The Recap: LSU 38, New Mexico 0

The LSU football team had no troubles putting away New Mexico on Saturday night in Death Valley, jumping ahead 17-0 at halftime before finishing out the game with the 38-0 win.

The LSU defense was impressive from start to finish, pitching a shutout and forcing a punt on every possession minus the Lobos’ final series of the first half, which the New Mexico offense allowed the clock to run out on.

In total, New Mexico had 10 possessions, nine of which ended in punts. The Lobos recorded just two first downs on the night, totaling 88 total yards against the LSU defense.

On the flip side, the Tigers got rolling on the ground and through the air.

LSU passed for 414 yards between Jayden Daniels and Garrett Nussmeier, and the ground game accounted for another 219 yards to put the Tigers at 633 total yards on offense.

Here’s the rundown on how the game unfolded from start to finish.

KICKOFF

New Mexico wins the toss, elects to receive.

The Lobos took the ball first, but they quickly gave it over to the Tigers after a three-and-out forced the first punt of the game.

LSU started wide receiver Jack Bech at punt returner, and after a New Mexico shanked the punt, the Tigers took the ball over at 45-yard line. And on quarterback Jayden Daniels’ first attempt, he hit Bech to get LSU across midfield on a nine-yard gain. Six plays later, running back Armoni Goodwin punched it in from five yards out to put the Tigers on the board first.

LSU 7, New Mexico 0 – 9:46 remaining in First Quarter

New Mexico managed to pick up a first down on the second offensive series, but the drive was stopped soon thereafter as the Lobos were forced into another punt.

Right away, Daniels went deep to sophomore wide receiver Chris Hilton, who was running wide open for the 51-yard gain. Bech and Malik Nabers both picked up some extra yardage through the air, but the Tigers ultimately had to settle for a field goal attempt once in the red zone. Damian Ramos came on to hit the 31-yard field goal to extend the lead to double-digits.

LSU 10, New Mexico 0 – 2:23 remaining in First Quarter

After three possessions, the LSU defense was having no trouble at all with New Mexico’s offense. The Lobos ran 12 plays in the first quarter, had just one first down, scored no points and had to punt all three times they got the football.

Meanwhile, LSU’s offense scored on both possessions in the first quarter – and nearly had a special teams touchdown.

On New Mexico’s third punt of the quarter, Bech fielded the ball and took it back 76 yards for the touchdown, though the play was called back on a blindside block. No matter, one looming question was who the Tigers should turn to as the team’s go-to punt returner. After one quarter, Bech looks like the man for the job.

LSU 10, New Mexico 0: End of First Quarter

LSU quickly moved the ball to midfield thanks to a 21-yard catch-and-run by backup running back Josh Williams. After another pass to Bech, Daniels used his feet to pick up 23 more yards and get the Tigers into the red zone.

A late hit on Daniels gave the Tigers a fresh set of downs and moved the ball inside the 10-yard line. That’s when LSU’s offense started to shoot themselves in the foot. First came a holding call that backed them up, then a second touchdown came off the board (the first being the punt return TD called back in the first quarter) after Malik Nabers was flagged with pass interference on a play that resulted in a nine-yard touchdown from Daniels to tight end Kole Taylor.

After getting backed up to the 21-yard line, Damian Ramos came in to attempt the 38-yard field goal, which was no good.

New Mexico got the ball back on offense, but the results remained the same. After picking up a first down, the Lobos were quickly forced into another punt.

LSU took the ball over with a little more than six minutes left until halftime, and Daniels led the team on a 15-play, 88-yard yard drive that began at LSU’s own 12-yard line.

Once again, it was running back Armoni Goodwin who punched in the touchdown on the ground – his second score of the night. The touchdown put the Tigers up 17-0 before halftime.

LSU 17, New Mexico 0 – :16 remaining in Second Quarter

HALFTIME: LSU 17, New Mexico 0

THIRD QUARTER

LSU got the ball first in the second half, and after driving across midfield, the Tigers elected to go for it on 4th-and-6 from the 37-yard line. The attempt failed when Daniels overthrew Nabers.

The LSU defense picked up where it left off in the first half, quickly forcing the New Mexico offense into another punt.

From there, the Tigers went 80 yards in 11 plays to score on a rushing touchdown by Noah Cain from a yard out.

After running back Armoni Goodwin suffered what appeared to be a hamstring injury earlier in the half, LSU wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. went to the medical tent with what appeared to be a dislocated shoulder. Then, Daniels was taken down to the ground on a hit and was evaluated in the medical tent, but was cleared to return to play.

That said, the Tigers likely won’t need him the rest of the way. Garrett Nussmeier stepped in on the drive and went 2-for-2 passing for 22 yards to help set up the scoring run by Cain.

Daniels left the game after going 24-for-29 passing for 279 yards, hitting on 83% of his attempts.

LSU 24, New Mexico 0 – 5:27 remaining in the Third Quarter

Another drive for New Mexico, another three-and-out that led to a punt.

LSU then made quick work of the next drive, needing just four plays to score after running back Noah Cain broke a 49-yard run for a touchdown.

LSU 31, New Mexico 0 – 1:45 remaining in the Third Quarter

The LSU defense was simply relentless when shutting down New Mexico’s offense, and the Lobos ran into yet another three-and-out and a punt to begin the fourth quarter.

FOURTH QUARTER

On the fourth play of the drive, Nussmeier hit Brian Thomas Jr., who took it the rest of the way for the 57-yard touchdown.

LSU 38, New Mexico 0 – 13:14 remaining in the Third Quarter

Just how great was the LSU defense all game? After forcing punts on four of the five drives the Lobos had in the first half (the only drive that didn’t end in a punt came when New Mexico let the clock run out before halftime), the LSU defense started the second half by forcing the Lobos into a three-and-out on the team’s first four possessions, which all resulted in punts.

It looked like the Tigers were ready to eclipse the 40-point mark midway through the fourth quarter, but a fumble by John Emery turned the ball back over to the New Mexico offense.

Once again, it was a three-and-out for the Lobos. On 10 possessions in the game, New Mexico punted the ball nine times and let the clock run out on the other possession just before halftime. The Tigers allowed no points, just two first downs and held New Mexico to 88 total yards.

LSU’s offense finished with 633 total yards with 28 first downs.

FINAL: LSU 38, New Mexico 0