By RON HIGGINS, Journal Sports
BATON ROUGE – It took LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier’s school-record-tying six touchdown passes to subdue a 46½-point underdog here Saturday night.
Nicholls State, whose annual athletic revenue doesn’t equal the contracts of LSU’s new defensive coaching staff, gave the 18th-ranked Tigers all they could handle in their home season opener.
The Colonels, a Football Championship Subdivision (formerly known as Division I-AA) program, trailed 23-21 with the second half just two minutes old after Colin Guggenheim’s 67-yard Wildcat QB keeper. Afterward. LSU scored 21 unanswered points for a 44-21 victory before a Tiger Stadium crowd of 100,242.
“A win is a win,” LSU linebacker Greg Penn III said. “It’s easier to learn from stuff you did wrong while winning.”
LSU head coach Brian Kelly was hoping to see the usual first-to-second-game leap of improvement coming off last Sunday’s 27-20 loss to USC in Las Vegas.
He said he saw a tired team operating on a short week of practice that didn’t play with the same physicality as it did against USC.
“I know what this team can be,” Kelly said. “I’m not here to make a million excuses, but that was a fatigued team, and it affected them.
“That’s not going to be their best work. We were still able to win by 23 points. They’re not going to say that it was their `A’ work.”
For the second straight week with an anemic rushing game despite the LSU offensive line outweighing Nicholls’ defensive front by an average of 65 pounds per man, Nussmeier had to carry the Tigers’ offense.
He completed 27 of 37 passes for 302 yards, spreading his scoring strikes to Kyren Lacy (32, 6 and 7 yards), Trey’Dez Green (1 yard), Ju’Juan Johnson (4 yards) and Zavion Thomas (4 yards).
“The coaches let Nuss loose a little bit,” said LSU tight end Mason Taylor, who had four catches for 40 yards. “That comes with the trust the coaches give him because he did a great job in practice and the USC game.”
Five Tigers had five or more catches, including Liberty transfer wide receiver CJ Daniels. He had four receptions for 71 yards in his Tiger Stadium debut period.
“We have lots of playmakers in the receivers’ room,” Daniels said. “We hone in when the ball is in the air. We have to make the play.”
As efficiently as Nussmeier played – he’s the first LSU QB in history to pass for 300 more yards in each of his first three starts dating back to last January’s ReliaQuest Bowl – the Tigers’ rushing attack was again missing in action.
After rushing for just 117 yards on 25 carries vs. USC, LSU completely went in the tank against a considerably smaller Colonels defensive front. The Tigers ran for a meager 64 yards on 24 carries.
That’s a huge concern for a team that opens SEC play on the road next Saturday at South Carolina. The Gamecocks (2-0) went to Kentucky as a 9½-point underdog for their SEC opener Saturday and clobbered the Wildcats 31-6.
“We’ve got to look closely at what we’re doing in the running game,” Kelly said. “Nicholls gave us a lot of man coverages to throw. I know there were a lot of (running) plays we checked out of the line of scrimmage because of the extra (defensive) hat (in the box).”
Just as problematic for the Tigers was a defense that allowed Nichols running back Guggenheim, to run for 145 yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries, most of them lining up in the Wildcat formation as a QB and taking a direct snap.
His 67-yard TD romp through the heart of the LSU defense on the Colonels’ third offensive snap of the third quarter was like a bucket of cold water being dumped on the Tigers.
So was Nicholls’ trick play, a lateral pass from quarterback Pat McQuaide to wide receiver Quincy Brown in the left flap, who then lofted a perfect 18-yard scoring strike to tight end Lee Negretto to cut LSU’s lead to 9-7 with 12:17 left in the second quarter.
“We drew that play up in the dirt,” Nicholls coach Tim Rebowe said. “We’ve been working on that, and we’ve done a good job. We’ve been connecting and trying to save it for the right moment.”
The Colonels never led in the game, but their 295 total offense yards (to LSU’s 378) helped them possess the ball more (31:09 to 28:51) than the Tigers.
The game didn’t get away from Nicholls until LSU scored on its first three possessions of the third quarter period.
“We had some nice momentum offensively, we’ve got to get balance running the ball,” Kelly said. “When our defense finally started to play well, our offense never really complemented our defense.
“Now, you’ve got to go on the road against a South Carolina team that’s going to have a lot of momentum. The clock is ticking. We’ve got to play complementary football and be more physical on both lines.”
Contact Ron at ronhigginsmedia@gmail.com