BATON ROUGE – Rarely do you see any surprises in college football’s regular season-ending games.
Such as someone running 100 yards for a touchdown with the first kickoff return of his career.
Or a head coach awarding a game ball to a player he called “x——x uncoachable” in a sideline cussing explosion that made the rounds on social media two weeks ago.
Or a starting quarterback throwing a 40-yard TD on his sixth snap since returning the field after he went to the locker room for X-rays of an injured shoulder.
On a chilly Saturday night that belonged to LSU in its 37-17 spanking of Oklahoma, the Tigers showed flashes of why they could have finished 10-2 and 7-1 in the SEC to be in the mix for an invite to the expanded 12-team college playoff.
But also repeated enough mistakes – they called three timeouts to avoid getting delay-of-game penalties – to confirm they are exactly who we think they are.
Which is an 8-4 team with a 5-3 SEC record bound for a lower-tier bowl that the Tigers fall into now and then.
The 20-point win over the Sooners on their first trip resulted in a range of emotions from third-year coach Brian Kelly with such post-game comments touching on:
Truth: “The standard is I didn’t come down here to go 8-4. I’m not happy about 8-4. Nobody in that (dressing room) is happy about being 8-4.”
Perspective: “They (his team) played well after a three-game losing streak, and they bounced back. They easily could have fractured. Instead, they stuck together, and they stayed committed and beat two teams (Vanderbilt and Oklahoma) that were really good football teams in this league.
“This game teaches you lessons about grit and toughness and perseverance and not giving up and letting go of the rope. They simply went out and played inspired football the last two weeks. . . (with) consistent performances.”
Hope: “Yesterday at the hotel. 21 true freshmen made the travel roster (to dress out). We’re going to introduce 16 mid-year freshmen to this roster.
“We’ll have 37 freshmen in winter conditioning for the first time. So when you’re talking about the foundation for your program coupled with having key players come back who haven’t announced it yet, that’s what’s pretty exciting When we’re finished with this roster, this roster will compete at the highest level.”
Belief: “This thing (LSU program) over three years is 19-2 home. Whatever camp (of critics) you want to jump into, go right ahead. . .we’re taking receipts, and we’ll see you at the national championship. This team is building.”
Quarterback Garrett Nussmeier, a junior who hasn’t decided whether he’ll declare for the NFL (which would be a huge mistake) after just his first year as a starter, agreed with his head coach.
“I believe that when we do the things the right way, and we’re about our process, we’re a dangerous football team,” said Nussmeier, who threw for 277 yards and 3 TDs vs. the Sooners to up his season total to 3,735 yards 26 touchdowns. “When we look back on it, there are three quarters of football (the fourth quarters in losses to USC, Texas A&M and Florida) that we want back that could completely change our season.
“That’s the frustrating thing. We were right there, and we were so close, and we got into a little bit of a slump. You can’t do that in the SEC. This league is so tough. People are losing every week.”
Like LSU losing to Alabama by 29, Alabama losing by 21 to Oklahoma and Oklahoma losing by 20 to LSU.
But LSU battled through some early adversity against the Sooners.
The Tigers’ defense had trouble in the first half slowing Oklahoma sophomore QB Jackson Arnold, who finished with 75 rushing yards after losing 24 on four sacks.
When Oklahoma had a 75-yard scoring drive with only three snaps – a 50-yard Arnold pass completion, a 28-yard Arnold run and a 2-yard TD plunge by Xavier Robinson – for a 14-10 lead with 7:22 left in the second quarter, LSU appeared it was knocked back on its heels.
And then Aaron Anderson happened.
The third-year sophomore receiver, probably the Tigers’ most improved player in 2024 after transferring to LSU last season from Alabama, was inserted into the game to return the kickoff (because of an injury sustained by starting returner Zavion Thomas) after Robinson’s score.
The New Orleans native had never returned a kickoff in college. He’ll never forget his first, gathering the ball at the goalline, finding a crease on the left side and swinging to the sideline in front of the Oklahoma bench. Armed with a convoy of blockers, he ran a straight line to the end zone with LSU’s second 100-yard TD return ever in the 100-year history of Tiger Stadium.
“It was a momentum move forward that carried us throughout the game,” Kelly said.
After Oklahoma’s Zach Schmitt kicked a 44-yard field goal for a 17-17 tie with 2:13 left in the second quarter, there was time for Nussmeier to work his magic after he returned to the game from his injury. He gave the Tigers a 24-17 halftime lead on a 40-yard TD pass to the oft-injured Chris Hilton Jr.
Yes, there was a successful Chris Hilton Jr. sighting.
Hilton, who missed the first seven games with an ankle bone bruise, also scored on a spectacular 45-yard scoring strike with 6:48 in the third quarter for a 31-17 lead. It appeared Nussmeier had overthrown Hilton, who cut right to left and made an all-out dive for the catch.
“The deep threat has been missing from our offense, and it’s been difficult,” said Kelly, who was caught on TV cussing at Hilton after he mistimed a catchable deep ball 27-16 loss at Florida. “Teams (defensively) have sat down on us. Teams have made it difficult for us because we haven’t had that vertical threat. When you can push the ball down the field and have the other options that we have within our offensive structure, it’s huge for us.”
After scoring a season-high first-half point total in an SEC game this year, the Tigers scored just 13 points in the second half. But it was enough because LSU’s defense held the Sooners scoreless after halftime.
It looked like classic LSU defense. Gang tackling with four or more defenders sprinting to the ball. Cornerbacks and safeties making well-timed, aggressive hits. For the first time this season, the opposing offense felt the true, physical wrath of the Tigers.
“Man, that was fun, we were just flying around,” said Tigers’ linebacker Whit Weeks, who had 15 tackles, a sack, two tackles for loss and forced a fumble.
LSU will find out its bowl destination next Sunday, probably the Gator (Jacksonville), Music City (Nashville) or Texas (Houston).
In the meantime, early signing day is Wednesday followed by portal shopping for mostly linemen on both sides of the ball.
“The big picture is I’m excited about our future, regardless of what people seem to think,” Kelly said. “Everybody’s entitled to their opinions, but nobody knows what it looks like from the inside. I’ve got the best perspective of that, I don’t listen to what you (the media) have to say. We’re going to build it the way we know how we’re going to build it.”
Contact Ron at ronhigginsmedia@gmail.com