BATON ROUGE, La. — Keiland Williams proved to be enough to power the LSU offense, which has yet to hit high gear.

Williams rushed for 72 yards and LSU’s only two touchdowns in a 23-9 victory over Vanderbilt on a rain-soaked Saturday night.
The Commodores (1-1, 0-1 Southeastern Conference) trailed by only one touchdown midway through the fourth quarter as they attempted to win in Tiger Stadium for the first time since 1951.
No. 11 LSU (2-0, 1-0) pushed it to 23-9 with 6:01 to go after Williams’ second touchdown. He slipped a tackle at the line of scrimmage, cut back, then faked a defender to the ground before hurdling over him and into the end zone for the 14-yard score.
Larry Smith scored Vanderbilt’s only touchdown on a 6-yard quarterback keeper in the first half. Vanderbilt freshman Zac Stacy rushed for 89 yards.
LSU’s Charles Scott did not have one of his better days, finishing with 49 yards rushing, but powered through the line to convert a pair of third-and-short runs on LSU’s final scoring drive.
That drive seemed to have stalled on Joel Caldwell’s diving interception near the goal line, but linebacker Chris Marve was called for defensive holding, giving the Tigers a first down on the Vanderbilt 24-yard line.
For most of the game, however, Vanderbilt’s defense kept the Commodores in the game with clutch stops, at times frustrating an LSU crowd still waiting to see the Tigers explode following a nervous 31-23 victory at Washington a week earlier. They’ll have to wait at least until Louisiana-Lafayette comes to Baton Rouge next weekend.
LSU quarterback Jordan Jefferson had trouble finding open receivers downfield, constantly checking down to receivers running short routes. He was 20-of-29 for 138 yards. He did not throw and interception but was sacked three times. His longest completion went for 30 yards to R.J. Jackson late in the first half, setting up the second of Josh Jasper’s three field goals.
LSU made only five trips inside the Vanderbilt 20-yard line, and three of the first four ended in field goals.
Jasper connected from 32, 22 and 24 yards, the last one putting LSU up 16-7 in the third quarter.
Vanderbilt pulled back within a touchdown when LSU long snapper Alex Russian sent the ball sailing over punter Derek Helton’s head for a safety.
Early in the fourth quarter, Vanderbilt was driving for a potential game-tying score when receiver Alex Washington bobbled what would have been a first-down catch at the LSU 15-yard line and defensive back Brandon Taylor made his first career interception.
It was a respectable performance for the Commodores, though not as good as they had hoped after their 45-0 victory over Western Carolina last week. Penalties haunted the Commodores. They committed seven for 52 yards, and several of them sustained LSU scoring drives.
Vanderbilt yielded its first points of the season late in the first quarter after committing a pair of face mask penalties during an LSU drive capped by Williams’ 6-yard touchdown run.
Vanderbilt cut its deficit to 10-7 when Smith scored easily on a 6-yard keeper after faking the handoff to Stacy. It was no wonder LSU bit on the fake. A few plays earlier, Stacy’s serpentine 26-yard run around the right side put the Commodores on the LSU 21.
LSU’s defense shut out the Vanderbilt offense in the second half, however, and allowed Smith little success through the air. He finished 11-of-24 passing for 88 yards and one interception.