LSU football took control late to down Nicholls. Here's how we graded the Tigers' win
BATON ROUGE — In its first game inside the friendly confines of Tiger Stadium of 2024, LSU football struggled a bit but eventually iced the game against instate FCS foe Nicholls State, 44-21, on Saturday night.
Albeit an ugly one as Brian Kelly and his coaching staff rotated in a number of young players throughout the game, the No. 19 Tigers (1-1) took control of the game in the second half from a scrappy Colonels team.
Here's how we graded the Tigers in their first win of the season Saturday night in Baton Rouge.
Offense: B+
Starting junior quarterback Garrett Nussmeier made plays all night when the Tigers needed them. He paced the offense with six touchdown passes, a career high for him. But questions still remain about LSU's ability to run the ball.
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Defense: D+
On both of Nicholls' touchdown drives in the first half, the Colonels ran 13 plays. Nicholls had more rushing yards than LSU at halftime and averaged 6.6 yards per play for the game.
Special teams: B
LSU opened the scoring with a safety off a bad snap on a punt by Nicholls. Zavion Thomas nearly broke the ensuing kickoff return back. But Damian Ramos missed his first goal of the season as time expired in the first half.
Coaching: C+
It was a two-point game in the third quarter and the coaching staff was operating like the win was already in the bag. Nicholls obviously noticed some tendencies on film it could exploit and had some success at points in the game.
Overall grade: B-
This game was too close for too long. There are more questions coming out of this contest versus Nicholls about LSU on both sides of the ball than there were coming out of last weekend's loss against USC.
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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: Grading LSU football after late push to win vs Nicholls
