LSU blasts Georgia Southern in opener, 55-3

Georgia Southern came out against LSU and got smoked for its troubles, as Tigers’ quarterback Joe Burrow had more passing touchdowns (five) than he did incompletions (four) in a 55-3 stomping of the Eagles.

It was really evident from LSU’s opening drive the talent disparity between the two teams, and GS really seemed unprepared for the up-tempo offense that the Tigers ran under first-year offensive coordinator Joe Brady.

Side note - Sun Belt teams can and will run up-tempo offenses this season, just for the record.

From the start, the Tigers marched 75 yards on six plays in just 2:24 of game time on the first drive, capping it off with a 13-yard touchdown pass as Burrow found receiver Ja’Marr Chase in the painted area.

From there, it just got uglier, as Southern went three-and-out on its opening series thanks to some ultra-conservative play calling from Bob DeBesse.

In total, the Eagles finished the night accruing less than 100 yards in total offense as quarterback Shai Werts was in and out of the game with injuries and only had 6 rushing attempts for -7 yards before his day was officially done.

On the bright side, I thought backup quarterback Justin Tomlin played fairly well in the time he was given, as he guided Southern down the field in a 10 play drive in the 2nd quarter. The drive stalled at the LSU 30, but Tyler Bass booted a 47 yarder to help stave off a shutout loss for the Eagles.

Just minutes before kickoff, it was announced that one of Georgia Southern’s most dangerous offensive weapons in Wesley Kennedy III was ruled academically ineligible and will sit for the first 4 games of this season.

This one will hurt, especially with games at Minnesota and Louisiana on the horizon.

Southern will look to lick its wounds in its home-opener next week against a Maine team that threw for over 400 yards in its win on Friday.