Josh Williams rushed for two touchdowns, Garrett Nussmeier passed for one and host LSU ended a three-game losing streak by beating Vanderbilt 24-17 on Saturday night in Baton Rouge, La.

Williams finished with 90 rushing yards and 61 receiving yards. Nussmeier completed 28 of 37 passes for 332 yards to lead the unranked Tigers (7-4, 4-3 SEC), who were No. 8 in the AP poll before the losing streak began.

Diego Pavia, who threw a touchdown pass of 63 yards on the Commodores’ first play from scrimmage, completed 13 of 24 throws for 186 yards and rushed six times for a team-high 43 yards and a touchdown.

On the first possession of the second half, Vanderbilt (6-5, 3-4) converted a fourth-and-1 from its own 45 to reach the LSU 27. The drive stalled from there and Brock Taylor kicked a 47-yard field goal to cut the Tigers’ lead to 14-10.

On the ensuing possession, LSU converted a fourth-and-5 when Nussmeier threw a 24-yard pass to C.J. Daniels. Nussmeier connected with Kyren Lacy for a 12-yard score on the next play, extending the lead to 21-10 late in the third quarter.

Damian Ramos kicked a 28-yard field goal for the Tigers with 10:41 left in the game before the Commodores responded with a 10-play, 75-yard drive to get within seven. Pavia punctuated possession with a 1-yard run to make it 24-17 with 5:47 remaining.

Vanderbilt never got the ball back as LSU advanced 66 yards to run out the clock and send the Commodores to their second consecutive loss.

The hosts went three-and-out on the game’s first possession before Pavia connected with Quincy Skinner Jr. for Vanderbilt’s only touchdown until Pavis’ fourth-quarter run. On the ensuing possession, LSU drove 90 yards, with the last 20 coming on Williams’ tying touchdown run.

LSU advanced to the Commodores’ 3-yard line on the next drive, but Nussmeier threw incomplete on fourth down, leaving the score at 7–7 at the end of the first quarter.

Vanderbilt later went for a fourth-and-2 at the LSU 20 and Pavia threw an incomplete pass with 4:29 left in the first half. The Tigers then drove on Williams’ 21-yard touchdown run to take a 14-7 lead at halftime.

–Field-level media