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Two Truths and a Lie: Did LSU get its swagger back?

Sep 21, 2025 | 11:30 AM

Michael Bacigalupi

By Chris Marler

LSU punished Southeastern 56-10 on Saturday night. We’ve had a night to sleep on it and now it‘s time for our weekly morning after tradition – two truths and a lie. 

Truth No. 1 – The passing game isn’t fixed, but it took a major step forward. 

Plenty of positives came from the passing game last night. Garrett Nussmeier’s 25-for-31 outing was both a breath of fresh air and a sigh of relief, capped by three passing TDs and four total scores.

The most impressive thing that happened in the passing game was that everybody ate. Finally. 

Eleven different players had at least one reception over ten yards and four players caught a pass over 20 yards. That’s a huge deal for an offense that was lacking in explosives for the first several games of the season. 

Truth No. 2 – The run game is still a concern. 

Don’t let the four touchdowns on the ground fool you. The run game still has a ways to go to get better. 

That’s mostly because the questions seemingly answered Saturday night weren’t by the players you’d expect. Still, it was great to see Ju’Juan Johnson and freshman five-star Harlem Berry earn more snaps and even find the end zone.

Still, based on the buzz from fans and media, the lack of production from the true running backs in the ground game probably won’t sit well with that crowd. LSU ran for 135 yards on Saturday night, and nearly a third of that total came from quarterbacks and receivers. 

Yards are yards and production is production. It doesn’t mean it will stop people from complaining about it. 

The Lie – Cade Klubnik and DJ Lagway were the best QBs that LSU would face in September.

That seems pretty obvious at this point considering how bad those two have looked to start the season. Regardless, the challenge this defense will face next week may be the most difficult one they’ll face all season, including John Mateer. 

Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss has only two starts under his belt, but he’s been electric, averaging over 415 yards per game. Still, LSU’s defense is a different test than Arkansas or Tulane.

Chris Marler

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