LSU finished Coach Brian Kelly’s first season in style, pummeling the Purdue Boilermakers 63-7. Purdue looked like a team that was outcoached and outmanned, even with Drew Brees on the sideline. They just had no answer from LSU’s speed and talent, and it was evident all day on both sides of the ball.
Playing with an interim head coach, Brian Brohm took the Louisville job, and without their top QB, WR and TE due to opt-outs, they just weren’t able to create enough offense to keep up with Jayden Daniels and Malik Nabers’ scoring bonanza. The Tigers rolled up a Citrus Bowl record 594 total yards of offense, including 312 passing combined between Daniels and Garrett Nussmeier.
It wasn’t just the offense that looked impressive. Matt House’s defense held Purdue scoreless through three quarters and allowed just 7 points, the second-lowest total of the season.
We’ll highlight all those who stood out and what’s next for Kelly in the 2022 season’s final good, bad and ugly.
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THE GOOD: LSU Offense
Jayden Daniels returned from injury and looked like the QB we saw during LSU’s five-game win streak earlier this season that won the Tigers the SEC West crown. He used his legs to rush for 67 yards and even caught a touchdown pass from WR Malik Nabers. Daniels finished 12 of 17 passing for 139 yards and a touchdown to freshman Mason Taylor.
We also got to see Garrett Nussmeier get in on the action early in the first half as he threw for 173 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. Nussmeier showed off his arm with some downfield passes to Nabers and Taylor. It’ll be an interesting offseason to watch, as Nussmeier will look to compete with Daniels for the starting job, though Kelly made it clear that there’s no quarterback controversy and Daniels is the starter going into the offseason.
Our MVP of the game goes to Nabers, who was the Citrus Bowl MVP as well. The sophomore finished with 163 receiving yards and a touchdown. He added two passing completions for 50 yards and another touchdown. With the absence of Kayshon Boutte and Jaray Jenkins, Nabers made the most of his opportunity against a depleted Boilermaker secondary.
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MORE GOOD: LSU Defense
Matt House could also receive MVP of this one. His defense was that good. The Tigers held Purdue starter Austin Burton to just 74 yards total. The Boilermakers couldn’t get any drives going as the Tigers defense made third down stop after third down stop after third down stop … you get the idea.
The LSU defense finished with four sacks, seven tackles for loss and three interceptions. One of those interceptions was the cherry on top of everything as Quad Wilson returned it 99 yards for a touchdown with 40 seconds remaining.
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THE BAD: Purdue injuries & opt-outs
There isn’t much negative you can say about LSU’s performance beyond the one interception thrown by Nussmeier in the end zone midway through the third quarter.
But we did see a rash of injuries for the Boilermakers. That’s not something you want to see at any point, but it’s worse in a bowl game. An already-depleted team, Purdue finished this game in far worse shape than it came in. The scariest injury came late in the game with WR Deion Burks going down after a vicious hit and being stretchered off the field.
Obviously, Tigers fans will be happy with the results, but opt outs have meant LSU’s last two bowl games have been borderline unwatchable – both on the winning and losing ends. Not sure if there can be anything done with players leaving early or transferring before the bowl games, but this game and the LSU rout at the hands of Kansas State last year are the kind of games you’re left with when they go unchecked.
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THE UGLY: …
There’s not much to complain about, so there’s certainly no “ugly” in this one. With that in mind, I’ll take the ugly section to recap Brian Kelly’s first season as head coach, and what’s coming next season for LSU. Coach Kelly not only helped LSU achieve 10 wins in Year 1, but won the SEC West and managed to land a top-7 recruiting class. Not too shabby.
LSU will return all five of their starting offensive lineman, including two freshmen (Will Campbell and Emery Jones) who will only grow into the tackle positions they manned all season. Defensively, LSU will have the talent in the secondary and returns DT Maason Smith, a 5-star interior lineman who injured himself celebrating a big play in the season opening loss to Florida State. The Tigers should come into next season ranked in the top 15 and they’ll play that same Florida State squad, back in the same stadium, to start next season.
Until the next time.
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