Lane Kiffin did not play it safe on fourth-and-1 from the LSU 43 early in the third quarter. With LSU up 14-3 on Texas A&M, he and offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr. dialed up something much bigger than a power run: Sam Leavitt took the shotgun snap and dropped a 57-yard touchdown pass over the middle to a wide-open Jackson Harris.
Kiffin took off after Harris down the sideline, getting well inside the 20 before raising an index finger and then punching the air. Behind me in the press box, LSU athletic director Verge Ausberry, who can barely sit still for a full game, just smiled.
“Is that what you paid for?” I asked.
Ausberry only smiled.
Kiffin, without realizing it at the time, was the reason.
“I’m glad we did that,” Kiffin said after the game. “That’s part of why we were hired here.”
That sequence fit the night LSU was having. The Tigers rolled to a 35-6 win over Texas A&M in the Gold game, and it felt like more than just a rivalry victory. For LSU, this was payback, relief and a needed boost all at once - the kind of result that can make a messy past suddenly feel a lot more manageable.
The backdrop matters. Two years ago, Texas A&M ripped LSU apart in College Station after inserting Marcel Reed at quarterback in desperation.
Reed ran for three touchdowns in a 38-23 Aggies win, and LSU’s season went from in control to completely sideways. Then came last year’s 49-25 embarrassment in Tiger Stadium, a loss that helped trigger LSU’s Operation Clean House.
Brian Kelly was fired the next day, Scott Woodward was gone soon after, and five weeks later Ausberry hired Kiffin away from Ole Miss.
That move came with a massive roster overhaul, too. LSU brought in nearly 60 newcomers between transfers and high school prospects, part of a package that cost somewhere between $47 million and $50 million.
The financial picture around the program is not exactly light. LSU president Wade Rousse said this past week the athletics department is operating at a multimillion-dollar deficit, with revenue sharing, NIL spending and coaches’ salaries all playing a role.
Kiffin is making $13 million a year. LSU and other SEC schools are backing the Protect College Sports Act, and the school also has a plan to sell investors a slice of future TV revenue.
On nights like this, though, those questions get pushed aside. LSU got a win that matters for the playoff picture and for the mood around the program. It also gave the Tigers a clean answer to plenty of criticism over taking Kiffin from Ole Miss right before last year’s playoff run.
“It was good payback,” Kiffin said. “I’m happy for our fans.”
Texas A&M, meanwhile, keeps sliding. The Aggies looked their best last season when they beat LSU on the way to an 11-0 start, but the back half of that year turned rough after losses to Texas and Miami in the CFP.
This season has gone the wrong way fast, too. A&M is 2-2 and 0-2 in the SEC after back-to-back losses to LSU and Kentucky, and it has dropped four of its last five against Power Four opponents.
“We’re not playing football at nearly a good enough level, obviously,” Texas A&M coach Mike Elko said. “That’s the understatement of a lifetime. I don’t have answers right now, but we’ve got to find them.”
Ole Miss had a bad Saturday of its own in Gainesville, where No. 4 Florida blew past the Rebels 52-28. That doesn’t erase what Ole Miss did last week, but it does show how fast the story can change in September.
LSU and Ole Miss both finished the month 3-1 overall and 1-1 in SEC play. For LSU, that’s a perfectly reasonable opening month. Now comes the harder part: trying to navigate October cleanly before a brutal November stretch that includes Alabama, Texas and Tennessee in back-to-back-to-back games.
There are some injury concerns to watch. LSU outgained Texas A&M 506-197, but Leavitt left with a gimpy leg, and linebacker Whit Weeks ended up on crutches with a walking boot. LSU can probably handle McNeese State next week without them, but the Tigers would rather not be without either for long.
In Other News...
LSUs Poll Position After That Win Says Plenty About The Tigers
LSUs latest surge still came with a familiar caveat in the polls, even after a convincing 35-6 win over Texas A&M. The Tigers held at No. 11 in the Coaches Poll and slipped one spot to No. 11 in the AP Top 25, a ranking that says as much about the national crowdedness around them as it does about their own performance. Floridas climb to No. 8 after beating Ole Miss was one of the bigger shifts near the top, but LSUs place remained a reminder that one big win does not always bring a corresponding leap.
For LSU, the more interesting part may be how little room there is left for error if the Tigers want the respect that usually comes with a late-season push. The AP list and the coaches version both showed movement elsewhere, with teams dropping out and others collecting votes, but LSU stayed planted just outside the top tier. In a week when some programs rose sharply and others faded from view, the Tigers were left in the middle, good enough to stay in the conversation but still waiting for the kind of change in perception that only comes with another statement win. [Read more 🡒]
LSUs SEC Push Suddenly Depends On How Far These Backups Can Go
After bouncing back with a win over Texas A&M in Week 4, LSU enters the heart of SEC play with a very different kind of test ahead of it. The Tigers are trying to keep momentum going after the loss to Ole Miss, but the bigger issue now is survival depth, with injuries thinning out key spots across the roster and forcing the next wave of players into the spotlight.
That has pushed backups like Landen Clark, Jackson Harris, Davhon Keys and Tamarcus Cooley into more important roles than LSU likely planned this early in the season. With linebacker Whit Weeks, quarterback Sam Leavitt, wide receiver Phillip Wright III, tight end TreyDez Green, linebacker Charles Ross II and safety Dashawn Spears all on the injury list, the Tigers push through the SEC may come down to how steady those reserve pieces can be while the staff waits for help to return. [Read more 🡒]
LSUs Texas A&M Grades Revealed One Breakout And One Lingering Concern
Pro Football Focus latest grading from LSUs game against Texas A&M offered a tidy snapshot of where the Tigers found traction and where they still have work to do. Jackson Harris came out as the highest-graded offensive player with a 92.0 mark, while Tamarcus Cooley paced the defense at 87.7, giving LSU a couple of bright spots to point to after a matchup that demanded consistency on both sides of the ball.
The same report also flagged the Tigers rougher edges, with Jayce Brown drawing the lowest offensive grade and Dylan Carpenter landing at the bottom on defense. For LSU, that kind of split matters because it reinforces the difference between isolated standouts and full-game reliability, leaving the staff with clear evidence of who is elevating the group and where the lingering concern still sits. [Read more 🡒]