BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) Garrett Nussmeier threw six touchdown passes to lead No. 18 LSU to a 44-21 victory over Nicholls on Saturday night.

Bouncing back from a season-opening loss to Southern California a week ago in Las Vegas, LSU (1-1) struggled to pull away from the FCS-level Colonels (0-2) until early in the third quarter.

“I’m happy we won the football game, but certainly there are a lot of things that I’m looking at, the things we have to do better,” LSU coach Brian Kelly said. “(We) were a team that was tired and didn’t play at its very best. It was a short week for us and it showed. (We) just didn’t have the same energy, the same snap, the same kind of physicality that we had against USC.”

Leading 23-21 early in the second half, Nussmeier led LSU on a methodical 11-play, 72-yard drive, culminating with a six-yard touchdown pass to Kyren Lacy to push the lead to 30-21.

On the first play of the ensuing drive for Nicholls, LSU freshman cornerback P.J. Woodland forced and recovered a fumble on a pass from Pat McQuaide to Quincy Brown, giving LSU the ball at the Colonels' 41-yard line.

Five plays later, Nussmeier found Lacy for his third score of the night, this time a seven-yard connection, to make it 37-21 Tigers.

Making his first career start in Tiger Stadium, the junior quarterback was impressive, completing 27 of 37 passes for 302 yards. Nussmeier’s six passing touchdowns tied 2023 Heisman Trophy Jayden Daniels for the second-most in a game in LSU history. Joe Burrow, the 2019 Heisman winner, holds the single-game school record with seven touchdown passes in 2019 against Oklahoma.

“Garrett is a very effective and efficient thrower of the football,” Kelly said. “We saw tonight as well that when he gets the opportunity, he can run the football for us."

Lacy led the way for the Tigers with five catches for 65 yards and three scores. Zavion Thomas, Ju’Juan Johnson, and Trey’Dez Green also had touchdown receptions for LSU while CJ Daniels caught four passes for 71 yards.

In its first-ever meeting with LSU, Nicholls was led by senior running back Collin Guggenheim. He rushed for 145 yards on 25 carries and two touchdowns, including a 67-yard touchdown on the Colonels' first possession of the second half.

THE TAKEAWAY

LSU: While the Tigers came away with their first victory of the season, they continued to struggle running the football, finishing with 64 yards on 21 carries. Returning four starters on the offensive line from a season ago, the Tigers managed only three yards a rush.

“We have to look closely at what we are doing in the run game,” Kelly said. “The players are good enough. We got to coach better. That is on me.”

Nicholls: After a competitive 25-17 loss to Louisiana Tech in Week 1, the Colonels showed fight again, this time against a higher level of competition.

INJURY UPDATE

LSU starting defensive tackle Jacobian Guillory suffered a right lower leg injury near the end of the first quarter and did not return. His leg was heavily taped and he wore a walking boot. Guillory entered the game with 40 career appearances for the Tigers with four starts.

100 YEARS OF TIGER STADIUM FOOTBALL

The home opener for LSU marked the 100th year in “Death Valley” for LSU. First opening on Thanksgiving Day 1924, LSU has now won 452 games in Tiger Stadium. The 2024 version of Tiger Stadium now features new video scoreboards, speaker towers, ribbon board and new LED lights as part of the $19.8 million upgrade to the facility.

POLL IMPLICATIONS

With No. 5 Notre Dame losing to Northern Illinois, No. 10 Michigan losing to No. 3 Texas and No. 15 Oklahoma struggling in a 16-12 home win over Houston, LSU could up from No. 18 in the rankings.

UP NEXT

LSU: Travels to South Carolina for its SEC opener on Saturday.

Nicholls: Travels to Sacramento State on Saturday.

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