Advertisement
football Edit

LSU answers bell in 28-25 survival of Mississippi State to open SEC play


One day shy of one year ago, a record-setting Mississippi State onslaught called LSU's defense into questions that lingered all the way into this season.

But that much-maligned group had more than enough answers Saturday in Starkville, Miss., to stymie the Bulldogs and set Max Johnson, Kayshon Boutte and the Tigers' offense up for enough big strikes to open SEC play with a 28-25 victory.

"Good team win," coach Ed Orgeron said. "I'm proud of our football team, and I'm proud of our coaching staff. They worked very hard this week. We've been working on this Air Raid (offense) ever since last year."

LSU bent, but wouldn't break defensively — and, ultimately, on the scoreboard.

Orgeron, defensive coordinator Daronte Jones and company went heavily to a 3-2-6 defensive look the coach said had been, in some ways, a year in the making.

"We've been thinking about that since the Sunday after our game last year," Orgeron smiled. "And really we watched Arkansas and what Arkansas had done to 'em. We really studied Arkansas' film a lot."

Advertisement

Mississippi State racked up a season-high 486 yards, including 371 through the air, by the time the late morning kickoff wound to its mid-afternoon conclusion.

But the Bulldogs had surpassed the 620-yard mark in each of those categories to open the 2020 season

"(Coaches) told us: 'Just keep the ball in front you. That's the biggest thing,'" senior linebacker Damone Clark said. "No explosive plays. Don't bite on the cheese. Keep the ball in front you. And, I mean, it worked well."

And, even losing Derek Stingley Jr. and Andre Anthony during the past week, LSU held Mississippi State to just a field goal until the final seconds of the third quarter.

Cordale Flott and Damone Clark did their best to pay homage to their injured teammates in setting the tone.

Stingley upended a receiver after a first-possession catch the week prior to force a fumble that Anthony returned 33 yards to the end zone and send the Tigers off and rolling.

Seven days later, Flott was the junior defensive back to free the ball bouncing to the grass for Clark to scoop and dash 35 yards the other direction.

Anthony joked via Twitter that "you gotta score" those opportunities.

"I should've scored that," Clark smiled in agreement. "That's on me. But I'm just proud the way our defense fought. I mean, Flott was all over the field. I'm just proud of him."

But Johnson and Boutte picked up that slack nine plays later with an 11-yard touchdown to give LSU an early lead it wouldn't relinquish.

Clark and Flott finished with 15 tackles and eight tackles, respectively, with the latter also intercepting a first-half pass to end another Bulldogs drive.

Linebacker Micah Baskerville recorded 11 tackles, including 0.5 for loss. Freshman safety Major Burns had nine tackles. And senior defensive end Ali Gaye recorded the team's lone sack.

Mississippi State's lone scoring drive of the half — a 14-play, 80-yard march in the second quarter ran into a brick wall at the 2-yard line.

The Tigers forced the Bulldogs backward and into just a field goal attempt Nolan Mccord hit to pull back to within 7-3.

"We know what happened last year," Clark said. "It's a new year and new coaches, so the past is the past. We just made sure the same thing that happened last year didn't happen this year. And, like I said, I'm proud of our defense."

Johnson and Boutte struck again two plays into the second half, the latter slanting quickly over the middle and heading off to the races for 64 yards.

The sophomore quarterback finished 17-for-27 for 280 yards, four touchdowns and one interception.

And the sophomore receiver led his targets with four catches for 85 yards and the two scores.

Boutte now has 24 for 224 yards and eight touchdowns this season, including three multiple-touchdown games in four weeks.

"They were kind of switching defenses around," the Westgate product said. "So I was moving kind of back and forth from field to boundary, and they were looking at different looks trying to get me the ball. And they kind of figured out the right schemes and everything, and it played out, and everything fell into place."

Mccord missed another opportunity in the third quarter.

And Johnson a wide-open Trey Palmer 58 yards downfield later in the quarter to walk into the end zone and stretch the margin to 21-3 with the extra point.

Mississippi State finally started mounting its comeback attempt with a 29-yard strike from Will Rogers to Makai Polk in the final seconds of the third quarter.

The Bulldogs appeared to come up with a potentially pivotal stop a few plays later, but a penalty on the punt extended the LSU drive.

Johnson hit another sophomore, tight end Kole Taylor, crossing under Boutte and finding the sideline for a 41-yard touchdown after two defenders collided.

The scoring reception was the first of Taylor's career.

And Johnson became the first quarterback to throw three touchdown passes of 40 yards or more since Rohan Davey in 1999.

"I think (offensive coordinate Jake) Peetz just dialed up some great plays," Johnson said. "Whether they were playing 0-coverage or man-to-man, I think coach Peetz called specific plays to beat that coverage, and we were able to capitalize."

Mississippi State's offense kept rolling late with touchdown passes from Rogers to Austin Williams and Jo'quavious Marks and a two-point conversion to Malik Heath.

But the Bulldogs failed to push an onside kick attempt far enough before falling on the ball.

And LSU kneeled out a third straight victory and started conference play on a positive note.

"I felt good going into halftime, but I knew it was gonna be a 60-minute game," Orgeron said. "I knew those guys were gonna adjust to what we were doing. They're a good coaching staff. They've got some good players. I wish we would've finished better."

The Tigers return home to host Auburn next Saturday at 8 p.m.

Advertisement