Nashville, TN – No. 4 LSU’s offense continued its assault on opposing defenses by dispatching Vanderbilt 66-38 on Saturday.
In the first half, senior quarterback Joe Burrow threw for the 357 yards, the most anyone has thrown against a Southeastern Conference defense in a first half in the last 15 years, and four touchdowns. He finished with 25-of-34 for 398 yards and a school-record six touchdown passes.
“They told me when it happened, but I was more focused on going get another one,” said Burrow, who has 17 passing touchdowns this season, surpassing his 16 touchdowns from 2018.
The 357 yards in the first half set a LSU, surpassing Josh Booty’s mark of 291 yards against Western Carolina in 2000.
Most of Burrow’s success came by connecting with sophomore receiver Ja’Marr Chase. Chase caught seven passes for 199 yards and three touchdowns in the first half and joined junior Justin Jefferson and sophomore Terrace Marshall Jr. as LSU receivers to have three touchdowns in a single game.
After a five-play, 75-yard touchdown drive to open the game, Burrow found Chase over the middle on the first play of the second drive, and Chase ran 64 yards for a touchdown. LSU’s first two touchdown drives set the tone for 28-point first quarter that saw LSU run 15 plays in just four minutes, 35 seconds.
The two connected again on a 25-yard touchdown late in the first quarter and again on a 51-yard touchdown in second quarter to give LSU a 38-10 lead. The lead was trimmed to 38-17 after junior running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire fumbled the handoff with LSU pinned back deep and Vanderbilt defensive lineman Elijah McAllister in the end zone for a touchdown.
Vanderbilt tried to surprise LSU with an onside kick to open the second half, but sophomore linebacker Micah Baskerville recovered the kick and was able to return the ball inside the 2-yard line, which immediately led to a touchdown.
After tying the single game LSU passing touchdown record on the first play of the second half, it only seemed fitting Burrow broke the record on a 16-yard touchdown pass to Chase to extend the Tigers’ lead to 52-24 with 9 minutes, 29 seconds left in the third quarter.
Chase ended the day with 10 catches for 229 yards and four touchdowns, tying him for the second most in school history. He also became the first LSU player to catch 200 since Odell Beckham Jr. did it against Furman in 2013.
The LSU defense forced a three-and-out, and on the ensuing punt, Baskerville finally scored his touchdown. He blocked the punt and then recovered the ball in the end zone, giving LSU a 59-24 lead.
“I thought our special teams played lights out,” LSU coach Ed Orgeron said. “They went to fake us with the onside kick, and coach [Greg McMahon] was all over it.”
Vanderbilt responded with another score of its own near the close of third quarter to trim the lead to 59-31. In the fourth quarter, sophomore quarterback Myles Brennan took over for Burrow and led a five-play, 36-yard touchdown drive, which was capped off by freshman John Emery’s six-yard touchdown run.
Emery’s score set an LSU record for the most points through regulation in a SEC game, breaking the previous mark of 63 against Kentucky on Nov. 1, 1997. It is also the first time in LSU history scoring 60 points in back-to-back games.
LSU finished with 599 yards of offense, and Edwards-Helaire had his first 100-yard game of the season. He had 106 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries.
On the other side of the ball, the LSU defense caught its first two interceptions of the season. Freshman Derek Stingley intercepted the first pass of his career, and in the fourth quarter, junior safety JaCoby Stevens, a Nashville native, also had an interception. Junior linebacker Jacob Phillips, another Nashville native, led LSU with 10 tackles and three tackles for a loss.
The 38 points given up by LSU were the most since a 37-7 loss to Mississippi State in 2017, but 14 of Vanderbilt’s points were a result of Edwards-Helaire’s fumble and a pick six thrown by Brennan with under two minutes in the fourth quarter.
Orgeron said after the game he wasn’t pleased with amount of missed assignments and didn’t believe it was a product of the offensive scoring so quick.
Stevens pointed to the aggressiveness of players on LSU’s defense and how much they want to make plays instead of letting them come naturally.
“It’s about being disciplined,” Stevens said. “We have two weeks before Utah State to fix that, and like I said, these coaches are really, really good coaches. Two weeks is too much time to prepare for Utah State.”
LSU has a bye next week before returning to Tiger Stadium for a game against Utah State on Oct. 5.