LSU faced a dangerous situation Saturday.

But the fifth-ranked Tigers managed the dangers and came away with a 19-3 victory in Tiger Stadium against No. 22 Mississippi State.

Coming in, the Tigers had played seven games in seven weeks, four against ranked teams.

They were beat up, tired and eager for the respite offered by the impending open date.

They could have still been a bit satisfied with themselves because of the 36-16 victory against No. 2 Georgia a week earlier.

Then, of course, there was the thought of what awaits after the open date – the showdown with No. 1 Alabama.

So all kinds of stuff could have shaved a little off of LSU’s edge, which could have been really dangerous against Mississippi State. The Bulldogs were coming off of a potentially season-correcting 23-9 victory against Auburn, and they blasted the Tigers 37-7 a year ago.

A mediocre performance could easily have led LSU to defeat, something that would have negated the win against Georgia and dramatically lessened the importance of the game against Alabama.

But mediocre the Tigers (7-1, 4-1 SEC) were not. The only Bulldogs they paid attention to were the ones in front of them, not the ones they had routed a week earlier. As for the Crimson Tide, LSU was content to let that build up over the next two weeks.

Early on, the Tigers weren’t at their best. Maybe there was a little fatigue at play or maybe it was just because State (4-3, 1-3) is a pretty good team.

The running game was slow to get going and quarterback Joe Burrow committed a critical turnover, but the defense was outstanding and Cole Tracy was Cole Tracy.

LSU led 10-3 after defense-dominated first half in which the Tigers had 9 yards on 17 rushes.

But on the first possession of the third quarter, they mustered a modicum of offensive balance. Nick Brossette ran three times for 17 yards, Burrow had completions of 9, 7 and 2 yards to Justin Jefferson, and State was called for pass interference along the way.

LSU eventually stalled, but Tracy came on to kick his second field goal, a 38-yarder that boosted the lead to 13-3.

The Bulldogs started moving on the enduing possession and got to the Tigers 37 and went for fourth and 3, but Grant Delpit sacked Fitzgerald.

A facemask penalty on State and an 11-yard completion from Burrow to Ja’Marr Chase moved the Tigers into scoring range again and again Tracy was good, this time from 29 yards, for a 16-3 lead late in the third quarter. Tracy added a 40-yarder in the fourth. The bad news in the fourth quarter for LSU was that linebacker Devin White was ejected for targeting and will miss the first half against Alabama.

State, which had rediscovered its running game in the victory against Auburn, didn’t have enough running or passing to mount a comeback against this defense.

A week earlier the Tigers had one of their biggest home victories in recent memory, but that was an afternoon game. This was Saturday night in Death Valley and it was rocking at the start.

The crowd noise contributed to consecutive false starts on State’s first two plays from scrimmage.

Two plays later Michael Divinity Jr. intercepted a Nick Fitzgerald pass and ran 31 yards to the Bulldogs 3.

From there it took three plays to score, but on the third one Brossette found the end zone from 1 yard for a 7-0 lead.

No doubt at least a few Tigers fans were already thinking ahead to a showdown between a 7-1 LSU team and Bama.

But Fitzgerald and State kept their cool. On the ensuing possession he had runs of 40 and 13 yards to move the Bulldogs into scoring range before the drive stalled. Jake Christmann kicked a 19-yard field that trimmed LSU’s lead to 7-3.

Then moments later, the Tigers picked off Fitzgerald again as Delpit set the offense up at the State 24.

But on first and 10 from the 11, Burrow threw an interception just short of the goal line as Cameron Dantzler came down with the ball.

Suddenly rain was falling and the game was settling into the toe-to-toe defensive battle that figured to take place. There were 15 possessions and 10 of them ended in punts before LSU took over late in the half.

Finally Burrow found a little consistency in the passing game. He had completions of 11, 19, 11 and 9 yards as the Tigers approached the Bulldogs end zone before stalling.

Tracy came on and kicked a 25-yard field goal as time expired, sending LSU into halftime with an uneasy 10-3 lead.

But gradually the uneasiness drifted away as the Tigers rolled into the open date.