LSU’s blowout of Clemson did more than give the Tigers a statement win. It also peeled back the curtain on a roster full of new faces and showed which players are already forcing their way into bigger roles.
With so many additions on both sides of the ball, the depth chart was always going to take a little time to sort out. Fall camp only gave the media a limited look at individual drills, so a lot of the rotation questions had to wait until Saturday. Once the game got rolling, though, a few players made their answers loud and clear.
Phillip Wright III was one of them.
LSU head coach Lane Kiffin said Monday that he had long noticed how the Tigers seemed to keep talented receivers tucked away out of sight when he was preparing to coach against them. That background made Wright’s breakout against Clemson even more fitting. The receiver, who had just one catch for two yards as a freshman in 2025, turned three receptions into 70 yards and a touchdown.
Wright’s preseason had already hinted at what he could do. He showed quickness and sharp footwork, but not enough to crack the starter tier heading into the opener.
Against Clemson, he changed that conversation once the reserves came in. His first two catches came from Landen Clark, and the third came from Husan Longstreet.
Two of those grabs went for more than 30 yards, and both showed off the speed that makes Wright such a different kind of problem for a defense. On the touchdown, he caught the ball four yards in front of the line of scrimmage, then worked backward to shake Clemson’s cornerback before using his speed to race down the sideline and finish the play. Later, he got behind cornerback Donovan Starr on the left sideline and made a diving catch.
Kiffin was especially impressed by how Wright finished.
“I don’t believe you practice poorly and just play great in games,” Kiffin said. “But some guys do play a little better under the lights, that is true, and some guys don’t.
So he’s got a really good look in his eyes. He really played really strong out there.”
He added, “I got really excited on his touchdown just because he has worked really hard and then played really good sometimes in scrimmages and then not played as well,” Kiffin said. “For him to come and play like that at the end was awesome to see.”
Wright also handled kickoff returns for LSU, a move that makes sense given how much speed he brought to the field against Clemson.
Another Louisiana player who boosted his stock was Dylan Carpenter.
The redshirt junior edge rusher from St. Amant, La., had already started building momentum last season, when he played 119 snaps. Against Clemson, he worked as LSU’s third edge in the rotation behind Princewill Umanmielen and Jordan Ross and delivered 1.5 tackles for loss and a sack.
That sack was part of a four-sack night for LSU, and every one of them came from the edge.
Defensive coordinator Blake Baker had already praised Carpenter’s development before the opener. “Dylan Carpenter is a guy that has absolutely been outstanding,” Baker said last month. “When you talk about where he came in as a freshman to where he is now… man, I can’t be more complimentary to him and Lamar Brown,”
Brown, a freshman expected to make an immediate impact, was quiet against Clemson. That only makes Carpenter’s role more important as LSU looks for steady production up front.
Baker has shown plenty of flexibility with his edge group, using them in different combinations to create pressure. Carpenter fits that plan because he can do a little of everything, though his best work comes when he’s attacking and disrupting the offensive line.
That matters even more with LSU’s second-team defense. Kiffin said after the game that he was unhappy with how the backups played, noting that Clemson’s only touchdown came after the starters had kept the Tigers from even reaching LSU territory.
For LSU, Carpenter’s experience and production could be a key part of making sure the second line of defense holds up.
In Other News...
LSU Just Got A Bigger Spotlight After Trey'Dez Green's Breakout
Trey'Dez Greens breakout against Louisiana Tech gave LSU another weapon to talk about, and it arrived at a moment when the Tigers are already drawing plenty of national attention. Green finished with six catches for 104 yards and a touchdown, the kind of line that tends to travel fast when a team is trying to build an early-season identity around its passing game and its most dangerous matchups.
The timing matters, too, because LSU is sitting seventh in the 2026 US LBM Coaches Top 25 poll, behind Texas, Georgia and Notre Dame at the top of the rankings. Poll placement alone does not define a season, but performances like Greens can shape how voters and everyone else view the Tigers going forward, especially with the season still early and the spotlight only getting brighter. [Read more 🡒]
LSU Heads Into A Lane Kiffin Showdown With Extra Emotion
The buildup around LSUs Week 3 trip to Oxford has already taken on an extra layer because of who is standing across the sideline. Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss acknowledged the matchup feels weird with Lane Kiffin now coaching LSU, but he also made clear the Rebels are trying to keep the focus where it belongs. The game will be nationally televised, which only adds to the noise around a meeting that already has plenty of history attached to it.
For LSU, the storyline is unavoidable even before kickoff arrives. Kiffins return to face the program he once led gives the matchup a personal edge, while Ole Miss is treating it like another chance to settle in and play football instead of getting caught up in the drama. That balance between emotion and business will shape the conversation all week, and it should make Saturday in Oxford feel like more than just another early-season SEC game. [Read more 🡒]
LSU Stayed Unbeaten But Ole Miss Questions Are Already Back
LSU kept its unbeaten start intact with a 45-14 win over Louisiana Tech, and the defense did the heavy lifting for much of the afternoon. The Tigers controlled field position, smothered the Bulldogs offense and generally made life miserable for Louisiana Tech whenever it tried to build anything resembling a rhythm.
Still, the game did not exactly quiet the bigger concern hovering over LSU: offensive consistency. Even with the final margin looking comfortable, the Tigers had stretches where they failed to separate cleanly, and that leaves the discussion pointed straight at next weeks trip to Ole Miss, where loose execution and wasted chances tend to get exposed in a hurry. [Read more 🡒]