LSU defeats MS State 31-16

In the first SEC showdown in the Brian Kelly era, LSU hosted Mississippi St in Baton Rouge Saturday night. Head coach Brian Kelly has started the season 1-1 and throughout every press conference he has continued to encourage his players and letting the media know that the Tigers are “Fighters”.

Mississippi St. has been a surprise in the SEC early in the season entering the game 2-0. Quarterback Will Rogers have been consistent and is a player to watch out for in the SEC conference. The Bulldogs defeated two teams from known conferences (American & Pac-12) and had momentum traveling into “Death Valley”.

Mississippi St. head coach, Mike Leach, is known to deliver a high-powered offense. Early in the game the LSU defense looked like it might struggle with his “Air Raid” approach. Starting off with an early touchdown in the 1st quarter, the Bulldogs were up 6-0 (missed extra point attempt) and another touchdown by Bulldogs wide receiver, Rara Thomas, the score quickly jumped 13-0 in the 2nd quarter. It seemed that the Bulldogs were set to control the pace of the game. Give the LSU Tigers a lot of respect and credit by just staying ready and continuing to make plays. Tigers' wide receiver Jaray Jenkins caught a bullet touchdown pass by quarterback Jayden Daniels to cut the lead by halftime 13-7.

The second half belonged to the Bayou Bengals. LSU Tigers tacked on a field goal in the third quarter to make the game 16-10, but the game was won in the 4th quarter. LSU scored 21 unanswered points in the 4th quarter routing the Bulldogs of Mississippi St. 31-16 final. The LSU defense generated 2 turnovers (interception and a fumble recovery) and allowed only 289 total yards on offense with only 75 rushing yards. In addition to a stout defense, LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels threw for 210 passing yards on 22 of 37 passing attempts with 1 touchdown and 0 turnovers.

LSU now prepares another Saturday night contest against a 2-1 Mountain West contender in the New Mexico Lobos. The Tigers cannot overlook the Lobos if they would like to stay in the contention for overall records for any placement in the college football playoff rankings. Following the Lobos, LSU has 5 of the next 6 games vs. the SEC. The true measure of success for this season will be shown in the next month, but we believe Brian Kelly is 100% correct that the LSU Tigers are fighters.