Saturday night in Baton Rouge brings a tidy little in-state test for LSU, and the matchup starts with one of the oddest coincidences you’ll see all season: both sidelines feature a Blake Baker. LSU’s defense, coordinated by Blake Baker, will be tasked with slowing Louisiana Tech quarterback Blake Baker when the Tigers host the Bulldogs in Week 2.
Louisiana Tech arrives with a clean 1-0 record and a little momentum after blasting Northwestern State 80-6. Blake Baker was sharp in that win, throwing for 232 yards and three touchdowns as the Bulldogs piled up 528 total yards and needed only two punts. That kind of efficiency gives Tech some rhythm and confidence heading into a far tougher setting in Death Valley.
LSU, though, opened with a defensive performance that was about as clean as it gets. Against Clemson, the Tigers held the opponent to just ten points and did not allow a touchdown until the final five minutes. LSU also suffocated Clemson on third down, allowing just one conversion in 13 tries, while keeping the Tigers under 150 total yards.
That’s the challenge for Louisiana Tech: taking the edge it built last week and carrying it into a much different environment against a much tougher opponent. LSU, meanwhile, has to treat this like a real test and not let the outside noise or the “rat poison” creep in, especially with its first SEC showdown of the year still ahead on the road in Oxford against Ole Miss. The Tigers need to stay locked in if they want to protect home field and move to 2-0.
In Other News...
Lane Kiffin Opens Up On Tiger Stadium As LSU Drama Lingers
Lane Kiffins first year on LSUs sideline brought him his first chance to work a game from the home side at Tiger Stadium, and the setting lived up to the reputation on a night that ended with a win over Clemson. For a coach who has spent plenty of time around big venues, the atmosphere in Baton Rouge is still its own kind of backdrop, and this one offered the full LSU experience right away.
The football part is only one layer of the story, though, because LSU is still dealing with an SEC lawsuit tied to recruiting former NFL players, a case that has been delayed by a judge. Kiffin did not add the two players at the center of the dispute to his roster, and the conference also left a recent meeting without announcing any punishments or reprimands, leaving the situation hanging as the season moves forward. [Read more 🡒]
Brian Kelly Just Added Fuel To LSU Fans Clemson Debate
Brian Kellys move into the CBS Sports booth has not kept him far from the conversation around LSU, especially when the Tigers come up in the same breath as Clemson. During a recent discussion of Clemsons uneven stretch, Kelly pointed to coaching and scheme as part of the reason the Tigers stumbled in their loss to LSU, arguing that talent alone does not solve everything when the structure around it is not working.
He also made clear that Clemsons roster looks different now than it did in its peak years, which only adds another layer to the long-running comparison between the programs. Kelly went on to address the recent tension between Dabo Swinney and a reporter, saying he was disappointed by how both sides handled the exchange, a comment that is likely to stir more debate among LSU fans who are still eager to measure what that win meant. [Read more 🡒]
LSU Fight With The SEC Just Became A Bigger Fairness Debate
LSUs dispute with the SEC has turned into more than a rules fight, becoming a broader test of how the league wants to police fairness across college sports. The conference sued the school over its intention to roster NFL training camp invitees who still had extra college eligibility, a move that briefly put expulsion on the table before LSU ultimately backed away from using those players.
Even with that threat eased, the issue is hardly settled because the SEC has since signaled it could still pursue other discipline. The debate has also spilled beyond the courtroom and into the media, where Paul Finebaum and Stephen A. Smith have weighed in on whether the conferences response was justified or whether LSU was being singled out for pushing the boundaries in a way others might eventually try too. [Read more 🡒]