LSU accomplished exactly what it wanted to do against Southeastern Louisiana in a 56-10 win over the Lions.
Quarterback Garret Nussmeier was sharp as he put up his best numbers of the season, 25-of-31 for 273 yards and threw three touchdowns, and guided the Tigers on six consecutive scoring drives before leaving early in the third quarter.
“We talked about during the week that he’s on the other side of the injury and he felt really good that’s why we actually ran him a little bit, he felt good running the football and we knew during the week that he was healthy just by the way he was throwing the football, so I would say that’s the version you’ll get the rest of the year,” Kelly said.
“I’m not going to answer any questions on the torso or the injury or anything like that, right now I’m excited about the way we played tonight, excited about how we came together as a unit and kind of established that rhythm we’ve been looking for all year,” Nussmeier said.
Running back JuJuan Johnson rushed for two touchdowns and looked decisive when he had the ball in his hands.
Bauer Sharp and Barion Brown each caught five passes and had a touchdown.
The Tigers’ defense was dominant again as the Lions were just 1-of-11 on third down. Young players got their first game experience.
Dylan Carpenter had his first career sack. Freshmen defensive end Damien Shanklin had two sacks, and former Destrehan star Kolaj Cobbins had two tackles.
All of that is great, but now the real season begins with six straight SEC games, four of which are ranked in the Top 20. The SEC grind starts Saturday against Ole Miss, which is averaging nearly 45 points a game after beating Tulane 45-10.
LSU’s defense has been great, giving up no more than ten points in its first four games, but the Rebels will be the first big test for the Tigers.
The glow from the season-opening win against Clemson continues to dim as Dabo Sweeney’s team is 1-3 after losing to Syracuse on Saturday. Florida is also 1-3 as they’ve scored just one touchdown in each of their three games against FBS opponents.
The LSU run game remains a concern. Caden Durham was held to 17 yards on seven carries and left the game with a sprained ankle. Kelly said they’ll have to do an MRI on the ankle to determine the seriousness.
The longest run of the night came from Nussmeier as he ran for 26 yards (a career high run) after being flushed out of the pocket.
The Tigers are ranked third, and the defense being good again has been the best development of the season. But LSU’s offense, particularly its run game, still needs to come along for the Tigers to be a championship contender.
The season starts now, and I’m eager to see what this LSU team can do!
