LSU Football: Three Observations From The Tigers' Victory Over Missouri

LSU escapes Missouri with a win, Jayden Daniels continues the Heisman run.

No. 23 LSU entered Saturday's showdown against Missouri in need of a bounce back victory, and after another big-time day from Jayden Daniels, the Tigers escaped with a 49-39 win.

There aren't many words left to describe what Daniels has done this year. He's been dialed in and the Week 6 showdown proved Daniels' grit, battling through a rib injury to lead LSU down the stretch.

Three Observations From Missouri Week:

The Jayden Daniels Show Continues 

It’s been a heroic season for signal-caller Jayden Daniels. He’s shined week in and week out for LSU with Saturday being much of the same. Against Missouri, he did it again, finishing the day going 15-for-21 passing with 259 yards and three touchdowns through the air. On the ground? More success. Daniels totaled 130 yards with a touchdown for the Tigers.

"Jayden Daniels is just a warrior. He’s tough, he’s physical, he’s smart," Brian Kelly said on Saturday. "He’s skilled. I don’t know. I can’t use enough superlatives about him individually

The Daniels-Malik Nabers show has stolen the show this season for the Tigers and it isn’t showing signs of slowing down. Nabers finished the day with six receptions for 146 yards and a touchdown of his own.

Nabers’ partner in crime Brian Thomas Jr. continued another big season for the Tigers. He added 66 yards of his own on four receptions with a touchdown. There hasn’t been much to criticize when it comes to Daniels and this offense. Led by QB1 and his receiving corps, this unit is hitting its next gear.

Big-Time Defensive Plays Late

Defensive lineman Bradyn Swinson and Major Burns turned up the heat down the stretch to propel the Tigers to a crucial SEC victory. Swinson tallied a strip sack for LSU in the fourth quarter with Burns putting the nail in the coffin with a pick six to seal the deal.

Missouri wide receiver Luther Burden still ended the day with 11 receptions for 149 yards, but the Tigers handled business through the final few minutes to come out on top. It’s evident Burden is the real deal. He’s top notch and gave the Tigers defense trouble through four quarters, but getting it done on the final two possessions got it done for LSU.

“I think we mixed up our coverages a lot more. As you know, early on, we played a lot of man coverage. There were tough matchups there for us. Luther’s a tough matchup, Theo Wease is a tough matchup, Mookie’s a tough matchup. A lot of those guys were tough matchups for us," Brian Kelly said after the game. "We had to get into some more quarter coverage, some more half-roll coverage."

"We just started to mix things up. We wanted to protect our box. When I say that, our front early on based upon what happened last week, that was a priority. And so to do that, we needed to play some more man so we could get an extra hat to the fits. We ended up holding up just really well. We had a couple of missed fits, you know, and some long runs that we’ll clean up. But that’s why we were in man early, and then we had to go zone, and our guys did a nice job up front.”

Mike Denbrock Dials Another Great Game Plan, Diggs Steps Up

LSU running back Logan Diggs has burst on the scene in his first season in Baton Rouge. He’s been a man on a mission with his Week 6 performance shining for this program. Diggs tallied 134 on 24 carries with a touchdown on the day.

The Tigers were in search of production on the ground heading into this season, prompting the LSU to add Diggs via the Transfer Portal, and he answered the call. Diggs put together another 100+ yard performance.

Through the air, Daniels dazzled. Offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock has dialed up an impressive game plan each week with the Missouri showdown becoming much of the same. There’s no doubt this has the chance to be the second best offense of all time with LSU carving up the opponents defense once again.