Garrett Nussmeier’s Six Touchdowns Helps LSU Pull Away From Nicholls State in Rocky 44-21 Win

The LSU Tigers had a rocky first half, but did end up cruising past the Nicholls State Colonels in the second half by a final score of 44-21 thanks to an efficient performance by Garrett Nussmeier.

“I think we let Garrett Nussmeier loose a little bit. I think that the coaches trusted him. He did a great job in practice and a great job in week on. So, they let him loose, and it definitely shows based on tonight’s historic performance.”

LSU TE Mason Taylor on Garrett Nussmeier
LSU QB Garrett Nussmeier (Photo taken by Jason Saucier)

Nussmeier ended up completing 27 of 37 passes for 302 yards and six touchdowns. This was the third time in school history a LSU quarterback threw for six touchdowns in one game. Nussmeier joins Heisman Trophy winners Joe Burrow and Jayden Daniels as the only LSU quarterbacks to achieve this feat.

Brian Kelly said that the offense was going to use the Tigers’ young playmakers and they did so early. Two of the team’s first three touchdowns were scored by true freshmen scoring their first career touchdowns in Trey’Dez Green and Ju’Juan Johnson, who recently made the transition from defensive back to running back.

“First of all, he was going to play on our special teams. It was important to get him involved on one side or the other whether it was on offense or defense. With the way we are playing our defensive structure, he wasn’t getting enough playing time there. We knew there were enough roles to get him involved. He is going to play some running back, some slot receiver. He can do a lot of different things and we can craft an offensive structure around him. What we found out is that he picks up things really well.”

LSU HC Brian Kelly on Ju’Juan Johnson
LSU RB Ju’Juan Johnson was impressive in his debut after the position change. (Photo taken by Jason Saucier)

Kyren Lacy also had a monster game as the Tigers’ number one receiver. He and Nussmeier showed why this QB1/WR1 connection is going to be lethal throughout the course of the season. The Thibodaux product finished the game with five grabs for 65 yards and three touchdowns. Zavion Thomas was the third receiver to score his first receiving touchdown as a Tiger to complete the scoring.

“We got a lot of playmakers at the receiver position. When that ball is in the air, we got to make a play. It definitely goes back to what we are doing during the week. What happens on Saturdays is a result of what we do during the week. I think Garrett played good. All the work that we put in came to life.”

LSU WR CJ Daniels on the receivers

Nussmeier spread the football to eight different receivers also including other notable targets Thomas, Aaron Anderson, Mason Taylor, and CJ Daniels. While the passing game was effective, Nicholls State was no pushover keeping up with the Tigers through two and a half quarters. On multiple occasions, the Colonels pulled within two points including a 23-21 into the third quarter, but the Tigers scored 21 unanswered points to pull away.

“I was impressed with Nicholls State. I thought they played their tails off. They were physical. You could tell how much it meant to those young men to play here in Tiger Stadium and have a chance to play LSU. They were physical, and they controlled the clock. They made it a great football game from that perspective.”

LSU Head Coach Brian Kelly on Nicholls State

The Colonels had a valiant effort from former John Curtis quarterback Colin Guggenheim, who ran for 145 yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries. The Colonels also scored on a trick play in the first half on a double pass from Quincy Brown to Lee Negrotto.

“We drew it in the dirt. At halftime we just decided that we wanted to run it. We’ve been working on that, and we’ve done a good job. We’ve been connecting and trying to save it for the right moment. I was glad to see he threw a beautiful ball and Lee made a great catch on it. It was good to see the excitement and see the guys get in the end zone.”

Nicholls State HC Tim Rebowe on the trick play
LSU safety Major Burns makes a tackle. (Photo taken by Jason Saucier)

Despite a rocky first half start from the defense, the Tigers’ defense pitched a shutout for the last 28 minutes of the game. Greg Penn was the Tigers’ leading tackler with nine. PJ Woodland caused the only turnover of the game when he caused and recovered his own fumble. Kelly liked with what he saw from two defenders in Whit Weeks and Zy Alexander.

“I was pleased with Whit Weeks. His active role and Zy Alexander. Those guys jumped out to me and I have to watch the film to give you a good answer, but those were the guys that jumped out to me and I am sure to you guys too.”

LSU HC Brian Kelly on positives from the defense

The trenches were a main concern as the Colonels outgained the Tigers 178 yards to 69 yards on the ground.

“You know, over the years, we run the ball, and it opens it up to be able to throw it. We can run and get some yards. The guys know we can run the football. If we want to get to where we want to get to, we are going to have to be able to run a football and stop the run.”

Nicholls State HC Tim Rebowe on controlling the line of scrimmage
LSU’s running game struggled by only gaining 64 yards on the ground. (Photo taken by Jason Saucier)

Brian Kelly says that he is happy with the win, but he could tell that the team was tired off a short week.

“I am happy we won the football game, but certainly there are a lot of areas that I am looking at in terms of things we have to do better. Certainly, that was a team that was tired, a team that did not play its very best, and you know we had a short week. We had to go back and practice on Tuesday, and you know, we had a long week. It was a short week. We had to go back and practice on Tuesday, and it showed. They worked their tails off this week, but they just did not have the same energy, the same snap, the same kind of physicality that they had against USC. And again, I started my comments with saying Nicholls just did a great job. They were physical, they controlled the football, they did a lot of great things. From that perspective, 44-2, at the end of the day, we have to look at the film and say listen, this is who we are, and these are things we have to go to work on this week to get ready for a South Carolina team that looked really good against Kentucky.”

LSU Head Coach Brian Kelly

The Tigers will take the win and even their record to 1-1 to start the season. Next week, LSU will hit the road to play the South Carolina Gamecocks at 11:00 in the morning.

On Monday, we will have more breakdown of the LSU/Nicholls State game and some of the major takeaways. Make sure to visit our website at www.gridironfootballusa.com for more LSU coverage all season long!

Highlights:

Final Stats:

Offensive Cumulative Stats

STATNichollsLSU
NET TOTAL YARDS295378
NET RUSHING YARDS15064
Rushing Attempts3821
Average Per Rush3.93.0
Rushing TDs20
Yards Gained17869
Yards Lost285
NET PASSING YARDS145314
Completion-Attempts16-2228-38
Completion Percentage73%74%
Avg Per Completion9.111.2
Passing TDs16
TOTAL 1ST DOWNS1624
Rushing 1st Downs67
Passing 1st Downs912
Penalty 1st Downs15
TOTAL PLAYS6059
Avg Yds/Play4.96.4
Rushing-Passing38-2221-38

Offense Efficiency Comparison

STATNichollsLSU
RED ZONE ATTEMPTS2-25-5
Red Zone Points1435
RZ TDs Rush-Pass1-10-5
RZ FG Made-Att0-00-0
RZ Turns00
3rd Downs6-134-9
4th Downs1-31-1
Penalties8-807-37
Fumbles-Lost1-10-0
Pts Off Turns07
POSSESSION TIME31:0928:51

Special Teams Comparison

STATNichollsLSU
Punts-Avg4-34.84-41.8
Inside2012
Field Goals0-00-1
Kick Returns1-124-114
Punt Returns1-01-6

Defensive Comparison

STATNichollsLSU
TACKLES6375
Solo Tackles2927
Tackles for Loss12
TFL Yards-5-7
Pass Breakups13
QB Hurries21
Sacks00
Sacks Yards-0-0
Takeaways FR-INT0-01-0
Forced Fumbles01
Fumble Recoveries01
FR Yards00
Interceptions00
INT Yards00
TDs INT-FR0-00-0

Nicholls Passing

#PLAYERC-AYDSTDIC%RTG
7MCQUAIDE,PAT12-161130075134.3
16ARCENEAUX,CHRISTIAN2-419005089.9
8BROWN,QUINCY1-11810100581.2
19GUGGENHEIM,COLLIN1-1-50010058
PASS TOTALS16-221451073

Nicholls Receiving

#PLAYERNOYDSTDLNGAVGTGTC%
8BROWN,QUINCY5480169.6771
82DUFRENE,JACKSON44101310.34100
1MATTHEWS,TERRY33601612475
9NEGROTTO,LEE220118102100
4ALBERT,MARQUESE150551100
17MCMATH,TANK1-500-51100
6 RECEIVERS161451189.12273

Nicholls Rushing

#PLAYERATTYDSTDLNGAVG
19GUGGENHEIM,COLLIN251452675.8
4ALBERT,MARQUESE413053.3
30WARREN JR.,COREY411042.8
7MCQUAIDE,PAT27043.5
32MILTON,JAYDEN10000
5 RUSHERS381502673.9

Nicholls Punting

PunterNOYDSAVGLNGI2050+
DUPRE,KYLAN413934.84010

Nicholls Field Goals

KickerTimeDistResult
TOTAL0-0LONG OF 0

Nicholls All Purpose Yards

PlayerTotRushRecKORPRIR-FRTDs
GUGGENHEIM,COLLIN14514500002
BROWN,QUINCY480480000
DUFRENE,JACKSON410410000

Nicholls Defense

#Player (Starter)TotTkSoloSackTFLIntBrUpQBHFF
44Ennis,Eli (DB)114000000
35Lee,Ethan (DB)103000000
26Williams,Keontae (DB)75000000
3Sullivan Jr.,Lauren (CB)55000000
56Lovelace,Rasheed (DL)41000000
11Sharkey,Quinton (LB)43000010
10Shaheen,Hayden (LB)31000000
7Dalmado,Jake (LB)21000100
95Davis,Dillion (DL)21010000
41Logiudice,Dominic (LB)20000000
51Mason,Joe (DL)20000000
5Smith,Kendarius (DB)22000000
30Warren Jr.,Corey20000000
21Woodery,Malik (DB)21000000
60Cain,Aiden (LB)10000000
18Eddie,Markeyvrick (CB)11000000
6Marsh,Ty (DB)10000000
32Milton,Jayden11000000
45Villavaso,Alex (DL)10000000
91Bernard,Zack (DL)00000010
8Brown,Quincy00000000
19Guggenheim,Collin00000000
9Negrotto,Lee00000000
36Showalter,Gabe00000000
TOTALS6329010120

Nicholls Punt Returns

ReturnerNOYDSAVGLNGTD
MATTHEWS,TERRY100000

Nicholls Kick Returns

ReturnerNOYDSAVGLNGTD
ALBERT,MARQUESE11212120

Nicholls Team Stats By Quarter

1stRushPassCAITotYAvg3rdsPens
1st613-194-464-4-0653.80-20-0
2nd511-385-495-5-0875.43-44-40
3rd26-792-161-2-09511.90-13-35
4th38-1411-346-11-0482.53-61-5
Total1638-15022-14516-22-02954.96-138-80

Nicholls Scoring Summary

QtrClockScoreTypePlayDriveScore
100:30TDRUSHGuggenheim,Collin 2 yd rush13/84/07:179-7
204:18TDPASSNegrotto,Lee 18 yd reception thrown by Brown,Quincy13/75/07:5916-14
313:52TDRUSHGuggenheim,Collin 67 yd rush2/75/01:0823-21

LSU Passing

#PLAYERC-AYDSTDIC%RTG
13NUSSMEIER,GARRETT27-373026073195
10COLLINS,RICKIE1-11200100200.8
PASS TOTALS28-383146074

LSU Receiving

#PLAYERNOYDSTDLNGAVGTGTC%
2LACY,KYREN56533213863
1ANDERSON,AARON56302612.6683
0THOMAS,ZAVION550117105100
4DANIELS,CJ47103417.8667
86TAYLOR,MASON44001710580
8JOHNSON,JU’JUAN316185.33100
19NICHOLAS,JAVEN180881100
14GREEN,TRE’DEZ111111100
8 RECEIVERS2831463411.23776

LSU Rushing

#PLAYERATTYDSTDLNGAVG
18WILLIAMS,JOSH4190124.8
28JACKSON,KALEB919092.1
13NUSSMEIER,GARRETT2130126.5
29DURHAM,CADEN49042.3
10COLLINS,RICKIE24032
5 RUSHERS21640123

LSU Punting

PunterNOYDSAVGLNGI2050+
TODD,PEYTON313043.34810
OCHSENDORF,BLAKE137373710
TOTAL416741.84820

LSU Field Goals

KickerTimeDistResult
Ramos,Damian2nd-00:0039MISSED
TOTAL0-1LONG OF 0

LSU All Purpose Yards

PlayerTotRushRecKORPRIR-FRTDs
THOMAS,ZAVION170050114601
DANIELS,CJ710710000
LACY,KYREN650650003

LSU Defense

#Player (Starter)TotTkSoloSackTFLIntBrUpQBHFF
18Penn III,Greg (LB)94000000
8Burns,Major62000000
19Reliford,Gabriel (DE)62000000
10Spears,Dashawn51000100
40Weeks,Whit (LB)53000000
4Swinson,Bradyn (DE)42010000
6Allen,Jordan41000000
11Woodland,PJ (CB)42010001
1Stamps,Ashton (CB)33000000
3Ryan,Sage (DB)31000000
7Perkins Jr.,Harold (LB)31000000
14Alexander,Zy (CB)32000200
33Weeks,West (LB)30000000
95Washington,Shone (DT)32000000
0Shand,Paris (DE)20000010
35Jones,Sai’vion (DE)20000000
93Breaux,Ahmad (DT)20000000
99Paez,Gio (DT)21000000
15Womack,Da’Shawn (DE)10000000
23Jackson,Kylin10000000
31Suggs,Jay’Viar (DL)10000000
43Edwards,Ty’son10000000
56Makane’ole,Kimo (DT)10000000
90Guillory,Jacobian (DL)10000000
0Thomas,Zavion00000000
2Lacy,Kyren00000000
8Johnson,Ju’Juan00000000
14Green,Tre’Dez00000000
34Ramos,Damian00000000
TOTALS7527020311

LSU Punt Returns

ReturnerNOYDSAVGLNGTD
THOMAS,ZAVION160660

LSU Kick Returns

ReturnerNOYDSAVGLNGTD
THOMAS,ZAVION411429510

LSU Team Stats By Quarter

1stRushPassCAITotYAvg3rdsPens
1st33-179-416-9-0584.80-21-5
2nd95-1211-1369-11-01489.31-11-5
3rd127-2816-12512-16-01536.73-32-16
4th06-72-121-2-0192.40-33-11
Total2421-6438-31428-38-03786.44-97-37

LSU Scoring Summary

QtrClockScoreTypePlayDriveScore
111:15SAFSafety2-0
107:51TDPASSGreen,Tre’Dez 1 yd reception thrown by Nussmeier,Garrett7/27/03:139-0
212:17TDPASSLacy,Kyren 32 yd reception thrown by Nussmeier,Garrett8/73/03:0616-7
201:53TDPASSJohnson,Ju’Juan 4 yd reception thrown by Nussmeier,Garrett5/75/02:2523-14
309:03TDPASSLacy,Kyren 6 yd reception thrown by Nussmeier,Garrett11/72/04:4430-21
306:43TDPASSLacy,Kyren 7 yd reception thrown by Nussmeier,Garrett5/41/02:1037-21
301:09TDPASSThomas,Zavion 4 yd reception thrown by Nussmeier,Garrett7/45/03:5644-21

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