STARKVILLE, Miss. Many say there are no easy games in the Southeastern Conference. LSU might’ve proved that wrong on Saturday.
In their SEC opener, the Tigers beat Mississippi State 41-14 on the road, and looked unstoppable for portions of the game. Jayden Daniels was 30 for 34 with 361 yards, Malik Nabers caught 13 passes for 239 yards and LSU’s offense rolled on its way to the win.
“We showcased what we can do if we execute at a high level,” Daniels said after the game.
Moving the ball was never an issue for the LSU offense through two games. However, finishing drives was.
When a false start took an LSU touchdown off the board on its first drive on fourth-and-goal, it felt like the struggles of the season opener were resurfacing.
That was far from the case.
After settling for a field goal on the opening drive, LSU scored touchdowns on three of its next four drives. The Daniels to Nabers connection was the driving force, as Nabers had 10 catches for 188 yards before halftime.
Head coach Brian Kelly attributed much of the team’s early edge to the way the team thought about the game coming in. The mentality adjustment was a point of emphasis following the Florida State loss after a poor start to the second half of that game.
“Just love the way they thought about this trip,” Kelly said. “The way we presented it to them was, ‘Let’s get in. Let’s treat this like a business trip and let’s be the first ones back in Baton Rouge tonight and enjoy Saturday night.'”
That helped LSU to a 24-7 lead at halftime, one it never lost control of. LSU’s attack through the air looked unstoppable at times, and Mississippi State struggled to find answers.
A big part of that success came with how successfully LSU was able to push the ball down the field. The lack of deep throws was one of the main criticisms of the LSU offense against Florida State. The deep shots came early and often against Mississippi State, and they opened up the offense which led in part to the 41-point explosion.
“I believe my guys are better than the other guys so I go out there, throw it to the spot and give them a chance and good thing will happen because 90% of the time my guys will come down with it,” Daniels said.
Another factor early on was how LSU was able to take advantage of the Mississippi State defense’s fatigue. This was caused by how effective the LSU defense was early in the game.
As much of a statement game this was for the offense, the defense also came in with a point to prove. After a poor showing in Week 1 from the secondary and more shaky moments in Week 2, Saturday became an opportunity to bounce back from the early struggles.
“Going to LSU we have a high standard, we call ourselves DBU. So we just want to uphold the standards that the greats set for us,” LSU safety Major Burns said. “We didn’t really get into all outside noise. We just locked in, and everybody in the building believed and we came out here and did a pretty good job today.”
Mississippi State punted on its first five drives of the game, and went three-and-out on four of those. The quick three-and-outs gave the defense little time to recover from LSU’s methodical drives, allowing LSU to keep wearing the Mississippi State defense down.
The end result was a 530-yard performance from LSU’s offense, 367 of that coming through the air. The offense’s ability showed in the win over Grambling State, but it gained new meaning coming against an SEC opponent.
Daniels had more passing yards than any game during his time at LSU. Nabers set a career high for receiving yards. Freshman running back Kaleb Jackson came off the bench and flattened a defender on a 13-yard run late in the game.
LSU earned a blowout victory without ever looking challenged. Both sides of the ball answered the questions asked of them, but the offense showed it can be elite.
The flashes came against Florida State too but total offense doesn’t matter when you can’t get in the endzone. Saturday, LSU did that.
The game ended as a statement win for LSU as SEC play began. A statement showing that despite an early season slip up, LSU still has every intention to contend at the top of what feels like a wide open SEC West.
“We needed this game,” Kelly said. “But it wasn’t the need for confidence. It was the need to go and validate who we were.”
