It’s not often a returning starting quarterback gets the chance to deliver a statement touchdown in a spring game.

Or for that matter needs to so.

All the doubters speculating if LSU QB Jayden Daniels had improved his downfield passing since last season got their answer quickly on the first play of the Tigers’ spring game on a gorgeous Saturday afternoon in Tiger Stadium.

Daniels waited patiently until wide receiver Kyren Lacy found an open area in the middle of LSU’s first-team defense. He zipped a pass over defenders to Lacy, who made a leaping one-handed grab and outran the defense to the end zone for a 70-yard TD.

Not to be outdone, backup quarterback Garrett Nussmeier threw a 70-yard TD strike to freshman Landon Ibieta on the first snap of the second half in game that ended in 32-32 tie between the White team (offense) and the Purple team (the defense).

“First and foremost, we got out of it (the game) clean with no injuries,” LSU second-year coach Brian Kelly said, “which is always important as you look at the overall impact of the game. Then, we had some guys step up and make plays.”

A total of 17 players – nine offensive and eight defensive – sat out the game mending injuries or still recovering from off-season surgery.

The game format was two 15-minute quarters in the first half followed by two 10-minute quarters with running time in the second half.

Also, a special scoring system was used to reward the defense. The defense received seven points for a turnover or fourth down stop, five points for forcing a missed field goal, two points for a pass breakup, missed two-point conversion or a missed point-after touchdown and one point for a sack or a tackle for loss.

As it turned out, the defense also scored a touchdown the conventional way on linebacker Wes Weeks 40-yard "Pick Six" off true freshman QB Rickie Collins' pass with 59 seconds left in the first quarter.

Daniels and Nussmeier both were exceptionally sharp, combining for 15 of 19 completions for 307 yards passing, four TDs and no interceptions.

Daniels, the Arizona State transfer who started every game last season for the 10-4 SEC Western Division champion Tigers, hit 10 of 11 passes for 168 yards with touchdowns to Lacy and a 15-yarder to true freshman running back Trey Holly. He fired a perfectly placed two-point conversion pass to Brian Thomas.

Nussmeier, who closed last season with a flourish when he threw for a combined 467 yards and four TDs in the SEC title game loss to Georgia and the Citrus Bowl win over Purdue, completed 5 of 9 passes for 139 yards. His TD passes were to Ibieta and a 7-yarder to Thomas.

“Jayden Daniels was very efficient and played very well,” Kelly said. “Garrett Nussmeier was equally as efficient and at times didn’t have the same protection (playing behind a makeshift second-team offensive line) that Jaden does (playing behind the starting O-line). Given those circumstances, you can make the case he was equally if not better in some instances."

Nine players caught passes, led by Lacy who had four catches for 92 yards. As one of the three first-team wide receivers, Lacy’s improvement since the end of last season was obvious.

“The work that he's been doing is much more about consistent approach in practice,” Kelly said of Lacy, who transferred to LSU last season from UL-Lafayette and had 24 catches for 268 yards and two TDs. “I think we're starting to see how that's translating to his performance. At times (last season) he was trying to find himself relative to where he fit in the rotation. Now, he's comfortable in where he is in our rotation.”

Defensively, Kelly cited senior transfers Ovie Oghoufo of Texas and Omar Speights of Oregon State as well as sophomore Harold Perkins Jr. who is transitioning to more of a true linebacker role.

“Ovie Oghoufo is a really good addition,” Kelly said. “He had probably a sack on each side. against our right tackle and on our left tackle.“Omar is going to be really big for us. He made a great tackle in space against one of our running backs. That's says a little bit about his versatility and what he can do in and out of the box.

"Perkins was really good. The play stood out to me was we ran a counter and he was able to slip the second puller to make the tackle for loss. That requires training and he's been really good at picking those things up.

“The development of Harold at the linebacker position and the addition of Oghoufo and Speights have been really big for us. They were the holes that we were looking to fill with more mature players.”

No LSU players were made available for postgame interviews.