LSU Football: Five takeaways from blowout win over Mississippi State

LSU Football swiftly disposed of Mississippi State on Saturday in Starkville. As such, we’ve got five significant takeaways to share with Tigers fans.

There’s occasions in which we’re happy to be wrong about LSU Football outcomes. Yesterday was no exception.

We thought Mississippi State would put up a fight similar to the 2022 game that LSU won 31-16. We told our Maroon & White Nation counterparts that we expected the Bulldogs to play stingy defense and force the Tigers to earn a close win in Starkville.

However, LSU Football rolled into Davis Wade Stadium and imposed their will on Mississippi State for all four quarters. Brian Kelly’s squad was missing multiple key players on Saturday, but it didn’t matter. The Tigers smothered the Bulldogs on defense while their offense easily moved the ball.

LSU sent a strong statement to the SEC in their conference opener, and we have some takeaways to share with our fellow Death Valley diehard fans.

Jayden Daniels is the right quarterback for LSU Football

Jayden Daniels almost always looks great in the box score, but his decision-making is often an Achilles’ heel for LSU Football. A lot of Daniels’ Week 1 decisions against Florida State are the example of such.

However, the graduate quarterback has looked outstanding in LSU’s last two games.

Daniels threw for 269 yards and five touchdowns in Week 2 vs. Grambling State. He made an effort to progress through downfield reads instead of instinctually taking off and running with football. Nevertheless, what Daniels did to Grambling was taken with a grain of salt because of the noticeable talent gap between both teams.

Critics were muted on Saturday after Jayden Daniels continued finding downfield targets for big yardage. He finished the game completing 30 of 34 passes for 361 yards and two touchdowns.

Daniels’ 88.2% completion percentage set an LSU Football single-game record. None of his throws were cheapies, as evidenced by the 11.8 yards per completion stat line.

Garrett Nussmeier remains ready to play and is arguably LSU’s better passer. But at this rate, Daniels isn’t giving his backup anymore than garbage time opportunities.

Brian Kelly is not afraid to hold star players accountable

The afternoon was far from flawless for LSU Football in Starkville. The Tigers committed six penalties for 50 yards, including four costly penalties on left tackle Will Campbell.

Campbell was flagged for holding during a play in which Jayden Daniels connected with Kaleb Jackson on a nine-yard pass early in the third quarter. The sophomore was flagged for a personal foul later on the same drive. According to those at Davis Wade Stadium, Campbell pulled a Mississippi State player’s helmet off and rolled it down the field.

The image of Will Campbell going full-on ‘Kyle Turley’ sounds hilarious, but lousy form during a blowout. Either way, Kelly had enough of his best offensive linemen for the day.

The LSU Football head coach was caught shouting for a switch at left tackle. The stout lip readers believe some expletives were involved, but we’ll leave our readers to judge.

Emery Jones replaced Campbell at left tackle for the remainder of the game. It was Jones’ third position vs. Mississippi State. The sophomore started the game at right tackle and was bumped to right guard for a few series, during which true freshman Lance Heard was given reps.

The Logan Diggs is the right starting running back for LSU Football

Logan Diggs started against Mississippi State and received the bulk of snaps. As such, we believe he’s the right starting running back for LSU Football. Diggs isn’t the most talented, but all things considered, he’s the right ball carrier to top the depth chart.

The Notre Dame transfer was one of the X-factor players we briefed to our counterparts at Maroon & White Nation. We were right. Diggs carried the ball nine times for 41 yards and caught three passes for 30 yards. Nevertheless, his most significant contribution remains in pass protection.

Diggs picking up a blitzing linebacker was noticed and passed around social media during yesterday’s game.

John Emery Jr. stepped onto the field for the first time this season and carried the ball a few times. Veterans Josh Williams and Noah Cain also saw vital snaps, including Williams’ 1-yard touchdown run. Moreover, true freshman Kaleb Jackson carried the ball five times, caught two passes, and went viral for bulldozing a Mississippi State defender.

Indeed, Brian Kelly deployed nearly his entire stable of scholarship running backs, but Logan Diggs should continue to see the bulk of the workload.

The LSU Football defense are a group of maulers

Credit to defensive coordinator Matt House for having the LSU’s defense ready to play. The Tigers started fast and immediately shrunk the field for Will Rogers and the Mississippi State offense.

The Bulldogs punted on all four of their first drives, including three of which they went three-and-out.

LSU defenders were in Rogers’ lap almost immediately on early snaps. As a result, the veteran quarterback could not get into a comfort zone and short-armed many throws. The credit for such belongs to the Tigers up front.

Indeed, LSU’s defensive line mauled the Bulldogs all afternoon.

The box score looks phenomenal on the LSU Football side, including four sacks and seven tackles for loss credited to the defense. However, the stat lines don’t show how incredibly disruptive Maason Smith and Mekhi Wingo were on Saturday. We must also credit defensive end Sai’vion Jones for playing an outstanding game.

It was nice to see the LSU defense play as stingy as we expected, especially after some early struggles against Grambling last week. Florida State is arguably the only team on the Tigers’ schedule that can match up with the size and skill of LSU’s defensive line.

Thus, we’re looking forward to seeing the Bayou Bengals’ big men continue to dominate.

LSU Football must stick with Greg Penn and Whit Weeks at inside linebacker

The linebacker position was mightily debated over LSU’s first pair of games, but the Tigers got it right on Saturday in Starkville.

Injury to veteran Omar Speights forced true freshman Whit Weeks into a starting role, and the young man did not disappoint. Weeks and Penn shut down the middle of the field on Saturday, including Weeks’s team-leading eight tackles.

The emergence of Weeks, brother to West Weeks, is unsurprising considering the LSU beat-writers who sang his praises while observing fall camp.

Penn and Weeks covering the middle of the field allowed Matt House to play Harold Perkins where he’s most effective on the edge. Perkins caused his usual chaos in Starkville, posting four tackles, two for loss, and a sack.

Speights is a good football player who will be back at some point, but when he does, we think Penn and Weeks must remain starters. The sample size is small, but it appears that Weeks compliments Penn well and adds more athleticism to the LSU Football defense.

What are your takeaways from Saturday’s big win over Mississippi State? Let us know on X (Twitter) or the Death Valley Voice Facebook page.