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!