BATON ROUGE — Saturday marked a new era for Tiger Stadium, which received $19.8 million worth of upgrades over the offseason.

And LSU football wasn't about to let the rollout of its new video scoreboard, new LED lights, ribbon boards and more be ruined. No. 19 LSU held instate foe Nicholls at bay, 44-21, to win its 2024 home opener to get in the win column for the first time this season.

The Tigers (1-1) opened the scoring with a safety off a bad snap on a Nicholls (0-2) punt attempt that was kicked out of the back of the end zone. The Colonels did pull to within two points twice in the first half, on two 13-play drives that were gut-testers for LSU's defense.

From there, it was all Garrett Nussmeier. The LSU junior quarterback threw for a career-high six touchdowns, four of those coming in the second half.

LSU football rolls out plenty of young players in win over Nicholls

LSU FOOTBALL STARTING LINEUP Shakeup to starting lineup in secondary for LSU football vs Nicholls. See the changes here

JU'JUAN JOHNSON Freshman Ju'Juan Johnson has made the move to running back for LSU football

With senior John Emery going down in practice this week with a knee injury, freshman running back Caden Durham was going to see playing time and he saw the took snap of the game. Freshman Ju'Juan Johnson was moved from safety to running back this week to help with thin tailback depth and he had three catches for 15 yards in his first game, including his first career touchdown late in the second.

Freshman tight end Trey'Dez Green also caught his first career touchdown pass on LSU's second drive of the game.

The plan was for the Tigers to get a lot of younger players in the game against Nicholls but the opening quarter was a bit surprising. With the always spinning revolving door, LSU struggled early with some inconsistencies, especially on defense.

LSU senior defensive tackle Jacobian Guillory goes down with apparent ankle injury

One spot on the team where LSU couldn't afford to lose any bodies, much less key contributing starters, was along the defensive line. The worst-case scenario played itself in the first quarter when senior defensive tackle Jacobian Guillory heavily limped to the sideline after a play.

He entered the medical tent and emerged with a boot on his left ankle and sat in a wheelchair.

LSU played freshman Ahmad Breaux took Guillory's place. Breaux collected a couple of tackles in relief.

Garrett Nussmeier tosses career-high touchdown passes in single game

It wasn't supposed to be part of this particular game's script to have most of the starters still in the game deep into the third quarter, but Nicholls kept the heat on the Tigers. When the Tigers needed a play, which they needed some a lot, the quarterback arose the occasion.

Nussmeier set a new career-high in touchdown passes in a game with six. He connected with junior receiver Kyren Lacy on three of those, who also set a career mark in touchdown receptions in a game. The duo scored back-to-back TDs in a 2:20-span in the third quarterback that opened up the game, pushing LSU's lead out to 37-21.

WHAT LSU IS PAYING NICHOLLS FOR GAME How much money LSU football is paying Nicholls for its 2024 home opener? Find out here.

TIGER STADIUM UPGRADES What LSU football fans can expect from in-game experience at LSU games after upgrades

Cory Diaz covers the LSU Tigers for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his Tigers coverage on Twitter: @ByCoryDiaz. Got questions regarding LSU athletics? Send them to Cory Diaz at bdiaz@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: LSU football beats Nicholls behind Garrett Nussmeier's career night