LSU, Joe Burrow click early in 55-3 season-opening rout of Georgia Southern

An offseason of hype — and skepticism — surrounding "LSU's new offense" finally culminated in a much anticipated unveiling Saturday.

The early returns took just 2:24 to pique fans' interest.

And within five touchdowns in five possessions, the No. 6 Tigers (1-0) were already soaring into rare air in an eventual 55-3 dismantling of Georgia Southern (0-1).

"I guess that's just something Tiger fans just have got to get used to," junior tight end Thaddeus Moss said. "We worked really hard to solve this whole offense. We worked really hard this offseason. We were finally able to unveil everything and put it on the field for Tiger fans to see."

LSU spread the field and the wealth early and often.

The Tigers lived in one-back and empty backfields under new passing game coordinator Joe Brady and returning offensive coordinator Steve Ensminger.

Quarterback Joe Burrow had completed 20 of 24 passes to nine different receivers for a program record-tying five scores by halftime.

"Joe is a tremendous leader for us," coach Ed Orgeron said. "We were coming in from our pregame warmup, and he was hitting his helmet against the wall. He was loving it. It was game day, and he's on. And he's a good quarterback. Thank God that we have him. He's a good leader. So I'm just happy for him."

The senior finished 23-for-27 for a career-high 85.2 percent, 278 yards, and five touchdowns — matching Zach Mettenberger's mark against UAB in 2013.

LSU piled up 472 yards in all, 350 through the air.

Burrow completed four of his five attempts on the six-play, 75-yard opening drive, including the 13-yard touchdown to sophomore receiver Ja'Marr Chase.

Three Eagles plays and an impressive punt-return debut by Derek Stingley Jr. later, and the Tigers' offense was quickly back in action.

A 1-yard run by Clyde Edwards-Helaire punctuated a 34-yard drive.

LSU's defense meanwhile held Georgia Southern to just 59 yards and a lone field goal in the first half and 98 yards on the evening.

Rashard Lawrence and K'Lavon Chaisson forced fumbles, recovered by Patrick Queen and Grant Delpit, respectively.

And the offense kept churning, en route to six touchdowns on seven possessions and just one punt.

"I don't think our coaching staff could've done a better job, and I don't think our players could've played any better," Orgeron said.

Burrow added one strike to Justin Jefferson and the first three scores of sophomore Terrace Marshall Jr.'s career to cap drives of 52, 26, 25 and 80 for a 42-3 advantage at the midway mark.

"It makes it easier because I'm not the only threat on our team," Marshall said. "You've got Justin. You've got Ja'Marr. You've got Racey (McMath). You've got Derrick (Dillon). You've got all these other guys. We're all threats, so it's all easy because you can't double team. So if one person doesn't eat, at least the other person's gonna eat."

The lead marked the Tigers' largest at halftime since a 2003 national championship season.

Burrow and the starters led a 44-yard drive early in the third quarter to set up a 39-yard field goal by true freshman Cade York before handing the reins to Myles Brennan and company.

York later added a 48-yard attempt to his debut.

Jefferson caught five of his six targets for a game-high 87 yards and a touchdown.

Moss caught two balls for 61 yards.

"I had a blast," he said. "It's really fun. Everybody's getting used to the best of their abilities. There's a lot of weapons to this offense. This offense is fun. I love playing with these guys. I love playing with Joe."

And Marshall and Edwards-Helaire each caught four passes for 31 yards, including Marshall's hat trick.

Chase finished with two catches for 21 yards.

Edwards-Helaire led all rushers with 45 yards on nine attempts.

Freshman John Emery Jr. and senior Lanard Fournette each carried six times for 20 and 19 yards, respectively.

And freshman Tyrion Davis-Price added five rushes for 11 yards and two catches for another 24.

Brennan finished 7-for-12 for 72 yards, including connections of 32 yards to Dillon and 12 yards to tight end T.K. McLendon.

"It was great for morale," Orgeron said. "It's great to know if they work hard, they're gonna play. Most of the guys got a chance to play tonight. Dare Rosenthal played a lot, and I thought he did good. Badara played and for the first time started. Those guys are gonna be confident they can go in the game and play."

Orgeron laughed off the idea that the performance would necessarily answer all the skeptics.

LSU now heads to No. 10 Texas (1-0), fresh off a 45-14 defeat of Louisiana Tech.

And for all Saturday's excitement, the Tigers still have more of their scheme to show — more of which could be tested against the Longhorns.

"We didn't show it all. We didn't need to. The stuff was working out of 11 personnel, but we have four-wide, we have five-wide and we have an empty package that we haven't used yet."