It may never rain in Southern California, but it definitely rained in Tiger Stadium on Saturday as 91,566 pancho-equipped Tiger fans sat and watched when the LSU football team hosted Vanderbilt.
Rain fell heavily during the second quarter, but neither team seemed fazed by it.
“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 LSU made a few errors on offense against a tough Vanderbilt defense, the Tigers had a strong defense showing as they defeated the Commodores, 23-9.
Freshman quarterback Russell Shepard saw his first game action when he checked in for a run the first quarter and was taken down hard by Vanderbilt senior cornerback Myron Lewis 13 yards later.
Shepard entered the game at receiver and was drilled by Vanderbilt linebacker Chris Marve and fumbled the after an 8-yard reception.
The Tigers put the first points on the brand new scoreboard with a six-yard touchdown run by senior running back Keiland Williams with 2:21 to go in the first quarter to cap a an 8-play, 69-yard drive.
Junior kicker Josh Jasper put the Tigers on the board again in the second quarter with a 32-yard field goal.
Vanderbilt’s first points came with 7:20 left in the first half when sophomore quarterback Larry Smith rushed 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 for 55 yards in the game after pulling in only one during his Tiger career before this season.
“It was a career night for R.J. Jackson,” said LSU coach Les Miles.
The third quarter was scoreless until a botched snap on an LSU punt went out of the back of the endzone, scoring two points for Vanderbilt, closing the gap to 16-9.
Following the safety, the Commodores drove the ball to LSU’s 23-yard line, but sophomore safety Brandon Taylor intercepted a Smith pass that was tipped in the air.
“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.”
Williams essentially sealed the victory for the Tigers with a 14-yard run with a little more than six minutes to go in the game, setting the score at 23-9.
 
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