LSU football powers past Mississippi State with second half surge

LSU football faced a huge task on Saturday night. The Tigers came into the day underdogs for the first time this season, at home no less. The pain of a Week 1 loss to Florida State was still looming large in Baton Rouge with a surging Mississippi State team—who was knocking on the door of the AP Top 25—coming into town. The Bayou Bengals needed to make a statement in the opening game of Southeastern Conference play if they wanted to be taken seriously.

All of the talk leading up to the 5 p.m. kickoff focused on the lethal Bulldogs offense. Mike Leach’s men averaged 44 points per game in their first two wins of the season over Memphis and Arizona. Meanwhile, aside from the loss to the Seminoles, LSU had just beaten an FCS squad in Southern. Not many people knew what to expect out of the contest, and it was truly a tale of two halves. The Tigers emerged victorious on the evening though, winning the game by a score of 31-16.

LSU football powers past Mississippi State with second half surge

The first half presented home fans with a lot of frustrations. LSU’s third different offensive line of the season—this one younger than its predecessors—struggled to cope early. Mike Denbrock’s offense couldn’t get anything going on the ground and costly penalties killed any early momentum  that Jayden Daniels and Co. had built.

It seemed depressingly reminiscent of the first three quarters against Florida State. The Tigers could do nothing right, and their opponents were having their way with them. LSU found itself down 13-0 with the possibility of going into the half down two scores looming large.

However, Daniels stepped up to the theoretical plate in crunch time once again. He led the Tigers down the field with under a minute left and found Jaray Jenkins on the goal line to cut the Bulldogs’ lead to six. There was a certain pep in LSU’s step from there on out.

A couple of tremendous stops from Matt House’s defense on either side of the half kept momentum with the Bayou Bengals. Daniels marched his team down the field again to cut the lead in half with a field goal before Mississippi State answered with a kick of its own. Little did everybody inside Tiger Stadium know, this would be the last time the Bulldogs would muster up any points on the night.

Things finally began to click for LSU’s offense in the fourth quarter, just like they did two weekends ago in the Caesars Superdome.

Daniels began connecting with his receivers—notably Malik Nabers, who came through with multiple huge third down conversions—the running backs began to hit the holes and LSU was moving the ball effectively. Three fourth quarter touchdown runs from Daniels, Josh Williams and Armoni Goodwin sealed the deal as the Tigers completed the comeback.

It wasn’t only the offense that kept LSU alive either. The Tigers’ defense was incredible throughout the entirety of the contest. Rogers, who came into the game leading the SEC in almost every category for quarterbacks, was contained for much of the evening. He finished 24-for-42 passing with 214 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Huge credit goes out to every individual on the defensive side of the ball, but players like Harold Perkins, BJ Ojulari and Jay Ward deserve a lot of credit for their gritty performances. On the offensive side of things, Daniels, Goodwin, Nabers and John Emery Jr. were fantastic all things considered.

It was far from perfect from LSU. However, it counts all the same. The Tigers improve to 2-1 (1-0 in the SEC) on the season with New Mexico coming to town next Saturday night. If everything goes according to plan, the Bayou Bengals will be 3-1 when they travel to Auburn.