It was certainly closer at times than LSU would have liked, but coach Brian Kelly’s team pulled away in the second half to beat Nicholls State 44-21 in its Week 2 home opener on Saturday night. The Tigers move to 1-1 heading into its SEC opener on the road against South Carolina, which will host College GameDay next week.
Nicholls, a ranked FCS opponent facing LSU for the first time in program history, held its own for a while. The Colonels trailed just 23-14 at halftime and cut the Tigers lead to just two early in the third, but some offensive explosion was enough for them to avoid a much scarier conclusion.
[autotag]Garrett Nussmeier[/autotag] was strong in this game, completing 27 of 37 passes for 302 yards and six touchdowns. It was a good thing he was that productive because the ground game was non-existent.
The Tigers managed just 64 yards on 21 carries, with no back exceeding 19 yards individually. That’s a concern, especially with the season-ending injury to [autotag]John Emery Jr.[/autotag]
Freshman defensive back [autotag]Ju’Juan Johnson[/autotag], who moved to running back this week, helped bridge that gap and caught a touchdown pass out of the backfield. [autotag]Kyren Lacy[/autotag], who was injured in the first half but returned, caught three touchdown passes and totaled 65 yards in the receiving game.
After giving up a big day to USC, LSU’s defensive concerns were far from alleviated in this game. While it held Nicholls under 300 yards — just barely — quarterback Pat McQuaide was efficient and avoided turnovers while Collin Guggenheim went off for 145 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.
While Lacy was able to return, LSU didn’t escape the game entirely unscathed from an injury perspective. Veteran defensive tackle [autotag]Jacobian Guillory[/autotag] exited the game, didn’t return and was later spotted on the sideline in a wheelchair with his leg in a cast.
That would be a major loss if it proves to be for a significant period.
It wasn’t exactly the performance the Tigers were hoping for, but it gave them their first win and something to build on with a South Carolina matchup looming that suddenly seems tougher than expected.
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