LSU football: The Tigers steamroll Southern, earn first win of 2022

LSU football is officially up and running on the 2022 season. Just six days after a crushing loss to Florida State in the Caesars Superdome, Brian Kelly has his first victory as Head Coach of the Bayou Bengals. There were more than 102,321 fans on campus to welcome the Notre Dame legend to Baton Rouge in style as the Tigers looked to dispatch of visiting Southern.

The result of this contest was never in question. This match-up was more about bringing together two of Louisiana’s most iconic programs and putting on a show—both on and off the field, looking at you, Human Jukebox—than it was a competitive football game. Nevertheless, the state’s flagship university rolled on the evening. LSU improves to 1-1 on the year with a 65-17 demolition job of the visiting Jaguars.

LSU football steamrolled Southern and the Tigers earned their first win

It was total domination from the Tigers from the opening whistle. Southern fumbled the opening kickoff and LSU wasted no time getting on the board. Jayden Daniels and Co. would go on to score a program-record 37 points in the first quarter, setting the tone for the rest of the night.

The Tigers’ QB1 was pulled early in the second quarter with the win already secured. He ended his evening with a near-flawless stat line: 10/11 passing for 137 yards and four total touchdowns. Daniels tacked on three carries for 18 yards for good measure. He also didn’t turn the ball over, which makes it two games now for the former Arizona State transfer without an interception or lost fumble. Suffice it to say, Kelly has a phenomenal quarterback on his hands.

The most impressive part of his game was his ability to spread the ball though.

Daniels quickly opened the contest by getting the receivers involved in the game, which proved a constant throughout the 60 minutes. LSU had eight unique touchdown scorers in Week 2. Chief among them was the aforementioned Daniels, running back Armoni Goodwin (12 carries, 85 yards and two touchdowns) and Malik Nabers (three receptions, 81 yards and a touchdown).

Garrett Nussmeier—who was involved in an intense quarterback battle throughout the summer with Daniels—commanded the offense for a majority of the game. He ran mostly with other second and third strings. Unfortunately, Nussmeier put on an inconsistent performance with a couple of interceptions, including one that led to Southern’s first touchdown.

On the other side of the ball, LSU did extremely well to contain an explosive offense. The Tigers were able to rotate a lot of players while also giving BJ Ojulari the evening off. They got off the field on third down more often than not, which was the only complaint about the unit against the Seminoles last weekend.

All in all, this game provides the Tigers with some confidence going forward. They were able to rest some of their key players, continue to familiarize individuals with one another and get some reps for those deep down on the depth chart. Perhaps most importantly, Mike Denbrock got the running game involved to the tune of 230 yards on 36 carries.

LSU now turns its attention to Mississippi State, who will come to Death Valley next Saturday. Kelly’s team has a little pep in its step following a blowout win over Southern in which it addressed almost every issue from the week before. If this team continues to improve, there is a real possibility that the Tigers go on a bit of a win streak early on.