The LSU football team picked up a victory against Vanderbilt on Saturday night, but it may have lost a player for the season in the process.LSU junior running back Richard Murphy will have an MRI on his knee this week after sustaining an injury in Saturday night’s 23-9 victory against Vanderbilt.Murphy left the game favoring his right knee early in the second half, and sports information director Michael Bonnette said the extent of his injury is unknown.”We don’t know how serious it is,” Bonnette said. “He has not undergone an MRI yet. We’ll know something in the next couple of days.”The Times-Picayune reported Murphy is done for the season, but Bonnette did not elaborate on the extent of Murphy’s injury.LSU coach Les Miles said after the game he was “sad to have a young, quality back” like Murphy hurt.”I’m saddened that Murphy will probably not make the next game and maybe the next game,” Miles said.Heavy rain in the second quarter didn’t seem to faze either team.”It made it a little slippery out there, and the ball got a little slippery,” said Vanderbilt coach Bobby Johnson. “Both teams fumbled it a bit, but it was no big deal.”While the Tigers (2-0, 1-0) made a few offensive errors against a tough Vanderbilt defense, the Tigers themselves had a strong defensive showing as they defeated the Commodores, 23-9. The Tigers’ performance boosted them two spots in both the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches’ Top 25 polls to No. 9 and No. 7, respectively.  Following a botched snap on an LSU punt that caused a safety in the third quarter, the Commodores (1-1, 0-1)  drove the ball into LSU territory, but sophomore safety Brandon Taylor intercepted a pass by Vanderbilt sophomore quarterback Larry Smith that would have netted Vanderbilt a first down and possibly more.”That hurt.” Smith said. “We had a lot of momentum after the safety. We had good field position, and we just couldn’t capitalize. It hurt. That changed the whole ball game. If we score there, it’s tied up.” The Tigers’ defense, which gave up 478 total yards against Washington, held the Commodores to just 210 total yards.”We just got after them the whole game,” said LSU senior linebacker Harry Coleman, who led the Tigers with 10 tackles. “Last week people said we were looking tired on D, so we got our conditioning this week, we did some tackling drills.” Freshman quarterback Russell Shepard saw his first game action this season when he checked in for a run in the first quarter and was taken down hard by Vanderbilt senior cornerback Myron Lewis 13 yards later. Shepard moved to receiver for the next play and was drilled by Vanderbilt sophomore linebacker Chris Marve and fumbled after an 8-yard reception.”We have to get him some more touches and some more experience,”  Miles said.The Tigers put the first points on the brand new scoreboard with a 6-yard touchdown run by senior running back Keiland Williams 2:21 to go in the first quarter to cap an eight-play, 69-yard drive.Williams finished with 72 yards and two touchdowns on just 10 carries.Junior kicker Josh Jasper put the Tigers on the board again in the second quarter with a 32-yard field goal, for a 10-0 LSU lead. Vanderbilt’s first points came with 7:20 left in the first half when Smith crossed the plane from six yards out.Jasper split the uprights from 22 yards out later in the quarter to put LSU up, 13-7. The field goal was set up by a few big catches from senior wide receiver R.J. Jackson. Jackson caught five passes in the game after pulling in one during his Tiger career.”It was a career night for R.J. Jackson,” Miles said.  Williams essentially sealed the victory for the Tigers with a 14-yard run with a little more six minutes to go in the game, setting the score at 23-9.Miles said he was pleased with the defensive progress.”Our guys are starting to come and understand what this defense is expecting of them and what [defensive coordinator John] Chavis and Miles and LSU expects of them,” Miles said. “There’s still some growing there.”—-Contact Amos Morale at [email protected]