Former Parkway star Terrace Marshall Jr. caught three touchdown passes and Joe Burrow ran the spread offense to near perfection as the No. 6 LSU Tigers rolled past Georgia Southern 55-3 in their season opener Saturday night at Tiger Stadium.
Marshall, a sophomore, caught TD passes of 8, 3 and 11 yards, all in the second quarter. He finished with four catches for 31 yards.
“He really had a good camp,” LSU head coach Ed Orgeron said of Marshall. “Last year he came, he was still nursing an injury. It’s the first time he’s gone through an offseason program. He’s in great shape. He’s a phenomenal receiver for us.”
Marshall suffered a broken leg just above the ankle in the second game of his senior year at Parkway and missed the rest of the season. Last year, he caught 12 passes for 192 yards.
His 8-yard reception with 13:10 left in the second quarter was his first touchdown as a Tiger.
“It’s an amazing feeling, first of all, to go out there and get the team win,” Marshall told members of the media during his postgame comments. “Second of all, I love seeing my other brothers get the ball and score. I love to see the defense go out there and attack the offense. I’m proud of my team.”
Marshall said his first TD catch was “very special.”
“When I caught it what went through my mind was just it was all God,” Marshall said. “Just give thanks to Him, get all the glory. I waited for this moment. It was very special.”
Justin Jefferson, who led LSU with five catches for 87 yards, said he was happy to see Marshall get in the end zone.
“I was very excited for him because he didn’t have any touchdowns last year,” Jefferson told media members. “So for his first game back to have three, that’s crazy.
“We were joking on the sideline, like, ‘He can’t score no more.’ After the second one, we were like, ‘Joe, don’t throw it to him no more.’ ”
Burrow also liked what he saw.
“I was so happy for him,” Burrow said. “He didn’t get any touchdowns last year so I was kind of looking for him tonight. I was looking for him on the first one and then, you know, the play calls just ended up going to him on the other two.”
Burrow tied the school single-game record for touchdown passes with five. All of those came in the first half as LSU built a 42-3 lead.
“What we saw tonight is what we saw at practice the last so many days,” LSU head coach Ed Oregon said. “The guys have worked very hard.”
Burrow completed 23 of 27 passes for 278 yards. His other TD passes went to Ja’Marr Chase (13 yards) and Justin Jefferson (9 yards). Burrow played only one possession in the second half with backup Myles Brennan taking over.
“I thought Joe was on fire,” Orgeron said. “He threw some great balls. Our receivers caught the ball. There were receivers that were open.”
Fourteen Tigers had receptions in the game.
“It speaks volumes,” Marshall told media members. “It lets you know we’re going to give a team effort and everybody is going to eat on the team. It’s a taste of our team chemistry.”
LSU finished with 472 yards, 350 passing and 122 rushing. Clyde Edwards-Helaire led the Tigers with nine carries for 45 yards.
True freshman kicker booted field goals of 39 and 48 yards.
The LSU defense held Georgia Southern’s triple-option offense to just 98 total yards and eight first downs.
Linebackers Jacob Phillips and Damone Clark, end Neil Farrell and safety Jacoby Stevens were the top tacklers. Tyler Shelvin forced a fumble and Rashard Lawrence recovered it.
LSU travels to Austin, Texas, on Saturday (7 p.m., ABC) to take on No. 10 Texas. The Longhorns defeated Louisiana Tech 45-14 in their opener.
