LSU snaps losing streak with 24-17 win over Vandy in Death Valley
BATON ROUGE - LSU beat Vanderbilt 24-17, ending their losing streak with the win in Death Valley.
LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier threw 332 yards and one touchdown, but it was sixth-year senior running back Josh Williams who stepped up big for the Tigers. Williams accounted for 151 total yards and two touchdowns to help LSU take down Vanderbilt.
The Tigers went three-and-out on their first possession and Vanderbilt quickly took advantage. On the Commodores' first play on offense, quarterback Diego Pavia found wide receiver Quincy Skinner Jr. for a 63-yard passing touchdown to take a 7-0 lead.
LSU immediately responded with a 90-yard drive with multiple chunk passing plays from Nussmeier. Tigers’ running back Josh Williams capped off the long drive with a 20-yard rushing touchdown to tie the game up at seven points.
Watch Brain Kelly's press conference following the game here.
On the next Tigers’ possession, LSU once again moved the ball efficiently down the field, but were unable to come away with points. Vanderbilit turned LSU over on downs after a failed 4th and goal attempt from the three yard line.
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Midway through the second quarter, Vanderbilt put together a red zone drive of their own, but the Tigers’ defense stepped up to turn the Commodores over on downs.
LSU found their groove once again, but this time managed to punch it into the end zone with less than a minute to go in the half on a 21-yard rushing touchdown from Williams for his second score of the night. The Tigers took a 14-7 lead to the locker room.
On the first drive of the second half, Vanderbilt found themselves in LSU territory after a 12-play drive, but only walked away with three points. A 47-yard field goal attempt cut into LSU lead making the score 14-10.
The Tigers once again seemed to move down the field with little resistance as Nussmeier threw his first touchdown pass of the night on a 21-yard strike to wide receiver Kyren Lacy in the corner of the end zone. LSU took a double-digit lead near the end of the third quarter with the score at 21-10.
The second-half scoring didn’t stop there for the Tigers. Early into the fourth quarter, Nussmeier got the Tigers back into the red zone, but LSU had to settle for a 28-yard field goal from placekicker Damian Ramos to extend LSU’s lead to 24-10.
The Commodores didn’t go down without a fight as Vanderbilt drove the ball 75 yards on 10 plays for a 1-yard rushing touchdown by Pavia to make the score 24-17 with less than six minutes to go in the fourth quarter.
LSU moves to 7-4 on the season and 4-3 in SEC Play. The Tigers will wrap up their regular season next Saturday night at home against the Oklahoma Sooners.