LSU did not spend much time easing into the Lane Kiffin era. By halftime Saturday, the Tigers had already turned a preseason full of noise into a lopsided showcase, and by the time the third quarter wound down, the only real question left was how much longer the starters would stay on the field.
The answer to one of the biggest questions around LSU arrived in a hurry: Sam Leavitt is ready to run.
Leavitt, the Arizona State transfer, had his surgically repaired right foot tested in live action, and he answered with a 13-yard touchdown scramble in the first half. Rolling right against a defense that had overcommitted, he planted that foot, cut inside a Clemson safety and then absorbed a desperate dive from a pursuing defensive end before landing in the purple of the end zone.
“When running lanes open up and it's the best play at hand, I'm gonna take it,” Leavitt said.
That score was part of a 31-3 first half that set the tone for LSU’s 51-10 blowout of Clemson in Kiffin’s LSU debut. Leavitt and running back Dilin Jones each finished with 113 rushing yards, and LSU piled up 309 yards on the ground overall. By halftime, the Tigers had already reached 213 rushing yards, topping last season’s full-game high of 166 against South Carolina.
The final numbers were just as overwhelming. LSU finished with 644 total yards, Clemson managed only 145, and the Tigers set a school record with 38 first downs.
Defensively, LSU looked nothing like a team trying to find itself in a new era. Blake Baker’s unit, retained by Kiffin, overwhelmed Clemson up front and across the formation, finishing with 11 tackles for loss, four sacks and five more quarterback hurries.
“We have some unique players that we brought here. With our ends, they can really drop and do different things,” Kiffin said. “And then TJ (Dottery) and Whit Weeks are good inside blitzers … so we were able to rattle the quarterback.”
The play that cracked the game open came from that pressure. Baker sent edge rusher Jordan Ross into coverage, and Ross intercepted a pressured Christopher Vizzina before racing to the end zone for a 17-3 lead. He celebrated by dunking on the basketball hoop on the LSU sideline, which had a Clemson paw on the backboard.
LSU kept stacking points after that. Leavitt scored again on runs of 8 and 13 yards, then found Winston Watkins for a 32-yard touchdown.
Jones added a 12-yard touchdown run, pushing LSU ahead 44-3 before the fourth quarter even started. Kiffin went for two after that score, but the attempt failed.
By then, the game had long since gotten away from Clemson. Leavitt was pulled before the third quarter ended, and the stadium was thinning out after a weather delay pushed kickoff back two hours.
Still, LSU had already delivered the kind of statement Kiffin wanted in front of a national audience.
“I'm happy for our fans, I'm happy for our university, our leadership,” Kiffin said. “A lot of things said about a lot of people this week and how the game may go.”
The win also shifted attention away from a preseason that kept LSU in the headlines for all the wrong reasons. Jayden Daniels’ attorney sent a cease-and-desist letter.
Ole Miss took a pair of transfers to court for breach of contract. Two ex-pros who played for Kiffin at Ole Miss were made eligible by court order, Kiffin tried to add them before the season, and LSU and Kiffin were sued by the Southeastern Conference.
Kiffin even joked about the offseason swirl while his team was rolling.
“Imagine if we had pro players,” Kiffin quipped during his halftime interview with ESPN with his Tigers up 28 points.
Afterward, he said the performance helped put the distraction talk in the background.
“I'm glad we played well because then (that) would have been the whole story,” Kiffin said. “But it doesn’t really matter if your team thinks the right way.”
LSU did think the right way, even after a shaky start. On the opening series, Leavitt threw behind Malik Elzy, and the ball went through the receiver’s hands and into the arms of Clemson cornerback Ashton Hampton for an early turnover. Clemson turned that into a 48-yard field goal and a 3-0 lead, but that was the last time the visitors had anything resembling control.
From there, LSU answered with 51 straight points before a late garbage-time touchdown. The conversation around this team changed fast, and it changed in a hurry.
In Other News...
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The reaction online was quick and mixed, with plenty of viewers taking aim at both Wilsons performance and ESPNs decision to alter the familiar GameDay opening. Even so, not every fan was bothered by the change, and some seemed more welcoming of Wilsons presence than other parts of the broadcast. For a show built on tradition, it was a reminder that even a familiar Saturday ritual can still stir up a debate in Tiger country. [Read more 🡒]
LSU Drama Just Drew A Warning Tigers Fans Can't Ignore
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For LSU, the uncomfortable part is not just the original issue, but the way it has invited scrutiny about leadership and the possibility of larger fallout if the situation keeps escalating. Finebaum even floated the idea that SEC presidents could talk about removing LSU from the league, though he made clear that outcome is unlikely, which is a reminder of how much tension this episode has created around a program that would rather be talking about football. [Read more 🡒]
College GameDay Took A Strange Turn Before LSU Clemson Even Kicked Off
ESPNs College GameDay got the kind of Baton Rouge welcome nobody had on the script for LSU-Clemson, as lightning forced the network to hit pause during its 40th season kickoff show. What was supposed to be the usual charged, early-morning buildup around the Tigers instead turned into a weather delay that sent the crew scrambling and changed the feel of the entire broadcast before the game even started.
When the show came back, it did so from inside an empty theater, a sharp contrast to the packed scene fans expected from one of college footballs biggest opening weekends. The interruption and relocation quickly became part of the conversation around the day, a strange little pregame wrinkle that stood out almost as much as the matchup itself. [Read more 🡒]