ORLANDO – It was all about LSU at the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl.

Played at Camping World Stadium on Monday (Jan. 2), Brian Kelly’s Tigers team came to conquer the Purdue Boilermakers in a way that no one will soon forget.

The SEC squad broke the Citrus Bowl record in points scored in their 63-7 win over the Big 10 squad.

Here’s how it happened.

With 7:01 left in the first quarter, we got a 1-yard touchdown run from running back John Emery (seven carries, 52 yards, one touchdown). He helped LSU (10-4 final record) get an early 7-0 lead over Purdue (8-6 final record).

Then later in the first quarter, fellow running Noah Cain (eight carries, 58 yards, two touchdowns) found the end zone on an 8-yard scoring run with 1:06 left. 

An extra point by kicker Damian Ramos (7-for-7 in extra point attempts) would give LSU a 14-0 lead at that juncture.

The second quarter would be even better for LSU’s offense. 

It started with a 45-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Jayden Daniels (12-for-17, 139 yards, one touchdown; six carries, 67 yards; one catch, five yards, one touchdown) to freshman tight end and St. Thomas Aquinas alum Mason Taylor (five catches, 88 yards, one touchdown) with 13:03 left in the second quarter. 

From there, Ramos got in his third of seven extra points to give LSU a 21-0 lead.

Then with 8:23 left in the second frame, Cain got himself a 25-yard burst that resulted in his second touchdown run. And with a fourth extra point by Ramos, LSU’s lead grew to 28-0.

To close the first half’s scoring, freshman quarterback Garrett Nussmeier (11-of-15, 173 yards, two touchdowns, one interception) found sophomore wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. (four catches, 31 yards, one touchdown) for a 10-yard touchdown pass with 1:07 left. 

Ramos ended his first half going 5-for-5 in extra points, with his last one giving LSU a 35-0 lead that would go into halftime.

What about the second half?

We can say that it ended with Citrus Bowl records being officially set.

With 9:21 left in the third quarter, Citrus Bowl MVP Malik Nabers (2-for-2, 50 yards, one touchdown; nine catches, 163 yards, one touchdown) found Daniels for a 5-yard touchdown pass. 

Ramos got his sixth extra point to extend LSU’s lead to 42-0.

Later in the third quarter, we got a 75-yard touchdown pass from Nussmeier to Nabers on the Citrus Bowl’s biggest play at the 3:15 mark.

Ramos got his seventh and final extra point to push LSU’s lead even further to 49-0.

We did not get an LSU shutout due to the fact that Purdue quarterback Michael Alaimo found wide receiver TJ Sheffield (seven catches, 56 yards, one touchdown) for a 7-yard touchdown pass with 13:53 left in the game.

An extra point by senior kicker Mitchell Fineran would cut LSU’s lead over Purdue to 49-7.

But Purdue would not score again, as LSU finished the Citrus Bowl with two more end zone appearances of its own in record-breaking fashion.

With 8:47 left in the fourth quarter, sophomore Derrick Davis Jr. (six carries, 29 yards, one touchdown) had a 12-yard scoring run. LSU’s eighth extra point came from kicker Ezekeal Mara to extend the lead to 56-7.

The exclamation point came with 40 seconds left in the game, when LSU defensive back Quad Wilson caught an interception and returned in 99 yards for the final touchdown. The extra point by kicker Trey Finison was the final score for the Citrus Bowl at 63-7.

“First of all, we want to thank Florida Citrus Sports, certainly the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl,” LSU first-year head coach Brian Kelly said. “What a great week and a great venue.  We appreciate this Bowl, and our players really enjoy being part of the community here. You know, look, you get these opportunities and you want to be able to celebrate your season, enjoy the Bowls and the atmosphere, and then you want to go play well.  And we did that today. We did that today. Our guys executed at a high level. They competed at a high level. We were not at full strength, but that did not stop our guys from putting in the time and the effort.”

Nabers (Citrus Bowl MVP) reflected on his own performance and how this bowl game turned out for his team.

“It’s a big stage to come out in Orlando in the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl and come out at a high level and win the MVP award,” Nabers said. “Three drops that I could have easily caught could have changed that. But I’m very happy with the outcome of this game and hoping to carry on into next year.”

Nabers had more to say about the Citrus Bowl.

“This performance, it shows that, you know, I’m able to come out here and perform at a high level with anybody in any conference,” Nabers said. “So it’s something that I can build on to next year, keep my confidence up.”

Nabers spoke on LSU’s Citrus Bowl scoring record, which is 63 points.

“It’s a team effort,” Nabers said. “We was gritty.  We came out a week early. We could have had any reason to not come out here and play fast.  We had some time off, had some fun, but we was locked into understanding what our main goal was, was to come out here and win and get our tenth win. We had fun, but when it was practice time, we practiced executing. When it was game time, we came out, as you can see, and executed at a high level, so that was key.”

Kelly summed it up by reflecting on how LSU earned its 10-win season with at least one key standout moment.

“Probably the relationships with the players and developing new relationships with 115 players and getting to know them,” Kelly said. “That, to me, in year one, the first time here, you know, you don’t know any of the players and they don’t know you. I think our first press conference — I keep saying press conference — our first meeting, said, hey, we’re going to build trust, but it’s going to take time for both sides. And I think that that’s what happened. And I’ll remember that in year one; that process of building trust.”

CITRUS BOWL RECORDS BY LSU

• LSU’s 594 total yards of offense are a record for the most in bowl history (589, Georgia vs. Nebraska, 2013).

• LSU’s 63 points are the most in bowl history (56, Toledo vs. Davidson, 1969).

• LSU’s nine total touchdowns are a game record (8, Toledo vs. Davidson, 1969)

• LSU’s 56-point margin of victory is a bowl record (49-7, Alabama vs. Michigan State, 2011).

• Quad Wilson’s 99-yard interception return set a bowl record for the longest in game history.

• LSU’s 122 total interception return yards are also a bowl record (110, Oklahoma State vs. BYU, 1976).

• Garrett Nussmeier’s 75-yard touchdown pass to Malik Nabers tied Aaron Murray (Georgia, 2013) for the third-longest touchdown pass in game history.

PHOTO CREDITS: Christian Proscia