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LSU bounces back from loss to dump Mississippi State

BATON ROUGE, La. -- Hangover? What hangover?

Ninth-ranked LSU looked a tad sluggish in the early going Saturday night against 21st-ranked Mississippi State after a memorable but hard-to-choke-down loss to No. 1 Alabama the week before.

Once the Tigers got a little wakeup call, though, they seized command.

Sparked by a turnover and Zach Mettenberger's continued hot hand, LSU rode a strong finish in the second half to a 37-17 victory at Tiger Stadium.

Safety Craig Loston sealed the victory when he grabbed an interception in the closing moments and rambled 100 yards for a touchdown.

A week before, the Tigers absorbed a gut-wrenching 21-17 loss to the Crimson Tide, a defeat that likely knocked LSU out of the national-championship hunt.

Against the Bulldogs, Mettenberger passed for 273 yards and two touchdowns to anchor an impressive offensive night for the Tigers (8-2, 4-2 SEC). LSU piled up 392 total yards and 22 first downs.

"The question was whether this football team would come to play after playing an emotional game a week ago," LSU coach Les Miles said. "There's not any question that they would."

It did take awhile for the Tigers to get untracked, and that could've been problematic because Mississippi State (7-3, 3-3) snapped out of a two-game funk and played well.

Not well enough, though, as the Bulldogs lost a 13th consecutive game to the Tigers. LSU has won 20 of the last 21 against Mississippi State dating back to 1991.

"Tough loss," Bulldogs coach Dan Mullen said. "The kids played hard out there for us (Saturday). That's not good enough. We're here to play football games. There are little errors you can see along the way and little mistakes we made that we have to get corrected to continue to move forward in the right direction and then put ourselves in position to win these types of games."

Mississippi State got as close as 20-17 early in the third quarter, capitalizing on a muffed punt. LSU's defense forced a three-and-out on the Bulldogs' first series of the quarter, but Tigers receiver Odell Beckham Jr. coughed the ball up, and MSU recovered at the 29.

Following a questionable pass interference call Loston, the Bulldogs scored when Tyler Russell floated a perfect pass to Chad Bumphis -- over Loston -- on a flag route in the end zone.

Unfazed by the narrowed gap, the Tigers' offense came out and went to work.

With Mettenberger picking apart the Bulldogs' secondary, LSU rolled 45 yards for a Drew Alleman field goal from 41 yards away.

Then after forcing Mississippi State's second punt of the quarter, the Tigers pieced together a nice 80-yard drive, ignited by a 22-yard Mettenberger-to-Beckham pass and a 27-yard screen to Michael Ford.

Mettenberger was 19-for-30 passing. In his last two games, he has rolled up 571 yards through the air.

"I think our passing game is coming," Miles said. "I think Zach is playing extremely well. He has nice touch on the ball and he knows where he needs to go. He's making quality decisions."

The Tigers took a 30-17 lead in the final seconds of the third quarter when 270-pound fullback J.C. Copeland plowed in from 1 yard out.

The Bulldogs made two more surges in the fourth quarter but came up empty-handed.

Mississippi State moved to the LSU 15-yard line after several Russell passes and a pass-interference penalty on the Tigers. But Sam Montgomery and Barkevious Mingo -- after struggling to put pressure on Russell all night -- sacked him on consecutive snaps to snuff out the threat.

Following an LSU punt, Russell and Co. again started clicking. Starting from the Bulldogs' 13, they started peppering the Tigers' secondary. Russell connected on throws of 17, 11 and 16 yards for three rapid-fire first downs.

The Bulldogs got to the 4-yard-line, but a penalty pushed them back. Two plays later, Loston delivered the dagger with his pick-six.

Russell finished 26-for-38 for 295 passing yards, the highest total against LSU this season.

"We felt some of their players were pretty good at rushing the passer, so we did some things to get the ball out quick, and it was effective," Russell said. "Unfortunately they made more plays than we did."

Mississippi State scored first with a well-run opening series as Russell came out hot, hitting five of six passes to four different receivers. The Bulldogs churned through an LSU defense that seemed a step slow in the secondary, carving out four first downs.

The last one set up first-and-goal from the 9-yard line, which prompted Mullen to send out backup quarterback Dak Prescott for a wildcat snap. Prescott got the ball, faked a run and floated a pass to tight end Marcus Green, who was all alone in the end zone.

The Tigers' offense methodically pecked away and produced Alleman field goals on the next two possessions with back-to-back 12-play drives to close the gap to 7-6.

Before Mississippi State could answer, a turnover turned the game around.

Russell pitched the ball to Derrick Milton on a sweep play to the right, but Mingo blew the play up and knocked the ball away. Linebacker Lamin Barrow pounced on it, and the Tigers were in business at the Bulldogs' 21-yard line.

After a 2-yard loss, Mettenberger connected twice with Jarvis Landry, the second a 19-yard laser in the end zone that put LSU on top for good, 13-7.

The Bulldogs inched closer on Devon Bell's 47-yard field goal, but the Tigers weren't content to run out the clock in the half.

Instead, Mettenberger engineered a quick-strike drive with passes to Landry for 15 yards, 36 to James Wright down the right sideline and then 20 to tailback Spencer Ware on a nifty wheel route out for a touchdown and a 20-10 halftime cushion.

"You're seeing the coaches have more confidence in us," Mettenberger said. "They're mixing it up, more run-pass and being more balanced. Guys are making plays, having confidence and having fun out there."

NOTES: The Tigers are now 19-1 following a loss in Miles' eight seasons, 8-1 when they face an SEC foe after a setback. ... Saturday was Miles' 59th birthday. ... Jeremy Hill's streak of games with 100-plus rushing yards ended. The LSU freshman finished with 49 yards on 15 carries. ... LSU has now won eight games or more in each of Miles' eight seasons. The Tigers have a chance to notch a 10-plus-win season for the third year in a row and sixth time under Miles. ... Loston's return was the Tigers' longest play since Eddie Kennison's 100-yard punt return against the Bulldogs in 1994. ... LSU finished with a season-low two penalties for 20 yards. Both were defensive pass interference calls. ... Russell's TD pass in the third quarter was his 17th, a single-season school record.