 had its chances with freshman Ken Seals making his home debut. When Randall Haynie picked off an overthrown pass from Brennan, Seals hit tight end Ben Bresnahan with an 8-yard TD pass to pull the Commodores to 14-7 in the second quarter. They never scored again. Todd Harris Jr. picked off Seals' pass at the goal line early in the fourth quarter. ''We just got to continue to get better at doing the little things because that was more about fundamentals than anything else,'' coach Derek Mason said of his Commodores. THE TAKEAWAYLSU: The Tigers' offense clicked pretty well. They didn't need more than 1 minute, 53 seconds on any of their first five scoring drives. Brennan capped one drive on just three plays with a 51-yard TD to Marshall. After Brennan was sacked seven times in the opener, he wasn't taken down even once in this game. Vanderbilt: The Commodores did a great job keeping the ball away from LSU with a time of possession just over 20 minutes in the first half. But they too often found themselves starting deep in their own side of the field. Seals put the ball on the money to Ja'Veon Marlow on their opening drive of the third only to have the ball dropped with nobody in front of the running back. HEALTHY STINGLEYThe Tigers got Derek Stingley Jr. back, and he showed why LSU missed him in the opener when he was in a hospital. He had 92 yards on punt returns with a 28-yarder early in the second quarter put LSU at the Vanderbilt 38. Four plays later, the Tigers were up 14-0. His 48-yard return midway through the third set up a field goal. Then there was his defense where safety JaCoby Stevens says Stingley makes a big difference. ''He's the best corner in the nation, so guys think twice about throwing the ball his way,'' Stevens said. '' And that hesitation . . . gives our front four time to get there and our front four played lights out. '' HEY THEREVanderbilt only allowed 2,000 students into the stadium Saturday night to start testing procedures, hoping to ramp up to eventually allow players and coaches' families in along and maybe fans too. The Commodores also had some cut-outs on the LSU side of the field, including the Vandy baseball team. Seals' family took their own approach. The Seals had a room in the hotel up on the eighth floor overlooking the open end zone with a great view of the field. They also put up lights inside the window, making it easy for their son to see where his family was watching him. UP NEXTLSU returns home to host winless Missouri. Vanderbilt stays at home in a matchup of winless teams with South Carolina. ---Follow Teresa M. Walker at https://twitter. com/TeresaMWalker---More college football: https://apnews. com/Collegefootball and https://twitter. com/-Top25)
Sep 29, 2020LSU left a poor first impression for 2020, but the 20th-ranked Tigers have a chance to make a better one when they travel to Nashville, Tenn. , for a Saturday night kickoff with SEC foe Vanderbilt. Last Saturday's 44-34 loss to Mississippi State was not the debut the Tigers or their new defensive coordinator Bo Pelini wanted, as heavily favored LSU allowed Bulldogs quarterback K. J. Costello to throw for an SEC-record 623 yards. LSU coach Ed Orgeron addressed Pelini's debut this week. "(Pelini) was hurt just like everybody else," Orgeron said. ". . . Hurt that he didn't do better. Hurt that the defense didn't do better. Just like we all are. " Also hurt in the actual sense was All-America cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. , who was hospitalized with an illness last week and didn't play in the MSU debacle. Orgeron says the sophomore, who had 38 tackles, six interceptions and 15 pass break-ups last season, should play this weekend. The LSU offense, led by quarterback Myles Brennan, also failed to get anywhere near the bar that departed quarterback Joe Burrow and that 15-0 team set a season ago. Brennan threw for 345 yards, but also two interceptions. The Tigers' running game (38 carries, 80 yards) was pedestrian, though that counts minus-45 yards on MSU's seven sacks. The Tigers defense should get well against a Vanderbilt attack that struggled to post 255 yards (3. 8 per play) at Texas A&M on Saturday. However, the Commodores -- 30. 5-point road underdogs -- fell just 17-12 thanks to a new-look defense under first-year coordinator Ted Roof. Vanderbilt defense end Dayo Odeyingbo (seven tackles, two stops for loss, one sack, one hurry) and linebacker/end Andre Mintze (two tackles, one stop for loss, one forced fumble) were outstanding, part of a defensive line that Pro Football Focus graded the best in the country last week. The Commodores allowed 17 first downs and held the Aggies to 372 yards. Vanderbilt even found some optimism on offense, where true freshman quarterback Ken Seals was 20 of 29 for 150 yards, with two interceptions and a touchdown. Seals showed poise and pinpoint accuracy on almost all his throws (one pick appeared to be a miscommunication with receiver Cam Johnson) and got rid of the ball quickly behind a makeshift offensive line decimated by opt-outs. "Obviously it's at the high school level, but what you saw on Saturday is what we saw of Ken coming out of high school: extremely accurate on the move as well as in the pocket, and those are the things that have shown up throughout camp," Commodores coach Derek Mason said on Tuesday. The Tigers are 20. 5-point favorites in a game that can be seen on the SEC Network. Vanderbilt, which earlier announced it won't allow fans for games until at least November, said it would allow a "limited" number of students to attend. The teams played last season at Vanderbilt, with LSU wining, 66-38. --Field Level Media
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