Aaron Murray’s latest SEC quarterback rankings came out with a surprise omission, and it didn’t take long for the discussion to turn to LSU’s Sam Leavitt.
The former Georgia quarterback and current SEC Network analyst put Ole Miss redshirt senior Trinidad Chambliss at No. 1 in his updated Week 1 QB power rankings, followed by Mississippi State’s Kamario Taylor, Georgia’s Gunner Stockton, Texas’s Arch Manning and Oklahoma’s John Mateer. Leavitt, despite one of the loudest opening-week performances in the league, was left out of the top five.
That omission stands out because Leavitt just put together a massive debut in LSU’s 51-10 win over Clemson. The LSU transfer accounted for 343 yards of total offense and three touchdowns as the No.
11 Tigers overwhelmed No. 23 Clemson in front of 102,321 fans at Tiger Stadium.
Leavitt completed 16 of 28 passes for 230 yards and a touchdown, then added 113 rushing yards and two more scores on 12 carries. His 113 yards on the ground were a career high, and his second-quarter touchdown runs from 8 and 13 yards helped blow the game open. LSU led by 28 at halftime, and Leavitt was out of the game late in the third quarter with the result already settled.
The only real mistake came on LSU’s first drive, when a tipped pass turned into an interception. Leavitt addressed it after the game: "Early on, you know, I can't put the ball in that position.
Give our guy a bad ball placement. Got tipped up.
Unfortunate, but you know, I really wasn't worried about it because of the demeanor of the team coming into it.
"I was pretty calm when it happened, so sometimes early on picks, it's because you're rattled. That wasn't the case. But can't have those mistakes early on in the future."
Even with that early turnover, the Southeastern Conference named Leavitt Co-Offensive Player of the Week on Monday, sharing the honor with Ole Miss receiver Deuce Alexander. Leavitt was one of three LSU players to earn weekly conference recognition, along with offensive tackle Jordan Seaton and defensive end Jordan Ross. All three were making their LSU debuts.
Lane Kiffin pointed to Leavitt’s ability to keep plays alive after the game. "It's great when your quarterback can move around," Kiffin said.
"The game is played out of rhythm a lot. The game is played out of rhythm a lot.
The game is not in rhythm all the time as a quarterback, and one of the biggest things as a quarterback is: how do you play when it's out of rhythm? Because you don't block everybody right, and the receiver gets covered."
Murray’s rankings were built around Week 1 production against Power 4 opponents. Chambliss nearly hit 400 total yards and threw for four touchdowns in Ole Miss’s 41-38 win over Louisville in Nashville.
Taylor accounted for five touchdowns and 354 passing yards against Louisiana-Monroe. Stockton was almost perfect, going 15-of-16 for 202 yards and three touchdowns against Tennessee State.
Manning passed for 305 yards, four touchdowns and one interception in Texas’s 59-7 win over Texas State, while Mateer had no turnovers in Oklahoma’s 51-0 win over UTEP.
Leavitt’s opponent was the highest-ranked of that group, and the Arizona State transfer also finished with more rushing yards than Manning, Stockton, Mateer and Chambliss combined in Week 1.
LSU is back home Saturday against Louisiana Tech at 7:30 p.m. ET before a Week 3 trip to Ole Miss.
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