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KNOXVILLE, Tennessee (Ticker) -- It took a little while, but Casey Clausen finally found his target in Kelley Washington. Clausen passed for 309 yards and a score and ran for another as eighth-ranked Tennessee bounced back from a slow start to defeat 14th-ranked Louisiana State, 26-18, in a Southeastern Conference game. Washington caught 11 passes for a school-record 256 yards, including a 70-yard scoring strike in the third quarter. The backup quarterback broke the record of 225 yards set by Johnny Mills against Kentucky in 1966. "Tonight the opportunities were just there for me to produce," Washington said. "I know the offense was looking for a spark. Sometimes they would play off me and sometimes they would play up. When they played up, we had the opportunity to take it deep." Both teams were playing for the first time since September 8, and it was LSU that took control early as Rohan Davey threw a 67-yard TD pass to a wide-open Michael Clayton 4:31 into the game. It was the beginning of a big night for Davey, who completed 21-of-43 passes for 356 yards and two scores. Meanwhile, Clausen threw both of his interceptions in the first half and the Volunteers setted for field goals of 42 and 44 yards by Alex Walls in the second quarter to cut the halftime deficit to 7-6. Tennessee (3-0, 2-0 SEC East) took control in the second half with a 16-play, 82-yard drive that ended with a three-yard TD run by Clausen, who improved to 9-1 as a starter. "I thought for the most part in the first half we were moving the ball, but not all that we were capable of doing," Clausen said. "I thought for the first time in the third and fourth quarter, the offense played like it was capable of playing." Almost five minutes later, Clausen connected on the 70-yard TD pass to Washington to increase the lead to 19-7 after three quarters. Travis Stephens, who carried 34 times for 95 yards, seemingly put the game out of reach with a one-yard TD run with 11:46 left that made it 26-7. But the Tigers would not fold as Davey completed a 30-yard TD pass to Josh Reed and a two-point conversion pass to Reed with 10:13 left. Reed caught seven passes for 125 yards. A 35-yard field goal by John Corbello cut the deficit to 26-18 with 3:12 remaining. LSU was uable to get back the ball until 30 seconds left with the help of a 30-yard completion to Washington. The Tigers had one more chance, but Davey, who engineered an overtime win over Tennessee last season, had a long desperation pass fall incomplete in the end zone as time expired. "I think we ran out of time. The biggest difference in the second half is that we established ourselves after making adjustments," Davey said. "The bottom line is they got a 'W' and we didn't." LaBrandon Toefield, who had seven touchdowns in his first two games, was limited to 20 yards on eight carries for the Tigers. LSU lost for the first time under coach Nick Saban when leading at halftime (8-1).
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