Instant Reactions: LSU 37, Oklahoma 17

Okay, boomer

LSU saved its best for last as the Tigers had a pretty thorough domination of Oklahoma 37-17 to close out the 2024 regular season.

Six years ago Joe Burrow took a wicked shot against UCF and Burrow never looked back as he led LSU to a national title the following fall and a Heisman trophy. Tonight we might (?) have seen something similar as Garrett Nussmeier exited the game in the second quarter after injuring his shoulder, but he came back and looked completely reinvigorated.

One minute Nuss is on the ground and in the moment I thought he either separated his shoulder or broke his collarbone, and the next he’s heaving a 40-yard bomb to Chris Hilton Jr. to close out the first half.

Nussmeier finished the night 22 of 31 for 277 yards and three touchdowns. His first score came in the first quarter to Kyren Lacy, and his third came as he hit Chris Hilton for a second 40-yard touchdown.

Nussmeier was great but he wasn’t perfect. Oklahoma’s first points of the night came off a strip sack that the Sooners returned 10 yards for a touchdown to tie the game at 7-7 in the first quarter.

When Nussmeier left the game, AJ Swann came on in relief and Swann was able to manufacture a field goal drive to give LSU a 10-7 lead. The drive got turbocharged by Caden Durham ripping off a 50 yard run to get LSU to Oklahoma’s 11, but the drive stalled out and LSU had to settle for three points.

Oklahoma appeared to grab control of the game in the second quarter. With Nuss sidelined, Oklahoma pieced together a quick-hitting three-play, 75-yard touchdown drive to go up 14-10. That lead lasted maybe 30 seconds of real time because Aaron Anderson returned the ensuing kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown to give LSU a 17-14 lead that they wouldn’t surrender for the rest of the night.

LSU played maybe its best, most complimentary game of the 2024 season. The Tigers ran the ball for 110 yards, Nussmeier completed 22 passes to eight different receivers, Damian Ramos was a perfect 3-3 on field goals, you had the aforementioned 100 yard touchdown by Anderson, and the Tiger defense limited Oklahoma to 277 yards of offense. The defense was credited with 10 TFLs, four sacks, and Sage Ryan intercepted a pass when Oklahoma tried a trick play.

It’s nice that LSU was able to pull out of its late season nosedive, and win these final two regular season games to get to 8-4, but it also makes the three-game losing skid all the more frustrating. Especially considering LSU was just a win at Florida away from getting to the SEC Championship Game.

But what’s done is done, so now we turn our attention to the 2025 season and of course whatever bowl game LSU will be heading to. There’s building blocks for the future, for sure. Caden Durham had 114 total yards of offense; Dom McKinley had a pair of sacks; Davhon Keys had 10 tackles, a sack, and a TFL. Those three all true freshmen and will surely only get better in 2025 and beyond. Pair that with what looks to be a top-5 recruiting class, an aggressive approach to the transfer portal, and (hopefully) a return from Garrett Nussmeier, and maybe LSU will have the kind of roster to be a CFP team next fall.