LSU celebrated its senior class Saturday prior to kickoff, and little else in the altogether funky home finale proved picturesque.
The Tigers (7-4) took nearly half the night to finally scratch the scoreboard, but mustered just enough — mostly defensively — to survive Western Kentucky, 13-10, in a Tiger Stadium that was largely empty by the time they secured a late onside kick to close out the uncomfortably tight final moments.
“I thought we did enough to find a way to win the football game,” interim coach Frank Wilson III said. “When we got in the locker room, here’s what I told our team: It’s hard to win. It’s hard to win in November. And, as the late Al Davis said, ‘Just win, baby.’ Just find a way to win. So we’re not gonna sulk. We’re not gonna put our head down. We didn’t play well offensively. A lot of that is because of the defense we went against, and then we’re still a work in progress.
LSU held the Hilltoppers (8-3) to just 152 yards — 22 yards on 24 rushes and 130 yards on 41 pass attempts — and 4-for-15 third-down and 0-for-2 fourth-down efficiency.
Freshman cornerback D.J. Pickett and sophomore cornerback P.J. Woodland each intercepted passes.
Sophomore linebacker Davhon Keys and senior safety A.J. Haulcy and led the team with 10 and nine tackles, respectively, and senior linebacker West Weeks added seven stops, 0.5 sacks and deflected the pass for the Pickett pick.
Senior edge rusher Jimari Butler wrapped up two sacks to lead the team’s five, including one by Pickett.
But the Tigers also needed a couple of their longer drives late for more than 100 yards to pad their own total up to 328 total yards.
Sophomore quarterback Michael Van Buren Jr. finished 25-for-42 for 202 yards with an 11-yard touchdown to Trey’Dez Green (East Feliciana, Zachary) and a first-half interception.
Senior wide receiver Zavion Thomas (John Ehret) and Green led the receiving corps with six catches each for 47 and 45 yards, respectively. And freshman running back Harlem Berry (St. Martin’s Episcopal) carried 18 times for 80 yards.
“The continuity of guys who had gotten those repetitions in abundance then it was tested,” Wilson said, citing a slew of injuries to offensive linemen and sophomore running back Caden Durham. “And so we’re a team where not just the starters, but the guys who were in back-up roles have to be ready to go, and so our depth was tested tonight, and so it limits the things that you wanted to do to protect the quarterback, to protect those linemen, to protect the play call. So when injuries start to occur the way they do, the playbook then kinda condenses to give yourself the best chance of doing whatever it takes to win the game.”
LSU allowed the Hilltoppers a field goal on the game’s opening possession, but nothing else thanks both to the home defense and the visitors’ miscues.
Western Kentucky drove down to the 6-yard line early in the second quarter, but dropped an open touchdown on second down and then a tougher pass two plays later to turn the ball over on downs.
The teams traded another fourth-down stop each before the Tigers could mount a 62-yard drive late in the half and take the lead on the Green catch over the middle, hanging on in tight coverage and rolling over the tackler into the end zone.
Pickett’s interception in the third set up an 18-yard Damian Ramos field goal, and Woodland’s five plays later — on a deflection by senior edge rusher Patrick Payton — continued the LSU defense’s building momentum.
Ramos added a 29-yard field goal in the fourth.
And LSU appeared poised to cruise its way to the 13-3 victory on the strength of its defense before Western Kentucky freshman linebacker Jordan Donald popped loose a late fumble senior defensive back Dylan Flowers scooped and returned 71 yards to the Hilltoppers’ first touchdown.
“I thought out special teams probably played the best they’ve played all year in totality,” Wilson said. “From a field goal standpoint, to kickoffs kicking it out of the end zone, from a return standpoint and coverage unit, and so we did ascend in some areas — again, specifically defensively and special teams. We still have some work to do to get over this hump. We’ll have to play better next week to have a chance.”
The Tigers will hit the road next week at No. 8 Oklahoma (9-2, 5-2) to close the regular season with their first trip to Norman, Okla., since the Sooners joined the SEC last season.