BATON ROUGE, Louisiana - Garrett Nussmeier set a new personal record with 409 passing yards, while Caden Durham contributed 217 yards and two touchdowns. No. 14 LSU amassed a season-best 667 yards in total offense during a 42-10 victory against South Alabama on Saturday night.
On the game's opening offensive play, Durham caught a swing pass from Nussmeier and sprinted 71 yards for a touchdown. He also had an 86-yard run that brought LSU to the 1-yard line and later scored on an 8-yard run, helping LSU establish a 21-0 lead in the first quarter.
Aside from his impressive passing performance, Nussmeier also scored rushing touchdowns from 1 yard in the first quarter and 5 yards in the second quarter. He later connected with Aaron Anderson for a 23-yard touchdown pass, increasing LSU's lead to 35-3 by halftime.
“Joe Sloan, our offensive coordinator, always emphasizes the importance of starting strong,” Nussmeier remarked. “We might not have expected to start that quickly, but Caden executed two fantastic plays.”
Nussmeier completed 26 of 39 passes, while the freshman Durham amassed 128 rushing yards and 89 receiving yards on 10 total touches. Kyren Lacy caught five passes for 107 yards, with 11 different LSU players recording at least one reception.
“Our offensive performance tonight was exceptional,” praised LSU coach Brian Kelly. “We totaled over 660 yards of offense. You can describe it however you like, but Nussmeier, the receivers, and Durham - all of them were outstanding tonight.”
In their first game following the loss of preseason All-American linebacker Harold Perkins to a season-ending knee injury, LSU saw standout performances from two other linebackers. Greg Penn registered 14 tackles, while Whit Weeks contributed nine tackles in the Tigers' victory.
South Alabama, with a 2-3 record, scored early in the second quarter with a 49-yard field goal by Laith Marjan, reducing the deficit to 21-3. The Jaguars' only touchdown of the game occurred on their first possession of the third quarter when Gio Lopez connected with Anthony Eager for a 27-yard touchdown.
Lopez completed 16 of 22 passes for 171 yards, adding 33 yards rushing. Eager caught four passes for 91 yards.
Following losses by No. 2 Georgia and No. 6 Ole Miss on Saturday, No. 14 LSU might see a slight rise in the AP Top 25 rankings next week.
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