Is Harold Perkins a star already? Answering 5 LSU football questions after New Mexico win
BATON ROUGE - There wasn't a lot to take away from LSU football's 38-0 beatdown against New Mexico on Saturday night at Tiger Stadium.
The Tigers (3-1, 1-0 SEC) were dominant from the jump while the Lobos (2-2, 0-1 Mountain West Conference) were fortunate to only be down 17-0 at halftime. Once the final whistle blew, LSU outgained New Mexico 633 to 88 in total yards.
Here are five lingering questions from the win.
Can the defense survive Major Burns' injury?
Yes, even if his injury won't help matters either. Burns was a key starting piece in the secondary and had emerged as one of LSU's best communicators on defense.
But safety Joe Foucha's return from suspension this week against Auburn will help fill his void. Safety turned nickelback Jay Ward's probable return also adds some more juice to the secondary.
Burns' influence will be missed as LSU enters the heart of SEC play. But as the Tigers proved again Saturday, they can still play well despite being shorthanded.
How well did the offensive line play?
They were excellent again.
Quarterback Jayden Daniels was blitzed on 16 of his 37 dropbacks but was only pressured seven times, according to Pro Football Focus. The numbers were similar when Garrett Nussmeier was in the game, as he was pressured just once on his 10 dropbacks.
Overall, LSU's offensive line didn't allow a single sack and surrendered only three pressures, despite New Mexico's willingness to send extra blitzers. Freshman Will Campbell for the third week in a row failed to surrender a pressure.
Saturday was the first time all season that LSU had the same starting offensive line for consecutive weeks with Campbell at left tackle, Garrett Dellinger at left guard, Charles Turner at center, Miles Frazier at right guard and Emery Jones at right tackle, and it showed.
Is Harold Perkins already a star?
If he isn't already, then he will be soon.
Perkins was excellent in his first collegiate start, leading the team in total tackles (eight) and tying for second in snaps played (24). He also lined up at multiple spots on defense, playing eight snaps in the slot, nine snaps in the box and seven snaps on the defensive line as an edge rusher.
He's needed some time to learn the defense, but since Week 2 Perkins has become an integral part of the unit and already is arguably the best athlete on the team. The more he plays, the better LSU's defense is for it.
LSU FOOTBALL GRADESWhy LSU football earns an A- overall but special teams gets a C+ vs. New Mexico
LSU FOOTBALL CRUSHES NEW MEXICOLSU football dominates New Mexico, heads to Auburn winners of three straight
LSU FOOTBALL DEFENSE INJURIESBattered and bruised, LSU football defense continues to perform despite injuries
Should Garrett Nussmeier's performance make Tiger fans feel better moving forward?
Perhaps? But let's not overreact here.
Even if he was lightyears better than in his last appearance against Southern, Nussmeier's outings this season are still small in sample size and against inferior competition in garbage time.
So yes, completing 9-of-10 passes for 135 yards and a touchdown against New Mexico is markedly better than connecting on 13-of-23 throws and having two interceptions vs. Southern. But using both games as an indicator of what life with Nussmeier as the starter would be like is faulty.
Could we see more of Kyren Lacy moving forward?
Maybe, but it won't be easy.
With Kayson Boutte back for Auburn and Jack Bech getting back to being a primary target like he was last year, there just isn't a lot of opportunity for Lacy to seize a sizable role in this offense. Even outside of Boutte and Bech, Malik Nabers, Brian Thomas, Jaray Jenkins and Chris Hilton are all dynamic targets he's at least in competition with, if not behind of, for reps.
That said, Lacy did a good job of taking advantage of his increased workload this week. He caught all four of his targets for 41 yards and on average generated over six yards following each reception.
Koki Riley covers LSU sports for The Daily Advertiser and the USA TODAY Sports South Region. Email him at kriley@theadvertiser.com and follow him on Twitter at @KokiRiley.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: LSU football, Harold Perkins performance and five questions after win
