BATON ROUGE – LSU football coach Brian Kelly enters his third season with question marks galore.
-Can Blake Baker turn around one of the worst defenses in school history?
Not with that roster at this point. But he will improve the defense significantly by making it slightly below average from terrible.
-How many games will Harold Perkins play inside linebacker before Baker and company wise up and put him back outside where he belongs? I’ll say one, again.
-Will Garrett Nussmeier really become an elite quarterback, or should Kelly have kept Walker Howard? Nussmeier will never be Jayden Daniels or Joe Burrow, but he will be very good, which is all Daniels and Burrow were in their first seasons.
Now, here is your scorecard for the 2024 season.
LSU 38, USC 14 (Sept. 1, Las Vegas, 6:30 p.m., ABC) – USC coach Lincoln Riley proves how smart he was in trying everything in his power to get out of this game. But new USC senior associate athletic director for “strategic (non-) communications” Cody Worsham, formerly a frequently uncooperative house organ in LSU’s athletic department, agrees to not let an embarrassed Riley do any postgame interviews after he didn’t do any during game week either.
LSU 52, NICHOLLS STATE 3 (Sept. 7, 6:30 p.m.) – With non-conference games like this, why is the 16-team SEC still playing only eight league games? That’s something Lincoln Riley would do.
LSU 27, SOUTH CAROLINA 10 (Sept. 14, Away, 11 a.m., ABC) – The Gamecocks jump out to a 10-0 lead in the first quarter, but soon the Tigers wake up from the 11 a.m. kickoff.
LSU 34, UCLA 28 (Sept. 21) – UCLA plays much better than USC, but Nussmeier finds wide receiver Chris Hilton for a 27-yard TD with 1:06 to go for the win.
LSU 47, SOUTH ALABAMA 21 (Sept. 28) – And why is the 16-team SEC still playing eight league games? At least LSU has not scheduled a game at South Alabama, which Trent Johnson did. The Tigers improve to 5-0 and reach No. 6 in the nation.
OLE MISS 41, LSU 28 (Oct. 12, Away) – The No. 3 Rebels are too much for LSU’s defense, which had looked improved before Lane Kiffin got to it. Jaxson Dart throws three touchdowns, and Howard adds two in a rout that was not close after the second quarter.
LSU 38, ARKANSAS 10 (Oct. 19, Away) – With SEC games like this, why is the 16-team SEC still playing eight league games?
TEXAS A&M 20, LSU 14 (Oct. 26, Away) – New Aggies coach Mike Elko enjoys a watershed victory as his defense shuts down Nussmeier.
ALABAMA 41, LSU 31 (Nov. 9) – The Tigers lose their third of four as No. 2 Alabama and new coach Kalen DeBoer are not “rebuilding” after all and improve to 9-0.
LSU 31, FLORIDA 17 (Nov. 16, Away) – LSU fans are upset, but, hey, they can still enjoy another win over Billy Napier.
LSU 51, VANDERBILT 13 (Nov. 23) – With SEC games like this, why is the 16-team SEC still playing eight league games?
LSU 31, OKLAHOMA 28 (Nov. 30) – Nussmeier brings LSU back from a 28-17 deficit in the fourth for an upset of the No. 5 Sooners to reach the playoffs as the only three-loss team.
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