Earlier in the week, Brian Kelly issued the challenge to his team. Could No. 3 LSU treat Louisiana Tech like it was Clemson? The Tigers spent all offseason preparing for a top-10 matchup with the ACC favorite. Every second was spent thinking about going 1-0.
Then the Tigers did that. They beat Clemson, ended their losing streak in openers, and shot up the AP poll. In Week 2 against Louisiana Tech, Kelly wanted to see the same fire.
“That’s the hard part of this,” Kelly said.
And that proved to be difficult for LSU, at least early. The Tigers scored just 7 points in the first quarter and 3 in the second quarter. They kept the Bulldogs out of the endzone until the fourth quarter, but LSU didn’t roll its Group of 6 opponent the way some of its SEC peers did on Saturday. Behind 237 yards from Garrett Nussmeier, the Tigers won 23-7 to move to 2-0.
A win is a win, but the Tigers will feel like there are things to build on.
Nussmeier threw a pick 4 plays into the game. LSU missed a field goal on its second drive of the game. The Tigers settled for a field goal in the second quarter after having a first-and-goal from the 7. They punted on the following possession and punted again on their first drive of the second half.
But LSU’s defense rose to meet the moment.
Louisiana Tech punted on each of its first 8 possessions. Four of those drives saw the Tigers punch the Bulldogs off the field after just 3 plays. Only 1 of the 8 drives gained at least 30 yards. LSU dominated the field position battle for most of the night because the defense never let Louisiana Tech get started.
The Bulldogs finished with just 154 yards of total offense — 96 through the air, 58 on the ground. They averaged only 2.9 yards per play. LSU had 2 sacks and 5 tackles for loss. Remove the sacks and the Bulldogs still averaged just 2.7 yards per rushing attempt.
LSU’s offense wasn’t clicking — just 4.9 yards per play — but the Tigers have now shown through the first 2 weeks of the season they have the defense to carry the day when needed.
Up next? A home date with Florida (1-1). The Gators come to Baton Rouge for a 7:30 p.m. ET kick on ABC.
LSU 23, La. Tech 7
Here’s the LSU-La. Tech box score (use the dropdown menu to select team or player stats), followed by the complete play-by-play:
Garrett Nussmeier vs Trey Kukuk
A statistical breakdown of how LSU QB Garrett Nussmeier outperformed La. Tech counterpart Trey Kukuk:
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.
