LSU football dominates Purdue in Cheez-It Citrus Bowl

The LSU Tigers beat the Purdue Boilermakers, 63-7. Purdue’s offense had nothing in the tank with multiple not playing, including starting QB Aidan O’Connell (declared for the draft). The Boilermakers only had 170 passing yards for the total game. LSU football on the other hand had 369 passing yards in the game.

After punts by both sides, Jayden Daniels lead the Tigers down the field for their first TD of the game. Purdue would punt the ball on the next drive after one first down on the next possession and Daniels would take the Tigers down the field for another score. In the interest of not being repetitive, the rest of the game would look this.

LSU offense scores a touchdown, Purdue punts the ball, LSU football’s offense scores a touchdown. LSU’s defense would join the party by getting an interception returned for a touchdown late in the game, but that would be the recipe for this game. By halftime, it was 35-0, Tigers.

LSU’s running game would run for 225 yards on the day, which was 38 fewer yards than the total offensive yards for Purdue. It didn’t matter who was at QB for the Tigers, as Daniels (got swapped out, not injured) and Garrett Nussmeier threw TD’s (Nussmeier threw for 173 yards).

LSU football defeats Purdue in Citrus Bowl

I am not really gonna write about Purdue here because the Boilermakers were missing a lot of their players/also their coach and this is an SEC blog. Quickly, Purdue had 8 wins and a Big Ten West title. A Big Ten West title isn’t anything to write home about but still something to be proud of nonetheless.

The Citrus Bowl was still fun to watch and that was because of the sponsor host, Cheez-It.

The mascot for Cheez-It opened up the bowl game with a fun introduction. They had a Cheez-It bed, which some of the LSU players used to chill with the mascot during the game. The Cheez-It mascot seemed to be having the most fun out of anyone as he celebrated with Brian Thomas Jr after scoring a TD. Finally, the mascot fought for the ball after a made field goal kick.

Finally, the game ended up with Brian Kelly getting a Gatorade bath full of Cheez-Its and then eating one of the off the floor. For a game with a final score of 63-7, at least it was worth keeping on your phone while you were watching the Cotton Bowl.

Despite the depth issues for their opponent, this was a good win for the Tigers. The Tigers were able to take care of business and win the Citrus Bowl.

Winning 10 games in year one is really good for Brian Kelly. With one of those wins coming against Alabama, and those in-conference wins leading to an SEC West title, this season is a significant success. Yes, the loss against a horrible offensive Texas A&M team cost them a chance to make the playoff (they would’ve had to beat Georgia in the title game to be clear), but this season was a significant success for the Tigers. Winning a bowl game on top of it makes it a great season for Brian Kelly.