Instant Reactions: LSU 34, UCLA 17

LA>>>>L.A.

LSU had a picture-perfect start to the drive as the offense went right down the field on the opening possession and scored a touchdown. LSU drove down the field in six plays and the drive was concluded with a Garrett Nussmeier touchdown to Zavion Thomas.

Unfortunately, UCLA’s offense also had a picture perfect start to the game. The Bruins went down the field in eight plays and converted a 3rd and 4 and a 4th and 2. The LSU defense surrendered plays of 28, 13, and 20 yards on the drive.

LSU’s second drive of the first quarter stalled after the Tigers failed to convert a 4th and 7, and UCLA used the short field to drive down and grab a 10-7 lead. LSU would respond immediately with a Nuss bomb to true freshman Kyle Parker.

Bradyn Swinson continued to wreak havoc for a second weekend in a row. After picking up four sacks in Columbia, Swinson stripped UCLA quarterback Ethan Garbers at midfield and the LSU offense was able to turn the turnover into three points. The Tiger offense, as we’ve seen many times this year, sputtered when it got to the UCLA 5 yardline but grabbed a 17-10 lead.

UCLA got the ball with 3:45 to play in the first half and was able to engineer a game-tying drive just before the break. Garbers hit Logan Loya for an 11-yard touchdown with two seconds remaining in the half. Tiger fans weren’t exactly thrilled with the effort as the teams went to the locker room.

Whatever Brian Kelly and his staff preached at the break, the Tigers took it to heart because LSU shutout UCLA 17-0 in the second half and limited the Bruin offense to 89 yards.

UCLA got the ball to start the half and punted after four plays. LSU was buried deep inside their own territory, but methodically marched 96 yards over 13 plays to grab a 24-17 lead. Josh Williams was the exclamation mark on the drive.

On the ensuing possession, UCLA was able to move the ball but their drive stalled after eight plays and 35 yards. UCLA pinned LSU inside the 10 again, but Nussmeier was able to engineer a second straight 90-yard touchdown drive, only this time it was freshman phenom Caden Durham finding the end zone for the second week in a row.

The LSU defense may not be “good” but they can cause some havoc and the Tigers were able to force a second turnover of the afternoon by way of a Jardin Gilbert interception.

Nussmeier had another good effort as he completed 32 passes for 352 yards and three touchdowns. Josh Williams had his best game of the season with 62 yards on 13 carries and Kaleb Jackson finally got things going with 49 yards from scrimmage (26 rushing, 23 receiving). Mason Taylor led the way with eight grabs for 77 yards and became the first LSU tight end to eclipse 1,000 career receiving yards. Aaron Anderson and CJ Daniels each caught six passes, while Kyren Lacy was limited to 23 yards on three catches.

The much maligned LSU defense held UCLA to 17 points and 295 yards of offense. They forced two turnovers and racked up five sacks. Are they good? No, but they did some good things and now they’ll get to build with another tune up game against South Alabama before taking their shot at Ole Miss.