In the midst of a grueling Southeastern Conference schedule, sometimes a reset is needed.
LSU football’s midseason clash with Army appeared as what fans might consider a cupcake game, an easy game to prepare LSU for the second half of the SEC schedule.
That’s not how Brian Kelly and his team treated the game, though, and their continued focus led to a 62-0 win.
“The work you put in, regardless of who your opponent is, it’s necessary to achieve the things that you want,” Kelly said after the game.
The game went as many expected. LSU dominated from its first drive, and the Jayden Daniels-led offense continued to move the ball with ease as it has all season.
Daniels had an up-and-down start, though. After leading an eight-play, 75-yard touchdown drive on LSU’s first possession, a few uncharacteristic missed throws led to a rare three-and-out on the second possession.
Then the highlight came.
Evading a rusher and rolling to his right, Daniels found Brian Thomas Jr. running down the sideline. Eighty six yards later and Thomas was in the endzone celebrating LSU’s longest play of the season. Thomas bounced back from a quiet game against Auburn, finishing with 122 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
The passing game carried LSU’s offense, with multiple quarterbacks and receivers getting in on the action. Daniels finished with 279 yards and three touchdowns in just one half. Garrett Nussmeier had a solid night in relief too. He finished with 90 passing yards, highlighted by a 51-yard touchdown pass to Malik Nabers.
“We just have so many different options and so many different weapons,” Kelly said. “The running game obviously was not something that we went to right away. We felt like throwing the football was the best way to move the football tonight.”
Nabers himself padded his already elite stats, adding 121 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
The one negative to take from LSU’s offensive performance was the lack of a running game. The Tigers ran for 201 yards in the game but struggled to establish the run early, with top running back Logan Diggs rushing for only 26 yards.
That all changed at the end, though, with freshman Trey Holly showing promise in the second half. Holly ran for 91 yards, highlighted by a 67-yard touchdown run on LSU’s final offensive play.
“He does it all the time in practice, so it was it was amazing to see him actually get a chance to be in the game,” LSU senior running back Josh Williams said of Holly’s run.
Defensively, LSU got the performance it needed.
The defense pitched its first shutout of the year, and held Army to just 193 yards of total offense. Not only did the defense get stops, it was aggressive and opportunistic, forcing four turnovers in the game.
Andre’ Sam had his best game of the season at safety, intercepting two passes and nearly picking off two more.
“I could’ve had four,” Sam said with a smile, “but two, I’m satisfied.”
However the unfortunate highlight of the game for the defense came at the end of the first half.
On a Hail Mary attempt to end the half, Zy Alexander caught an interception, but was injured at the end of the return, having to be helped off the field. It appeared to be an ankle injury, and Alexander didn’t return to the game.
Kelly said after the game that they had to evaluate the injury, and would have a better idea of the severity in the next 48 hours.
Despite Army’s offense not being pass-heavy, LSU’s secondary still had an impressive performance. The secondary held Army to six completions on 15 attempts for only 42 yards. Add the three interceptions, and LSU continues to move in the right direction defensively.
Now it gets real for LSU.
The Tigers follow this win with a bye week before its biggest task of the year, a road showdown against Alabama. Though another good night for the defense gives fans hope, it’s next test will decide what kind of season LSU will have.
“I’m not ready to nominate this defense for, you know, any award, but they are making the progress necessary to continue to build and have the building blocks to be a defense that can be a championship football team,” Kelly said. “This was a big step for us.”
