Charles Scott ran for 141 yards and two touchdowns as the No. 5 LSU Tigers defeated the Mississippi State Bulldogs 34-24 Saturday at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge.
“I thought we played hard. We played with a lot of passion and commitment throughout the course of the ballgame. We got better at a lot of things,” MSU head coach Sylvester Croom said.
It was the first time the Bulldogs played within 30 points of the Tigers since Croom arrived in 2004.
“We came here. We fought. We played four quarters. We just fell up short,” quarterback Tyson Lee said.
Lee made his first career start for the Bulldogs against LSU and played the entire game. He completed 17 of 26 passes for 175 yards and a touchdown. Under his leadership, the Bulldogs scored more points than they had against their previous three bowl subdivision opponents combined.
Croom said he was proud of Lee’s performance.
“I didn’t see the guy make a single bad decision as far as where to go with the football,” Croom said. “I’ve got no problems with the way he played tonight at all. He played a lot better than I thought he would.”
The star of the Tigers for the night was certainly running back Charles Scott, who passed the 100-yard rushing mark for the fourth time this season. He now leads the SEC with 535 rushing yards on the season.
LSU quarterback Jarrett Lee, playing in place of injured Tiger quarterback Andrew Hatch, completed 18 of 27 passes for 261 yards and two touchdowns. His 43-yard pass to receiver Demetrius Byrd with 4:54 left in the game essentially sealed it for the Tigers.
Lee and Scott were aided by an outstanding performance from the Tigers’ offensive line.
“Their offensive line is as big as any line as I was on and any offensive line that I was with in the entire 17 years I was in the National Football League,” Croom said. “And it’s better than most of them I was with.”
The Bulldogs started the game with a spark, as Derek Pegues returned the opening kickoff 59 yards to the LSU 32, leading to an Adam Carlson field goal.
“I think it took pressure off everybody and put a little pressure on LSU. Derek made a great play to put it on their end, so that way we could put their backs up against the wall. That’s what we needed. We needed momentum. We needed big plays, and Derek did that for us,” Tyson Lee said.
LSU followed up with 17 unanswered points scored off a Colt David field goal and Scott’s two touchdowns, one of which came on a fourth-and-goal. MSU then began to contain the Tigers thanks to a Derek Pegues interception and a Quinn Johnson fumble that led to a six-play, 47 yard drive culminating in a five-yard Christian Ducré touchdown to make the score 17-10 at halftime.
In the second half, LSU received a lucky break when Brandon LaFell fumbled a pass at the MSU one-yard line only to have tight end Richard Dickson fall on it in the endzone. Another drive led to another Colt David field goal.
Robert Elliot injured his knee early in the fourth quarter on a six-yard rush and left the game. Test have shown he tore the ACL and LCL in his left knee and will not play for the rest of the season.
Shortly after, Anthony Dixon rushed for a touchdown to make it 27-17 LSU, but Jarrett Lee’s pass to Byrd late in the game virtually clinched it. Ducré caught a touchdown pass with 2:40 to cut LSU’s lead to 10, but LSU recovered Adam Carlson’s onside kick and ran out the clock for the victory.
Scott complimented the Bulldogs on their performance.
“Mississippi State came to play,” Scott said. “A win is a win, and we’ll take it. We need to go back and watch film and be very critical of ourselves and see what we can do better because we have opponents down the road that will make us regret the mistakes we made”
The Bulldogs are now 1-4, 0-2 SEC. Although the stronger-than-expected showing could be construed as a moral victory for the Bulldogs, the team was disappointed not to have the win.
“We did do some positive things, but on the downside, we did lose, especially going into a bye week. And we thought we did have a legitimate chance of coming in and win, and I think that’s the most disappointing part,” defensive end Tim Bailey said.
“We made some good plays, we just didn’t make enough good plays. LSU’s a great team.They played four quarters, and we just didn’t jump on the opportunities when opportunities presented themselves,” Tyson Lee said.
This game marked the first time this season in which the Bulldogs have not had a turnover. The win moved LSU to 4-0, 2-0 SEC. They are currently seeking their second consecutive national title and third in six years.
The Tigers are ranked No. 3 in the latest Associated Press top 25 poll after an upset-ridden week.
“Their ranking is very deserved,” Croom said. “I don’t see any drop off from last year.”