Malik Nabers breaks down his dominant day in Citrus Bowl win

Malik Nabers saved his best for last in the 2022 season. After the sophomore wide receiver led his team in receiving with 63 catches for 854 yards and two touchdowns in the regular season, he came into LSU’s appearance in the Citrus Bowl and won MVP honors with a career-best stat line.

After the game, Nabers was proud of his performance on one of the postseason’s bigger stages. Doing what he did was a big part of the Tiger’s win. He was just happy to have been able to do it in one of his team’s biggest games this season.

“It’s a big stage. To come out here in Orlando, in the Citrus Bowl and perform at a high level and win the MVP award,” said Nabers. “Three drops I could have easily caught that could have changed that. But I’m very happy with the outcome of this game. And (I’m) hoping to carry it on into next year.”

Nabers finished with nine catches for 163 yards and a touchdown. That helped him cross the 1,000 yards receiving threshold overall and pushed him over 70 catches on the year. He led LSU in receiving during the massive 63-7 win over Purdue and earned the Citrus Bowl MVP honor.

Now, with 2022 wrapped up, Nabers is focused on making this performance a launching pad for him for 2023. Seeing he could produce on a stage like that is all he needed to see to have his confidence where it needs to be heading into his junior year.

“This performance shows that I’m able to come out here, perform at a high level with anybody in any conference,” Nabers said. “It’s something I can build on into next year (that will) keep my confidence up.”

With Kayshon Boutte off to the NFL, Nabers is undoubtedly primed to be LSU’s WR1 next fall. Coming off a boost like this will only have him more prepared to lead the Tiger’s again in 2023.