Football Efficient in All Phases to Defeat Vanderbilt, 24-17
BATON ROUGE – LSU got back to its winning ways on Saturday behind a very efficient outing from quarterback Garrett Nussmeier, who went 28-of-37 passing for 332 yards and a touchdown to lead the Tigers over Vanderbilt at home, 24-17.
The Tigers also got a big performance from senior running back Josh Williams, who rushed for 90 yards and tallied a career-high two touchdown runs and 61 yards receiving.
LSU will return to Tiger Stadium for its final game of the regular season next Saturday against Oklahoma. Kickoff is set for or 6 p.m. CT. on ABC.
Game Recap
Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia wasted no time on their opening drive, hitting wide receiver Quincy Skinner Jr. for a 63-yard touchdown pass on the first play from scrimmage to give the Commodores an early 7-0 lead with 12:49 to play in the first quarter.
The Tigers responded quickly. Nussmeier found tight end Mason Taylor for a 10-yard pickup on first down, then found Kyren Lacy for a 30-yard connection a few plays later to advance the football to the Vandy 37. The drive was culminated by back-to-back chunk plays from Williams with a 14-yard pass and a 20-yard scoring rush, capping off a 90-yard drive that spanned just under five minutes on eight plays.
After getting a quick stop on defense, LSU’s offense remained on the attack. On third-and-9 from the LSU 28, Nussmeier found Taylor again for a 24-yard completion to move the sticks. Four plays later, Nussmeier then found Lacy for a 16-yard pickup to the Vandy 30. Durham rushed the ball inside the 10 for the Tigers, but on third down, LSU was stopped short of the goal line.
On 4th-and-3 from the 3, Nussmeier’s pass to Trey’Dez Green was just out of reach for a turnover on downs.
The first quarter ended with the game knotted up at 7-7.
It remained a defensive slugfest deep into the second quarter. On fourth-and-2 from the 20, with Vanderbilt working a long and methodical drive into LSU territory, Pavia’s pass was incomplete thanks to a pressure from linebacker Whit Weeks. The 10-play drive, that spanned 60 yards and six minutes and 36 seconds, ended with the Tigers taking over on downs with 4:22 to play in the half.
LSU was able to generate points before the half, putting together a nine-play, 80-yard drive that spanned three minutes and 22 seconds, culminating with a 21-yard touchdown dash from Williams. The Tigers led 14-7 with 51 ticks to play in the first half.
The Commodores opened up the second half with points as Brock Taylor’s 47-yard field goal was good, cutting the deficit to 14-10 with 8:26 to play in the third quarter. It culminated a 12-play drive that covered 46 yards for six minutes and 34 seconds.
On their first drive of the second half, Nussmeier found Lacy wide open in the right corner of the end zone to cap off a 10-play, 77-yard drive to extend the LSU lead to 21-10 with 3:32 remaining in the third quarter. Nussmeier finished that drive with 225 yards through the air on the game and 19-of-25 passing.
LSU looked to have extended its lead to 27-10 in the fourth quarter after a picture-perfect throw and catch from Nussmeier to Aaron Anderson in the back left corner of the south end zone, but it was called back and ruled an incompletion when the ball slipped from Anderson’s grasp as he hit the ground. As a result, LSU placekicker Damian Ramos came on to hit 28-yard field goal to make it 24-10 with 10:41 to play.
With 5:47 to play, Pavia cut the deficit to 24-17 after a 1-yard QB keeper. It capped off a 10-play, 75-yard drive that killed just under five minutes of game clock.
On second-and-8 from the Vandy 8-yard line with just under a minute to play, Nussmeier took two knees and put the game on ice to seal the 24-17 victory, improving the Tigers’ overall record to 7-4.