LSU went over to Orlando and smashed a bunch of trains.
The Tigers annihilated Purdue 63-7 in a record-setting performance in both points and yardage for the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl. Not a bad way to round out the first year of the Brian Kelly era, eh?
With all that in mind, here are my three quick takeaways after LSU's demolition of the Boilermakers over in Orlando.
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THE NEXT EVOLUTION OF JAYDEN DANIELS
There's no question Jayden Daniels' junior season for the Tigers was remarkable. He's a true dual threat. He's got a clutch gene. He's the man in Baton Rouge for one more season.
But as I sat on WWL's pregame show with Herb Tyler prior to the Citrus Bowl, the biggest thing I feel like I need to see from JD is pretty simple: Right now he's always running to run, but I need to see him run to throw.
It's the difference between being an elite college quarterback and being a Heisman front-runner and future NFL star. It's something Lamar Jackson does as well as anyone. It's something Joe Burrow does as well as anyone. It's something Russell Wilson has done (this year excluded), as well as anyone.
Be a quarterback first. Use your athleticism to supplement that. Force the DBs to defend longer than they want to. Make it hurt.
And that was the Jayden Daniels I saw in the Tigers' Citrus Bowl domination of the Boilermakers. Yes, it was against a shell of the team that found itself in the Big Ten title game last month, but I don't care. This is a mindset thing, and Jayden sure looks like he's developing it. He finished 12-17 for 139 yards and a touchdown, adding 67 yards rushing on his 6 carries, while ceding a fair chunk of the action to Garrett Nussmeier.
The runs will always be there, and Purdue did an excellent job of shutting them down early. That'll happen, and it's why you have to be able to stress teams in other ways. And when you do that well? The big runs emerge, as it did in the second quarter of this one with a 37-yard scamper.
JD is going to enter the 2023 season as a Heisman contender. This is how he needs to play to be a front-runner.
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THE SWAG IS BACK
When LSU went into the Texas Bowl last season they had fewer than 40 scholarship players available. Brad Davis was the interim head coach. The Tigers had a WR at quarterback. Kansas State basically took a light jog to a bowl blowout.
Fast-forward a year, and it was LSU in the role of the team with nothing but optimism ahead of them in a bowl game rout. Purdue was without its starting QB, top WR and top TE. Not even assistant coach Drew Brees could tilt the odds in this one.
But it was the tone they set that was truly impressive. Without WR Kayshon Boutte, DE Ali Gaye, RB Josh Williams and a handful of others, this Tigers squad didn't get any less ferocious. Even up 35 at halftime, the effort never waned. The hits were hard, both on offense and defense, and Purdue either was unwilling or unable to match that intensity. It's the type of edge that was glaringly absent over the 2020 and 2021 seasons. The swagger has been rebuilt in one ascendant season under Brian Kelly, even if it took a bit a stumble at the end.
Is there any doubt that the expectations for this team will be through the roof the next few years? The only negative for Kelly is that he's ruined the curve for himself. This team no longer has the luxury of being the upstart, punch-up program in the Southeastern Conference. They've got to make their statements on the field and there will no longer be pleasant surprises in big wins. They'll be expected. LSU fans won't complain about that. Neither will its coach.
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GARRETT NUSSMEIER SHOULD BE STARTING SOMEWHERE
If it was only the performance in a bowl game against an overmatched opponent, I'd take it with a grain of salt. But it was Garrett Nussmeier, not Jayden Daniels, that had the Tigers keeping pace in the second half against the Georgia juggernaut in the SEC Championship.
He doubled down on that performance at the Citrus Bowl, filtering in for a pair of touchdown drives in the first half, and finishing the game 11-15 for 173 yards, 2 TDs and an interception. He looked composed. He took shots. His passes were on-target and on time. It was impressive.
And that's what makes things complicated: Garrett is ready. But will he be patient, with Daniels appearing guaranteed another year as the Tigers starting quarterback? It's tough to say in the modern era of transfer first and ask questions later.
The second question: Should he be? The complication for Nussmeier isn't whether he should stick it out with the plan to take the reins in his redshirt junior season, it's that there's a good argument to be made that he won't be the best option when that season rolls around.
Walker Howard is a 5-star, elite quarterback recruit. Players of his caliber don't sign on at programs where they might have to wait three years for a shot at the starting role.
All this is to say, Garrett Nussmeier deserves to be a starting quarterback somewhere next season. He's showed you that over his past two appearances. If he weighs his options this offseason and decides to transfer to get on the field, I certainly wouldn't be mad at it.
LAGNIAPPE
Freshman TE Mason Taylor was unstoppable in this game. A good way to finish out a season that began with Brian Kelly heaping all the hype on the young player. He finished the game with 5 catches for 88 yards and a touchdown. Not too shabby. He'll be good for a long time. ... LSU had more total first downs (16) in the first half than Purdue had rushing yards (13). The Tigers outgained the Boilermakers 364-86 over the opening 30 minutes of play. ... Bettors in New Jersey were unable to put action on the game due to Drew Brees' affiliation with PointsBet. The Former Purdue standout was an interim assistant coach for the game. ... The Tigers got tricky in the third quarter, with WR Malik Nabers throwing a pass to Kyren Lacy for a 45-yard gain. They did it again in the third, with Nabers taking a reverse and finding QB Jayden Daniels for a TD catch. That marks the second consecutive LSU bowl game appearance in which a WR completed multiple passes (Jontre Kirklin, Texas Bowl, 2021). ... LSU became the first team in the past 25 years to have three different players (Jayden Daniels, Garrett Nussmeier, Malik Nabers) to throw a TD pass in a bowl game.