Jayden Daniels piles up over 500 total yards, powers No. 15 LSU past Georgia State 56-14

BATON ROUGE, La. -- — Senior quarterback Jayden Daniels piled up 509 total yards, threw six touchdown passes and rushed for two more scores as No. 15 LSU defeated Georgia State 56-14 Saturday night.

Daniels continued to make his case for Heisman Trophy consideration, leading the Tigers (8-3, 5-2 SEC) on touchdown drives on all eight of his team’s possessions before being subbed out with under four minutes to go in the game. He completed 25 of 30 passes for 413 yards. He also rushed for 96 yards on 10 carries.

“People are starting to see how assertive and decisive of a football player he is,” LSU head coach Brian Kelly said of his quarterback. “When you are 25 or 30 throwing the football, the decisiveness and decision making has to be that way.

“It was a great performance by our offense. Eight touchdowns on eight possessions; what more can you say."

Daniels’ role in eight total touchdowns in the game matched a school record set by 2019 Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrow, who had a part in eight scores in LSU’s 63-28 playoff victory over Oklahoma the same season.

“The coaching staff puts a lot on our plate and I take a tremendous amount of responsibility to go out there and help this offense execute on a high level,” Daniels said. “Give the coaching staff credit, they make practices super hard so Saturdays can be easy.”

The winningest active coach in the NCAA, Kelly said Daniels may be the best player he has ever coached in his 32 years of being a head coach.

“I think, right now, the way he is playing and the decisiveness in the way he is taking over games he is the best player,” he said. “I would say that because the numbers are reaching levels that nobody thought he would touch. He tied Joe Burrow’s record tonight. I would say he’s the best.”

Daniels echoed his head coach’s sentiments.

“I’m chasing being great each and every week,” Daniels said. “I know I still have a long way to go. But, you can’t take games off because if you do, you can get beat.”

Tied at 14 near the end of the first quarter, LSU scored 21 unanswered points to close out the first half. Daniels gave LSU the lead for good when he found Kyren Lacy for a 27-yard touchdown, capping a seven-play, 80-yard drive to make it 21-14.

Forcing Georgia State (6-5, 3-5 Sun Belt) to turn the ball over on downs on its ensuing possession, it took LSU only one play to make it 28-14, when Daniels hit Brian Thomas Jr. for a 70-yard touchdown.

Daniels connected with Lacy for a second time, with under a minute to go in the first half, from 13 yards out to make it 35-14 Tigers.

Scoring on its first three possessions of the first half, LSU ran its consecutive drives with touchdown to 12, dating to its 52-35 victory over Florida on Nov. 11.

The Panthers stayed in the game early, scoring on two of their first three possessions. Darren Grainger connected with Talique Williams on the Panthers’ opening possession. Senior running back Marcus Carroll added a 44-yard rushing touchdown with under a minute to go in the first quarter.

Carroll finished as the leading rusher for Georgia State with 87 yards on 15 carries.

THE TAKEAWAY

Georgia State: The Panthers continue to struggle against Power Five schools, dropping to 1-16. Georgia State’s lone win over a Power Five program came in 2019, in its season opener at Tennessee.

LSU: In the last two weeks, Daniels has made a legitimate case to be considered the best college football player in the country, racking up 1,115 total yards and 13 touchdowns.

DANIELS CONTINUES TO CLIMB RECORD BOOK

Daniels moved into second place in the LSU record book as being responsible for 75 total career touchdowns. He trails only Burrow, who was responsible for 88 touchdowns from 2018-2019.

GRAINGER SETS CAREER MARK

With his 6-yard touchdown pass to Williams on the team’s opening possession, Grainger set the Georgia State career mark for touchdown passes with 52, eclipsing the mark of 51 set by Nick Arbuckle, who played for the Panthers from 2014-2015.

UP NEXT

Georgia State: At Old Dominion on Saturday.

LSU: Hosts Texas A&M on Saturday.

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AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll