It was another historic night in Tiger Stadium when LSU hosted Georgia State. Quarterback Jayden Daniels made it loud and clear that he’s the best player in college football. Daniels became the second QB in LSU history to account for eight total touchdowns in a single game, which tied former Heisman winner Joe Borrow.
If Daniels hasn’t wrapped up the Heisman trophy just yet, his 509 total yards and eight touchdowns surely helped his caused. He also achieved a college football milestone, as he eclipsed over 3000 yards passing and 1000 yard rushing for the season.
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All that said, Jayden Daniels wasn’t the only player who performed well against the Georgia State Panthers, his wide receivers Malik Nabors, Kyren Lacy and Brian Thomas Jr all had big touchdown plays that led the Tigers to eight straight scoring drives.
We’ll talk more about the historic night in this week’s good, bad and the ugly.
Good
LSU offense
I didn’t want to leave anybody out in this one, so I combined the entire unit on the field. While the running attack is still a work in progress, Daniels’ ability to pick up yards with his feet is all that is needed.
While the Heisman will be the talk of the week for LSU fans, Malik Nabers may have inched closer to earning the Biletnikoff Award for the best wide receiver in college football. Nabers finished the game with 140 yards and two touchdowns, one of which was his 40 yard catch for the Tigers final score of the game.
Malik Nabers entered the week with the most receiving yards in college football, and he added impressive numbers to his stats, while his main competition, Marvin Harrison Jr, only finished with 30 yards and a score vs Minnesota.
Brian Thomas, who leads the nation in touchdown receptions, added another TD, which is enough to keep him as the leader for another week. Thomas goes into the final week of the regular season with 14 on the year.
Let’s also give a huge bow to the LSU offensive line. Without them, Daniels and LSU’s offense wouldn’t have put up those impressive numbers all year. The The Tigers were only flagged for 25 yards on three penalties and one of those was on Nabers for a hold running downfield.
LSU’s offense will get one final crack at padding their numbers and scoring their 9th win next week when they take on the Texas A&M Aggies in Baton Rouge. They’ll be looking to revenge last season’s 38-23 loss that essentially knocked them out of a New Year’s Six bowl game.
Bad
LSU’s first half secondary
The game didn’t start as planned as the Panthers went down the field and got seven quick points to take the lead. The Tigers gave up 57 yards passing on the opening drive as Georgia State was able to do what almost every quarterback has done - beat LSU through the air.
We started to see some LSU adjustments made by the second quarter. Georgia State was able to tie it up 14-14 and that was the last time they got into the end zone.
Daniels benefited a bit from his team’s early poor defensive showing, as he was able to stay in the game as the 4th quarter started. While there are still concerns about the defense, LSU’s offense looks unstoppable; and they’ll just try to outscore their remaining opponents.
Ugly
Heisman odds
Daniels entered the game around +300 odds to win the Heisman trophy while the favorite to win the award, Oregon QB Bo Nix, sat around -120. Nix managed to pass for six touchdowns Saturday, which significantly helps his chances to win, But, after this LSU performance, Nix is still the small favorite at +120 to Jayden Daniels’ +130.
The race shouldn’t even be this close, but since Bo Nix and Oregon are in the running to win the Pac-12 championship, voters will put some emphasis on that. We’ll get a better idea next week when Oregon plays their rival Oregon State, then Washington in the Pac-12 championship. If Bo Nix is unable to win either of those games, I think Jayden Daniels will be the Heisman Trophy winner.