It still doesn’t erase the sting from the Week 1 meltdown against Florida State that the entire nation saw on Labor Day weekend.

But after a Week 2 blowout win over Grambling, No. 14 LSU (2-1) journeyed to Starkville and launched its pursuit of back-to-back SEC West titles with a dominant 41-14 victory on Saturday over previously undefeated Mississippi State (2-1) in the conference opener for both teams.

Here are 3 takeaways from the road rout:

A Daniels-Nabers 1st-half show for the ages

Quarterback Jayden Daniels and star wide receiver Malik Nabers put on a memorable aerial assault in the opening half. Nabers caught an eye-popping 10 passes for 188 yards and 2 touchdowns from Daniels, who completed an equally eye-popping 21 of 22 passes for 255 yards.

One incompletion in 22 attempts in the 1st half of a road conference opener is about as good as it gets, and it enabled Brian Kelly’s team to settle in and pull away for good.

What happened to Will Rogers?

Early in the 4th quarter, Rogers’ stats read as follows: 7-for-20 passing for a whopping 65 yards and 0 touchdowns. You would think Rogers, in his home stadium, in an SEC opener, could manage better numbers than that, especially considering the Bulldogs were playing from behind all day and garbage stats were there for the taking.

Nope. Rogers finished 11 for 28 for 103 yards.

Just a forgettable day for Zach Arnett in his 1st SEC game as a head coach.

How many 1st downs did State have?

Ten. And 4 of them came late in the 4th quarter, with the game long decided.

That’s simply unacceptable when you’re playing at home, on national TV and, again, in an SEC opener against an SEC West rival that’s already shown it’s vulnerable. That just can’t happen, but it did for a team that’s not ranked but was firmly in the “others receiving votes” list for the AP Top 25 this week.

There’s a lot of regrouping (and head scratching) to do for Arnett and the Bulldogs, and the next 2 weeks aren’t kind on paper with a trip to South Carolina followed by a home game against Alabama.