Jeff: LSU wins ugly

It wasn't pretty, but the Tigers grinded out a 24 to 16 victory on Saturday night inside Tiger Stadium thanks to running back Keiland Williams and a solid performance by the defense in the second-half. 

Williams rushed for a season-high 116 yards and two touchdowns, but only carried the ball 15 times. The LSU faithful actually cheered when got a handoff in the fourth quarter for his 11th carry of the game. 

"Throughout the week at practice we talked about what Charles (Scott) brought to this team, just his physical play, and that was something that Stevan Ridley and I wanted to do," Williams said. "We could've been better at times, but I think we did a good job." 

Head Coach Les Miles was pleased to see Williams come to life and he was also happy to see the defense show up after halftime. 

LSU's held Tech to just 93 yards in the second-half. The defense also came up with a season high five sacks against an offensive line that featured three freshmen in the starting line-up.

"It seemed like they were pressing and not playing well in the first half, but in the second half, they made tackles and looked like our defense that's supposed to play," Miles said. 

LSU's offense was missing four starters and it showed. Quarterback Jordan Jefferson, running back Charles Scott, tight end Richard Dickson, and center T-Bob Hebert were all with injuries. 

Lee was rusty in his first start in nearly a year. He completed 7 of 22 passes for 105 yards and one touchdown. He also heard the boo-birds several times in the second half. 

"I hope we get some guys back healthy," Miles said. "I hope our tight end (Richard Dickson) returns to health and certainly our quarterback (Jordan Jefferson)." 

The scoring started when Josh Jasper connected on a 35-yard field goal with 9:08 left in the first quarter. The drive began with an 18-yard run by Williams to move the ball into Louisiana Tech territory. A few plays later, Lee completed his first pass, a 15-yard play to R.J. Jackson. But the drive would stall, setting up Jasper's field goal.

The Bulldogs answered LSU's field goal with one of their own. Matt Nelson drilled a 30-yard attempt to end a 10-play, 45-yard drive. Tech threw only one pass during the drive, as freshman running back Tyrone Duplessis rushed for 25 yards on four carries. The former O.P. Walker star finished the game as Tech's leading rusher with 65 yards on 17 carries.

The score would not stay tied for long, as LSU scored quickly on its next drive. Lee connected with Brandon LaFell for a 38-yard touchdown pass to make it 10 to 3 LSU with 1:55 left in the first quarter. 

Tech blitzed on the play, and Lee did a nice job of getting rid of the ball quickly. Once LaFell caught the pass over the middle he got two nice blocks from DeAngelo Peterson and Jackson. It was LaFell's 23rd career touchdown, three shy of Dwayne Bowe. 

The score would stay 10-3 until 5:39 left in the 2nd quarter. That's when Nelson would hit a 33-yard field goal to make it 10 to 6. It completed an 11-play, 43-yard drive that took 5:33 off the clock. It was a nice drive for Tech Quarterback Ross Jenkins, who completed three of four passes for 35 yards.  

Like Lee, Jenkins also had a rough night. The junior from Houston was 16 of 31 for 143 yards. 

LSU did nothing with its next drive, and when the Bulldogs got it back, they marched right back down the field and scored a touchdown to end the first half with a 13 to 10 lead over LSU. It was the first time the Bulldogs held a lead over the Tigers since the 1904 game. 

The touchdown was a thing of beauty if you are a Louisiana Tech fan. It was fourth and goal from the 1-yard line and head coach Derek Dooley decided to go for it. The quarterback lined up behind center, and then moved down the line as if he was calling an audible. That's when the center snapped the ball to the running back Daniel Porter, who threw a jump pass into the end zone to tight end Dennis Morris. 

"It's called jump, and it's a jump pass," said Dooley. "It is just something we'd worked on all year, and it seemed like the right time to call it." 

The Bulldogs dominated the first half statistically, outgaining LSU 229 to 138. Tech rushed for 131 yards, while Lee completed just 3 of 10 passes for 67 yards and one touchdown for LSU. Louisiana Tech also had the ball for 20:43 during the first 30 minutes of play. 

The third quarter got off to a bad start for LSU. On the Tigers first drive, Lee lofted a pass to wide receiver Terrance Toliver along the far sidelines. Just as Toliver was getting his hands on the football, Bulldogs defensive back Chad Boyd from Westwego leveled the Tigers wide receiver. Toliver would later return in the 4th quarter. 

The Bayou Bengals shook off that injury and would retake the lead with 6:59 left in the third quarter. Williams bulldozed his way into the end zone from three yards out to give LSU a 17 to 13 lead. The drive was aided by two penalties against Louisiana Tech, which gave the Tigers 20 yards. LSU also converted two times on third down. They were 0-for-3 on third down conversions in the first half. 

The two teams would exchange punts into the 4th quarter, until LSU scored again with 7:01 left in the game to give the Tigers a 24 to 13 lead. The scoring drive was capped by Williams, who scored from nine yards out for his second touchdown of the night. The senior carried the ball five times during the drive for 24 yards. 

Louisiana Tech completed the scoring with a field goal in the final seconds. Nelson hit his third field goal, a 36-yarder with 25 seconds left in the contest.