BATON ROUGE, La. — When moving only on its own merit, LSU was incapable of scoring a touchdown on Mississippi State.
The No. 5 Tigers (7-1, 4-1 Southeastern Conference) were gifted some of the best field position possible on the first possession, an interception return putting them three yards away from a score. It still took LSU three plays to score that touchdown, and that struggle was indicative of the 57 minutes to follow.
LSU mustered a measly 239 yards on the No. 22 Bulldogs (4-3, 1-3 SEC), settling for four field goals. It was enough, as they beat MSU 19-3, a third instance of a heroic defensive performance against a conference opponent being outdone by offensive ineptitude.
“We know we were the better team on the field tonight, especially defense,” defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons said. “We left plays out there tonight, even when we did hold them to field goals.”
LSU’s moments of success were few and far between: a 19-yard pass in the second quarter, a 12-yard run early in the third and a 20-yard pass near the end of it. But when LSU turned those plays into scoring opportunities, it could not finish the job with a touchdown.
It helped that MSU held a potent Tiger rushing attack to 2.5 yards per carry. An offense that averaged 238 rushing yards per game over its last four was held to 110 Saturday.
“We were more physical, especially up front,” SImmons said. “We knew what they were doing. We knew their top runs and we knew they didn’t have much.”
As they went, the Macon native Simmons set a career-high with 10 tackles and safety Johnathan Abram did the same; safety Mark McLaurin hit that number for the second consecutive week.
Another highlight play came on a moment of personal significance for Louisiana native Cameron Dantzler, intercepting LSU quarterback Joe Burrow in the end zone. The only unfortunate part is it was soured by his attempt at a return being pushed out of bounds less than a yard outside of the goal line, leaving MSU poor field position.
“I felt like I could’ve had a pick-6 right there,” Dantzler said, adding the intended receiver only had a slight grab of his jersey. “It was back home, it was an exciting moment for me.”
Fitzgerald’s climb continues
Even in an evening that may be his lowest of lows as a passer, Nick Fitzgerald the runner was making history.
In running for 131 yards on the Tigers, Fitzgerald pushed his career total to 3,130, becoming the first SEC quarterback to run for 3,000 in a career. He is now one of three Bulldogs in the 3,000-yard rushing club, joining Jerious Norwood and Anthony Dixon.
Most of Fitzgerald’s rushing success against LSU came in the interior, as MSU ran power with him early and often. Sometimes it was part of a run-pass option in which Fitzgerald had a read that could have him throw a screen instead of run; other times, it was a called run all the way.
“We had some success with it. They remained efficient, just didn’t have any explosive plays out of it,” MSU coach Joe Moorhead said, referencing Fitzgerald’s 40-yard run on the play being his only carry of more than 13 yards.
Moorhead added LSU’s choice to play three-man defensive lines allowed MSU to use double-teams, making those power plays even more advantageous.
In passing that 3,000th yard, he became one of just 11 players to run for 3,000 yards, throw for 5,000, run for 40 touchdowns and throw for 40 touchdowns in a career. Every other player on that list has at least 6,000 career passing yards, and Fitzgerald has five regular season games and a bowl game to join them; he currently stands at 5,208.
Punting saga rolls on
The juggle between Tucker Day and Kody Schexnayder continued during Saturday’s loss.
Day was listed as the starter and he handled most of the duties, taking five punts with an average of 34.6 yards and a long of 42. Schexnayder took two punts, also with a long of 42 and averaging 35 yards per punt.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Brett Hudson on Twitter @Brett_Hudson
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