Garrett Nussmeier shines as No. 16 LSU tops UCLA 34-17
Garrett Nussmeier passed for 352 yards and three touchdowns, and No. 16 LSU outscored UCLA 17-0 in the second half for a 34-17 victory on Saturday.
However, LSU lost the services of linebacker Harold Perkins, a preseason All-America selection, when he injured his right knee while making a tackle in the fourth quarter.
Perkins needed help getting to the sideline. Minutes later, he walked gingerly to the locker room with a towel over his head, flanked by trainers on each side.
By then, LSU (3-1) led by two touchdowns and added a field goal with 5:48 left in what became the Tigers' third straight victory.
Mason Taylor had eight catches for 77 yards, supplanting Richard Dickson as the most prolific receiving tight end in LSU history, now with 999 career yards.
Nussmeier completed 32 of 44 passes, highlighted by his 45-yard scoring strike to Kyle Parker deep down the right sideline, and did not turn the ball over.
Breakout LSU freshman running back Caden Durham scored on a 35-yard catch and run. Josh Williams' 2-yard scoring run in the third quarter gave the Tigers the lead for good. Aaron Anderson finished with six catches for 75 yards.
Ethan Garbers passed for 281 yards and two touchdowns for UCLA (1-2), but lost a fumble in the first half and was intercepted in the second.
LSU entered the game as more than three-touchdown favorites, but the first half was tight.
Both teams went 75 yards on their opening possessions for touchdowns, with LSU's Zavion Thomas scoring on a 5-yard reception and UCLA's Jack Pedersen on a 20-yard catch.
UCLA led 10-7 before Parker's score made it 14-10.
LSU defensive end Bradyn Swinson, coming off a three-sack game a week earlier, had two against UCLA. The second caused Garbers to fumble in Bruins territory, setting up an LSU field goal that made it 17-10.
But the Bruins drew even in the final seconds of the half on an 11-yard scoring passing to Logan Loya that Garbers released just as he was taking a heavy hit.
UCLA: The Bruins responded well to their humbling 42-13 home loss to Indiana a week earlier. Contending with the oppressive heat and humidity of an early season day game in south Louisiana — not to mention a hostile Death Valley crowd — UCLA went toe to toe with the Tigers for 2 1/2 quarters.
LSU: Giving up 17 first-half points to an offense that had not scored more than 16 points in either of its previous two games was not a great look for the Tigers' defense or highly paid ($2.5 million per year) first-year coordinator Blake Baker. But the unit responded well in the second half.
UCLA returns home to open Big Ten play against a fellow Pac-12 defector, No.9 Oregon, on Saturday.
LSU hosts South Alabama on Saturday in a final non-conference contest before seven straight games against SEC opponents.
