Vanderbilt Commodores Offense Struggles To Get Going in One-Score Loss to LSU
The Vanderbilt Commodores went into Death Valley on Saturday night and put up another tough fight against the LSU Tigers. The Commodores weren't able to come away with a victory, however, as they dropped this one 24-17.
It looked as though the game was headed for a shoot out early on
After the Vanderbilt defense forced a quick stop, Diego Pavia found Quincy Skinner Jr. streaking down the sideline for a 63-yard touchdown on the first play of their first drive. It was a picture perfect start after the disappointment of last season.
The Tigers answered quickly, however, with an efficient march down the field to tie the game on the next drive.
Scoring took a little bit of a break after that. LSU took their first lead of the game with just under a minute remaining in the first half.
The Commodores defense was playing with a lot of intensity, but the offense couldn’t match them. Vanderbilt was able to keep it at one score game for most of the day, but LSU never surrendered the lead after that.
Vanderbilt's offense only put together one other solid drive in this one and it was too litte, too late.
That didn't stop Pavia from hitting a 'Money Manziel' celebration after getting his one-yard rushing touchdown on the board, however.
Pavia for 6️⃣ pic.twitter.com/JXRfMM7sBd
— Vanderbilt Football (@VandyFootball) November 24, 2024
The game was iced in one of the worst ways imaginable, a defensive delay of game penalty. Clark Lea was livid at the officials, but it was a clear lapse in judgement on the Commodores defense.
Vanderbilt drops to 6-5 on the season and 3-4 in conference play. It is still a positive season, their first bowl-eligible campaign since 2018, but it hasn't reached the heights that looked to be on the table once they beat the Alabama Crimson Tide.
The Commodores tried to get Nate Johnson involved some more in this one, but maybe not enough.
The Tigers have struggled a lot with mobile quarterbacks this season and Johnson was averaging 6.7 yards a pop.
Pavia didn't have much going for him in this one, outside of the big touchdown at the top of the night.
It was the Commodores offensive line that really struggled, though, very little space opened up and passing plays got broken up fast. LSU picked up eight hurries.
Vanderbilt's secondary got torched by Garrett Nussmeier. The Tigers passer was 28-for-37 for 332 yards and a score.
Four of the five Commodores losses this season have been by one possession.
Dylan Sanders graduated from Louisiana State University with a degree from the Manship School of Mass Communication in 2023. He was born in raised in Baton Rouge, LA but has also lived in Buffalo, NY. Though he is a recent graduate, he has been writing about sports since he was in high school, covering different sports from baseball to football. While in college, he wrote for the school paper The Reveille and for 247Sports. He was able cover championships in football, baseball and women's basketball during his time at LSU. He has also spent a few years covering the NFL draft and every day activities of the New Orleans Saints. He is a Senior Writer at Inside the Marlins and will also be found across Sports Illustrated's baseball sites as a contributing writer. You can follow him on Twitter or Instagram @dillysanders