BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Garrett Nussmeier passed for 277 yards and three touchdowns, including a pair of 40-plus-yard scoring strikes to Chris Hilton after being treated for a throwing shoulder injury, and LSU defeated Oklahoma 37-17 on Saturday night.
Aaron Anderson returned a kickoff 100 yards for a score for LSU (8-4, 5-3 SEC), which closed out the regular season with two straight victories after a three-game skid had dropped the Tigers out of the AP Top 25.
“They listened to the narratives out there that they weren’t excited to play for anything, that the season was over — and they simply went out and played inspired football the last two weeks,” LSU coach Brian Kelly said defiantly, even predicting a return to national title contention within the next few seasons.
“We’re taking receipts, and we’ll see you at the national championship," Kelly said. "This team’s building and we’re excited about it. And we're really proud of them.”
Nussmeier briefly left the game in the second quarter after a heavy blind-side sack by defensive end R Mason Thomas.
“That’s an easy tap-out for most people. Right? That’s an easy one to say: ‘I’m not coming back,’” Kelly said.
But the LSU QB returned to the field from the locker room after X-rays came back negative and wasted little time challenging Oklahoma (6-6, 2-6) deep down field.
“That’s the kind of player he is; that’s the kind of competitor he is,” Kelly said.
Nussmeier closed out his first series back in the game with a 40-yard touchdown pass deep down the right sideline to Hilton, putting LSU up 24-17 with 45 seconds left before halftime.
He risked contact on several scrambles in the second half, but said he “didn't care at all” about the possibility of further injuring his right shoulder.
“My job is to lead my team and do whatever I have to do to win the football game and I wasn't thinking about my shoulder at all,” Nussmeier said. “Once I made the decision I was going, I was going.”
Nussmeier found Hilton deep down the middle for a 45-yard touchdown on LSU's first drive of the third quarter to make it 31-17.
LSU's Kyren Lacy caught three passes for 41 yards, including an 18-yard touchdown for the game's opening score.
Oklahoma coach Brent Venables lamented a handful of explosive plays by the Tigers on offense and in the return game — including Caden Durham's 50-yard run and Ka'Morreun Pimpton's 42-yard catch, which both led to field goals.
“We can’t do that and expect to beat anybody with a pulse,” Venables said. “Our margin for error was razor-thin anyway. ... Right now, we’re not good enough to be able to overcome that.”
Playing for the first time in Tiger Stadium, Oklahoma briefly took a 14-10 lead on Xavier Robinson's 2-yard run, capping a drive that included Jackson's 50-yard completion deep down the middle to J.J. Hester.
Anderson's blazing return of the ensuing kickoff put the Tigers right back in front, and LSU proceeded to pull away from a Sooners squad that was coming off a surprising 24-3 victory over Alabama a week earlier.
Jackson Arnold passed for 110 yards and also was the Sooners' leading rusher with 75 yards on a combination of scrambles and designed runs.
The Sooners tried to get creative offensively when they called for a pass by tight end Bauer Sharp, but his fluttering desperation pass as he was being pulled down was intercepted by safety Sage Ryan.
Thomas scored on a 9-yard return of Nussmeier's first-quarter fumble, which was caused by Gracen Halton's sack. That play gave Oklahoma defensive touchdowns in consecutive games.
Hilton, a premier deep threat who missed LSU’s first seven games with an ankle injury, entered the Tigers’ regular season finale with just three catches for 45 yards without a TD this season.
“It takes a while to get back into rhythm,” Kelly said. “We either missed him on overthrows or the timing wasn’t quite where it needed to be.”
Against Oklahoma, Hilton caught two passes for 85 yards and two scores, and received a game ball from Kelly afterward.
“I’m happy for him,” said Kelly, who was memorable caught on camera yelling at Hilton during a loss at Florida on Nov. 16. “That’s part of the offense that we were missing and we needed desperately.”
Oklahoma: It was a rough first season in the SEC for Oklahoma, which wound up needed their late-season upset of the Crimson Tide just to become bowl eligible.
LSU: After an spirited finish to a season that seemed to be going off the rails three weekends ago, the Tigers have a chance to reach nine victories for a third straight season.
Both teams await bowl bids following next weekend's conference championship games.
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