Thorpe award,” Peterson said.
 
Two other Tigers earned the first interceptions of their careers.
 
Sophomore cornerback Morris Claiborne picked off two passes, and senior defensive tackle Drake Nevis pulled down one.
 
The five interceptions are the most for an LSU team in a game since it picked off six against Mississippi State in 2007.
 
The win for the Tigers was the 11th straight time they have beaten the Bulldogs and stretched their winning streak in the month of September to 16 games.
 
LSU has started 3-0 for the fourth straight season, and Miles likes the direction in which this year’s squad is headed.
 
“I like the idea that our team is continually improving,” Miles said. “It’s a steady process that is continuing play after play, down after down, practice after practice, game after game. That’s what I need to see, and that’s what our football team needs to do. If they continue to do that, there’s a good football team in there.”
 
 
 
—-
Contact Rob Landry at [email protected]