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Lee, Scott lead LSU over Mississippi State

Sep 28, 2008 - 4:14 AM BATON ROUGE, Louisiana (Ticker) -- Sixth-ranked Louisiana State wasn't taking any chances. The Tigers made sure the only thing upset on Saturday was their opponent, Mississippi State.

With fellow SEC powers Florida and Georgia being surprised at home, Louisiana State took care of business with a 34-24 victory over the Bulldogs.

Jarrett Lee threw for two touchdowns and Charles Scott rushed for two as the Tigers rolled to 426 yards of total offense.

"In a week where a lot of college football suffers losses, we played to win," LSU coach Les Miles said. "I can tell you that it was not the game that we all had scripted. We would've liked to play better than we did, but I like what we did.

"We gave a new quarterback a lot more time. We got a veteran running back 140 yards or so. We played a very physical defense and played with physicality, matched that physicality or exceeded it. We're a very capable team from this point forward, but we have to play better than that, and that will be the push."

Florida was shocked earlier in the day, 31-30, by Mississippi and Georgia was stunned, 41-30, in Athens by the Crimson Tide. The results put LSU in a good position due to a favorable schedule in SEC play.

The Tigers have a bye week, then play at Florida on October 11 in what could be their toughest road test of the season. They have home games against Georgia (October 25), Alabama (November 8) and Mississippi (November 22).

After the teams swapped field goals, Scott scored on two 1-yard runs to give LSU (4-0, 2-0 SEC West) a 17-3 lead in the second quarter.

"We like it," Scott said when asked about playing in the ultra-tough SEC. "It looks like it will be us and Alabama. It will be a showdown here against them. When we go to Florida that will be a huge game and then Georgia comes to play here.

"You can't look at it like you are in control because crazy things happen, as you can see. We just have to take it one game at a time."

Christian Ducre scored on a 5-yard run to make it 17-10 at the half, but the Tigers came right back and opened the gap to 14 on a 7-yard pass from Lee to Brandon LaFell, who had seven catches for 100 yards in the game.

LSU opened its advantage to 27-10 before Mississippi State (1-4, 0-2) countered with an 18-play, 74-yard drive that lasted 9:17 and concluded with Anthony Dixon's 1-yard run.

Lee found Demetrius Byrd with a 43-yard scoring strike to ice the game for the Tigers. Scott rushed for 140 yards on 27 carries while Lee was 18-of-27 passing for 261 yards.

"I liked Jarrett Lee. He makes a really clean read on a play and throws it early, and we get a pick, but by and large, he kept his poise," Miles said. "He threw some dog-gone good footballs. He passed for some yards, and I think we're very capable throwing the football with him there."

The Bulldogs closed the scoring when Tyson Lee found Ducre with an 11-yard pass to make it 34-24. Lee was 17-of-26 passing for 175 yards. Mississippi State hurt itself with 10 penalties for 90 yards.

"Tyson had an excellent practice this week," Mississippi State coach Sylvester Croom said. "Tuesday I was observing and he just really started to understand exactly what we were doing, where to go with the football. He threw the ball extremely well and executed the offense.

"From the sideline tonight, it looked like he did the same thing in the game. I liked his tempo and I liked the way he was in command throughout the course of the game."

Croom was impressed by LSU.

"It was obvious why they are so highly ranked," Croom said. "They are definitely an outstanding football team."