Josh Williams runs for 3 TDs, LSU beats Vanderbilt 24-17, snaps 3-game skid

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Josh Williams had a pair of rushing touchdowns and Garrett Nussemeier threw for 332 yards as LSU defeated Vanderbilt 24-17 Saturday night at Tiger Stadium.

The Tigers (7-4, 4-3 SEC) snapped a three-game losing streak, their longest since the 2021 season.

“There was a lot of noise out there about LSU football and the indictments that were made so early in this program’s development,” LSU head coach Brian Kelly said. “The players didn’t listen to it, the coaches didn’t listen to it and I’m proud of them. The players took full accountability of what they wanted to do and they went out and did it.”

Leading 14-10 at the end of the first half, LSU saw its lead shrink to 14-10 after a 47-yard field goal by Brock Taylor on the Commodores first possession of the third quarter.

In arguably its most important drive of the game, the much-maligned Tigers offense, which had been held to 29 combined points the last two weeks, completed an impressive 77-yard, 10-play scoring drive, culminating in a Nussmeier 12-yard touchdown pass to Kyren Lacy to make it 21-10. The key play of the drive was a 24-yard pass from Nussemeier to C.J. Daniels on a fourth down inside Vanderbilt territory.

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Kelly said the simplification of the game plan on both sides of the ball was one of the biggest differences in the game.

“We had five calls on defense and we ran some pass plays multiple times,” he said. “We were very consistent with our play calls on both sides. That was the mantra this week. Be committed to the call, whatever that call is, execute that call. We were not going to have a lot of calls this week. We cut out a lot. That really helped our players stay locked in on the call and be committed to the call.”

Lacy finished with 85 yards receiving and a touchdown on six catches.

The first-year starter for the Tigers under center, Nussmeier said it has been a difficult month for LSU. “It’s hard for the team to not completely hear all the noise,” he said. “The core group of guys really doesn’t care what people have to say about us. We are focused on what we can control and how we can get better at it. We look forward to moving things in the right direction.”

Forcing a Vanderiblt punt on its ensuing possession, LSU made it a two-score game on a 28-yard field goal by Damian Ramos, extending its lead to 24-10.

Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia made it a 24-17 game late in the game on a 1-yard touchdown run, but LSU was able to keep the ball for the final 5:47 of the game, sealing the victory.

Pavia finished with 43 yards rushing on six carries for Vanderbilt (6-5, 3-4) and was13-of-24 passing for 186 yards.

The LSU defense, which had given up 107 points during the three-game losing streak, had its best performance since an Oct. 19 victory over Arkansas. Vanderbilt was held to 308 yards of total offense.

Seeking its first victory over LSU in Baton Rouge since 1951, Vanderbilt scored on the first play from scrimmage on a 63-yard touchdown pass from Pavia to Quincy Skinner.

Williams scored the first of his two touchdowns on LSU’s second possession of the game, capping off a 90-yard scoring drive for the Tigers with a 20-yard touchdown.

After stopping Vanderbilt on fourth down deep inside LSU territory, an 80-yard, nine-play drive was finished off by a 21-yard touchdown run by Williams to give LSU the lead for good at 14-7. He finished with 90 yards rushing on 14 carries.

“I just felt like I had to be a catalyst, a spark plug for the team,” Williams said. “I felt the energy after the game at Florida and I just wanted to come in this week. It’s my last two games here in the regular season so I wanted to finish it out strong. And I came in with the message that hey guys this isn’t over yet.”

The takeaway

Vanderbilt: The Commodores had their fair share of chances early in the game after the first-play score, but a failed fourth down conversion near the end of the first half deep inside LSU territory led to the go-ahead touchdown for the Tigers.

LSU: It was one of the most balanced performances for a Tigers offense that has struggled to produce points during the losing streak. LSU had 129 yards rushing and 332 yards passing, but more importantly didn’t turn the ball over for the first time in three games en route to the victory

Up next

Vanderbilt: Hosts Tennessee on Saturday.

LSU: Hosts Oklahoma on Saturday.

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AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football