Josh Williams rushed for two touchdowns, Garrett Nussmeier passed for one and host LSU ended a three-game losing streak by defeating Vanderbilt 24-17 on Saturday night in Baton Rouge, La.
Williams finished with 90 rushing yards and 61 receiving yards. Nussmeier completed 28 of 37 passes for 332 yards to lead the unranked Tigers (7-4, 4-3 SEC), who were No. 8 in the AP poll before the losing streak began.
Diego Pavia, who tossed a 63-yard touchdown pass on the Commodores’ first play from scrimmage, completed 13 of 24 throws for 186 yards and rushed six times for a team-high 43 yards and a touchdown.
On the first possession of the second half, Vanderbilt (6-5, 3-4) converted a fourth-and-1 from its own 45 and reached the LSU 27. The drive stalled from there, and Brock Taylor kicked a 47-yard field goal to trim the Tigers’ lead to 14-10.
On the ensuing possession, LSU converted a fourth-and-5 when Nussmeier threw a 24-yard pass to CJ Daniels. Nussmeier connected with Kyren Lacy for a 12-yard score on the next play to increase the lead to 21-10 at the end of the third quarter.
Damian Ramos kicked a 28-yard field goal for the Tigers with 10:41 left in the game before the Commodores responded with a 10-play, 75-yard drive to pull within seven. Pavia punctuated the possession with a 1-yard run to make it 24-17 with 5:47 remaining.
Vanderbilt never got the ball back as LSU moved 66 yards to run out the clock and send the Commodores to their second straight loss.
The hosts went three-and-out on the game’s first possession before Pavia connected with Quincy Skinner Jr. for Vanderbilt’s only touchdown until Pavis’s run in the fourth quarter. On the ensuing possession, LSU drove 90 yards, the final 20 of which came on Williams’ tying touchdown run.
LSU moved to the Commodores’ 3-yard line on its next drive, but Nussmeier threw incomplete on fourth-and-goal to leave the score 7-7 at the end of the first quarter.
Vanderbilt later went for a fourth-and-2 at the LSU 20 and Pavia threw an incomplete pass with 4:29 left in the first half. The Tigers then drove to Williams’ 21-yard touchdown run to take a 14-7 halftime lead.
