LSU football smashes Purdue 63-7 in the Citrus Bowl to get to 10 wins

ORLANDO, Fla. - LSU football certainly woke up feeling the cheesiest on Monday.

The No. 16 Tigers (10-4) dominated Purdue (8-6) in the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl at Camping World Stadium, 63-7. LSU punted on its first drive and then proceeded to score touchdowns on its next six drives, finishing off the game with a 99-yard interception and score from safety Quad Wilson.

A win heavily favored the Tigers after Purdue coach Jeff Brohm had left the Boilermakers for Louisville, star quarterback Aidan O'Connell and wide receiver Charlie Jones opted out of the game to prepare for the 2023 NFL Draft.

Regardless, LSU played a nearly flawless game. The Tigers didn't allow any points until the fourth quarter, and by that time they were already up 49-0. Jayden Daniels and Garrett Nussmeier split reps at quarterback for most of the game until freshman Walker Howard finished off the game in the fourth quarter.

With a double-digit win total to finish off coach Brian Kelly's first season, the Tigers can head into the 2023 campaign on a positive note, especially with Daniels and the vast majority of the offense returning.

Garrett Nussmeier makes an early appearance

After scoring its first touchdown of the game, LSU made a surprising change.

Nussmeier, despite Daniels being healthy and playing well on the last drive, replaced LSU's starter at quarterback. He immediately started showcasing his arm talent, taking a shot deep to Malik Nabers on his first throw of the game.

Like Daniels, he finished the drive with a touchdown. Nussmeier completed 4-of-6 passes on the drive for 39 yards, most notably finding Mason Taylor on third down for 17 yards to get LSU into the red zone.

Nussmeier rotated out for Daniels on the next drive which also led to a touchdown. But that drive wasn't his last, as Nussmeier finished the game with 173 passing yards and two touchdowns. His only error came in the third quarter when he threw an interception in the end zone that snapped LSU's six-touchdown streak.

But regardless of the result, Nussmeier's early insertion into the game poses an interesting wrinkle for LSU's quarterback's room heading into spring practices.

New faces on the field

Without three starters on the defensive line and with little to no depth at wide receiver and cornerback, LSU had to shake up its rotations with some new faces even before the game got out of hand in the fourth quarter.

On the defensive line, edge rusher Zavier Carter was featured on a few passing downs in the first half while linebacker Mike Jones Jr., who has played limited snaps in the second half of the season, played more with BJ Ojulari opting out for the NFL Draft and Desmond Little in the transfer portal.

Wide receivers Landon Ibieta and Evan Francioni were featured in spots with Kayshon Boutte entering the draft, Chris Hilton injured and Jack Bech transferring to TCU.

Freshman center Fitzgerald West Jr., a three-star signee, took snaps as a defensive tackle. West was an offensive lineman as a senior at Lafayette Christian but before that was a defensive lineman.

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LSU might have a more crowded quarterbacks room than it expected next season.

The Tigers had three different players throw touchdown passes on Monday. Nabers jumped into the action with a 45-yard throw to Kyren Lacy that set up first and goal and the Tigers' fifth touchdown of the game and a five-yard touchdown toss to Daniels to increase LSU's lead to 42-0.

By the end of the game, four different Tigers had thrown passes with Howard playing in the fourth quarter.

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 smashes Purdue 63-7 in Citrus Bowl to finish 10-4