Tiger 'D' Too Much for Vanderbilt, Post 24-7 Victory
10/30/04

By Chris Macaluso
Special to www.LSUsports.net

BATON ROUGE -- LSU's contest against Vanderbilt Saturday in Tiger Stadium looked for a while like a repeat of last week's 24-20 squeaker against Troy State. At least, until the second half started.

The Tigers, who held a tenuous 10-7 lead in the halftime locker room, tightened the screws in the second half and beat their outmanned opponent 24-7 as a subdued crowd of 90,825 looked on.

LSU improved its record to 6-2, 3-2 in the Southeastern Conference and will take next week off before returning to Tiger Stadium Nov. 13 to take on Alabama. Vandy's record dropped to 2-6, 1-4 in the SEC. It will host Florida next week in Nashville.

After struggling to run the ball effectively last week, the Tigers' rushing attack soared Saturday while LSU scraped by in the passing department. Eight different Tigers carried the ball, amassing 273 rushing yards among them. Alley Broussard led all rushers with 80 yards on just nine carries and LSU's first touchdown of the game. Joseph Addai impressed as well with 77 yards on 14 attempts.

While the Tigers seized control of the tight contest with an impressive touchdown drive to start the second half, the back-breaker for the Commodores was a 65-yard punt return by Skyler Green with 7:11 remaining in the third quarter, putting the game out of reach for the scrappy Vandy squad.

"That punt return was huge for them," said Commodore Head Coach Bobby Johnson. "It really demoralized us."

Both JaMarcus Russell and Marcus Randall played a significant amount at quarterback for LSU after Russell spent last week's game on the sideline. Both compiled very modest numbers, with Randall completing 4-6 passes for a scant 78 yards and Russell completing just 2-5 attempts for 24 yards. But, Randall was accurate when it counted, completing a 34-yard touchdown pass to Craig Davis on the opening drive of the second half to give LSU a 17-7 lead. He also accounted for 68 of LSU's rushing yards on eight attempts.

Quarterback Jay Cutler was the offensive leader for the Commodores with 111 passing and 34 rushing yards. Included in that rushing total is the one yard he needed to give Vanderbilt its lone score, a touchdown with little more than one minute to play in the first half. He left the game in the middle of the third quarter with a neck injury. Vanderbilt compiled 289 total yards while LSU managed 375.

LSU won the coin toss but elected to defer, giving Vanderbilt a chance to run three plays before punting on the opening possession of the game. The Tigers took over on offense at its 30 yard line with redshirt freshman Russell at quarterback. He threw just one pass during the ensuing 11-play drive, relying instead on Addai's crafty running to give LSU the chance to score first on a 26-yard field goal by Ryan Gaudet. LSU took a 3-0 advantage thanks to Gaudet with 8:16 remaining in the first quarter.

The two teams traded punts before LSU had another chance to add to its early lead. The Tigers' next scoring drive began at their own 11-yard line thanks to a holding penalty on a Green punt return. But LSU quickly left the shadow of the north endzone behind thanks to a 32-yard scamper by Broussard on the drive's first play.

LSU continued to span large chunks of territory on the ground throughout the drive, but were forced again to attempt a field goal inside the Commodore 15-yard line after the drive stalled. This time, Chris Jackson pushed the three-point attempt wide left and the score remained 3-0 with 13:34 remaining in the first half.

Vanderbilt took possession at the LSU 20-yard line and pushed the ball across midfield for the first time on a 34-yard completion from Cutler to Marlon White, giving the Commodores a first down at the LSU 42. Cutler drove his team to the Tiger 29-yard line with an 11-yard run on a quarterback draw, but the drive stalled there and Patrick Johnson entered the game to attempt to tie the score with a 47-yard field goal. LSU's Jesse Daniels squashed that threat by blocking the attempt before it reached the line of scrimmage.

LSU took over with Randall calling the signals at its 30-yard line but was forced to punt after three plays. Vanderbilt didn't give itself the chance to punt after taking the ball back from LSU as tailback Kwane Dostler dropped an option pitch from Cutler giving LSU the ball at the Commodore 21-yard line.

The Tigers appeared to extend the advantage on the third play after the fumble when Broussard tiptoed across the goal line from 11-yards out. But that play was called back because of a holding penalty. Instead, Broussard put the Tigers ahead 9-0 two plays later when he bulled his way through the middle of the Commodore defense from seven yards out. Gaudet's point after was good and LSU took a 10-0 lead with 6:12 remaining in the half.

Vandy fought back on its next possession to cut the Tiger lead back to three points as Cutler expertly guided his team on a 13-play, 83 yard drive. After completing a 13-yard pass to White on third down at the LSU 14 yard line and giving his team a first down at the one-yard line, Cutler dove over the pile for his team's first score. Johnson added the point after and the Tiger lead was cut to 10-7.

Randall started the second half for the Tigers and put his team in position to drive into Vanderbilt territory on the first play of the drive when he turned a well-covered passing play into a 29-yard scramble. Broussard extended LSU's scoring chance by picking up nine yards on a fourth and one run on the drive's seventh play before Randall found receiver Craig Davis between two Commodore defensive backs in the north endzone. Davis out-jumped both Commodores before hitting the turf with the touchdown catch. Gaudet's point after extended the Tiger lead to 17-7 after a six-play, 81-yard drive.

Green extended LSU's lead with 7:11 remaining in the third quarter by returning a punt from Abtin Iranmanesh 65 yards while the Tiger Stadium crowd rose to its collective feet. Gaudet's point after increased the LSU advantage to 24-7.

Vandy followed Green's spectacular score with another precise drive into LSU territory. But that drive stalled due in large part to a personal foul penalty that pushed the Commodores from a second down at the Tiger 20-yard line to a third down and 23 at the Tiger 35-yard line. The Commodores were forced to punt and the two teams traded turnovers throughout the rest of the contest while neither threatened to score.