LSU’s opener did more than beat Clemson. It turned the noise up around the Tigers in a hurry. A 51-10 rout will do that.
Now the attention outside the building is already drifting toward Ole Miss on September 19, but LSU’s inside focus has moved much sooner than that. Louisiana Tech comes to town Saturday, and the Tigers are treating it like the next real assignment, not a warm-up.
That makes sense when you look at what the Bulldogs just did. Louisiana Tech rolled past in-state foe Northwestern State 80-6, a lopsided result in a week that already featured Northwestern State making headlines for a historic loss to NAIA in-state foe Louisiana Christian in Week 0.
Still, the number that jumps off the page is 80. That kind of output doesn’t happen by accident.
“Any time you score 80 points, or even over 50, no matter who you’re playing, that’s doing a lot of things right on offense,” Lane Kiffin said about Louisiana Tech on Monday.
The Bulldogs’ quarterback, Blake Baker, is a familiar name for LSU defensive coordinator Blake Baker, who will be matching up with him for the second time in two seasons. Last year, Baker came off the bench late and finished 3 of 8 for 46 passing yards and a touchdown. This season, he’s running the show in Ruston, and he’s coming in after a sharp first-half performance against Northwestern State: 10 of 14, 232 yards and three touchdowns.
What LSU has to sort out this week goes beyond the quarterback. Louisiana Tech leans into an option-heavy offense, with a mix of RPOs, read options and even some triple-option looks. That’s the kind of structure that forces a defense to stay disciplined snap after snap.
“They're really well coached,” Kiffin said on Monday. “Charlie {Weis} terms it like we gotta get ready to play the triple option. You gotta change a lot of rules, do a lot of different things.”
The matchup on the outside also matters. Jalen Mickens gave Louisiana Tech a big-play spark last week, catching three passes for 133 yards and scoring on a 75-yard touchdown that opened the game.
He’ll see plenty of DJ Pickett and PJ Woodland on Saturday, and that duo comes in with confidence after blanketing Bryant Wesco Jr. and T.J Moore against Clemson. That wasn’t just about the corners, either. LSU’s front seven was disruptive from the jump, controlling the line and making life miserable for the Tigers’ offense.
Clemson’s passing game never found a rhythm, posting a -0.57 EPA/dropback on Saturday.
Louisiana Tech will need something better than that if it wants to hang around, but LSU’s defense has been building momentum too. Clemson had no answer for Sam Leavitt, who completed 16 of 28 passes for 230 yards and a touchdown while adding 113 rushing yards and two more scores on the ground.
Leavitt’s legs changed the whole game. Clemson tried to blitz, and he escaped. When the Tigers dropped more bodies into coverage, he still found ways to make plays, whether through the air or on the move.
That’s the challenge Louisiana Tech now inherits. The Bulldogs line up in a three-down front and drop eight into coverage, a look designed to squeeze throwing lanes and force quarterbacks into tight windows. It can be a headache for offenses because the defense still has enough bodies near the line to hold up against the run.
Leavitt can create problems with his mobility, and that matters here because it can pull linebackers out of position and open space elsewhere. But this week will still ask a bigger question: can he beat what’s in front of him when the legs don’t solve everything?
This game will test Leavitt. Is the arm talent there like the athleticism is?
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 🡒]
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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 🡒]