Quarterback Garrett Nussmeier threw for 304 yards and two touchdown passes, but a late score from Southern Cal lifted the Trojans past LSU on Sunday night in Las Vegas, 27-20.<\/p>\n
Nussmeier found his rhythm quickly with two consecutive 15-yard receptions to junior receiver Kyren Lacy, moving the ball passed midfield in the opening minute of play.\u00a0<\/p>\n
On 4th-and-2 from the LSU 39, Nussmeier found Lacy again for a three yard pickup to move the chains. Nussmeier then found junior tight end Mason Taylor for a 13-yard gain to move the ball to the Trojan 20.\u00a0<\/p>\n
However, on 4th-and-3 from the USC 3-yard line, the Tigers elected to go for it and Nussmeier\u2019s pass to Lacy fell incomplete, forcing a turnover on downs.<\/p>\n
LSU was able to force a quick stop on the next possession as junior linebacker Harold Perkins \u2013 recipient of the coveted No. 7 \u2013 made his presence felt off the edge, teaming up for a tackle for loss with Paris Shand on running back Woody Marks.<\/p>\n
The Tigers dominated the time of possession in the first quarter, holding the ball for 12 of the 15 minutes. The score, however, was even at zeros.<\/p>\n
USC opened the second quarter a worked a methodical scoring drive, highlighted by a terrific one-handed grab by Kyron Hudson. The Trojans went on to cap off an eight play, 87-yard scoring drive to take an early 7-0 lead with 11:00 to play in the first half.<\/p>\n
LSU stormed back with a scoring drive of their own for a nine play, 75-yard scoring drive, capped off by a 19-yard touchdown completion to Lacy on a fade route in the back of the end zone. The Tigers tied the score at 7-7 with 7:04 to play in the half.<\/p>\n
Nussmeier continued to feed the hot hand in Lacy, who finished the first half with seven receptions for 94 yards and a score. Damien Ramons evened the game at 10-10 with 1:08 to play in the half after connecting on a 45-yard field goal.<\/p>\n
With 1:07 to play in the half, SC went down the field quickly to set up for a 29-yard field goal attempt with two seconds remaining. The kick was no good. LSU and USC went into the locker room tied at 10.<\/p>\n
The Tiger defense forced a stop on the opening possession of the second half thanks to a pass breakup from redshirt sophomore Jordan Allen on third and short.<\/p>\n
On 4th-and-5 from the LSU 14, senior defensive end Saivion Jones sacked Miller Moss for a loss of four, forcing a USC field goal, putting the Trojans back on top 13-10 with 7:13 to play in the third quarter.<\/p>\n
Sixth-year senior running back John Emery Jr. broke open a 39-yard gain over the middle of the field to put LSU in business at the USC 30-yard line. Emery then picked up another 10 yard gain, taking the Tigers into the red zone to the Trojan 20. On 3rd-and-4, Nussmeier then found Aaron Anderson for a 13-yard touchdown reception, putting the Tigers up 17-13 with 3:42.<\/p>\n
On 3rd-and-6, with USC threatening at the LSU 33 at the 9:25 mark in the fourth quarter, sophomore linebacker Whit Weeks made a huge stop for a 3-yard loss. On 4th-and-9, the Trojans elected to go for it, but Sai\u2019vion Jones deflected the pass from Moss and forced a turnover on downs with 8:38 to play.<\/p>\n
USC reclaimed the lead with 5:44 to play in the contest as Moss found J. Lane for a 28-yard touchdown reception, giving the Trojans a 20-17 lead.<\/p>\n
Nussmeier answered back finding Anderson over the middle of the field for a 41-yard pickup, then finding Zavion Thomas a few plays later a 12-yard gain. With 1:47 to play, Ramos\u2019 attempt from 31 yards out was good, evening the game at 20 all.<\/p>\n
With eight seconds to play, Woody Marks rushed for a 13-yard gain to give the Trojans a 27-20 lead and the win.<\/p>\n
LSU returns home to Death Valley on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. against Nicholls, kicking off the 100th year in legendary Tiger Stadium.<\/p>\n
Editor\u2019s note: This is a press release from LSUSports.net<\/em><\/p>\n The post LSU loses Week 1 opener for the fifth season in a row<\/a> appeared first on On3<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Quarterback Garrett Nussmeier threw for 304 yards and two touchdown passes, but a late score…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-68785","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68785","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=68785"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68785\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":68802,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68785\/revisions\/68802"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68785"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68785"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68785"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}