LSU didn’t just open the season with a win over Clemson. The Tigers looked like a team eager to make a statement, rolling to a 51-10 blowout that came with 644 yards of offense and a school-record 38 first downs.
Sam Leavitt was at the center of it all. The quarterback piled up 343 total yards and three touchdowns, throwing for 230 yards and a score while adding 113 yards and two more touchdowns on the ground. Dilin Jones matched that energy, finishing with 113 rushing yards and two scores of his own.
Now LSU gets another test, this time against a Louisiana Tech team that showed plenty in its own opener. The Bulldogs crushed Northwestern State 80-6, scored touchdowns on each of their first 10 offensive possessions, and finished with 527 total yards. Blake Baker threw for 232 yards and three touchdowns, and the defense held Northwestern State to just 129 total yards.
Louisiana Tech also gave LSU more resistance than expected a year ago, when the Tigers won 23-7 in Tiger Stadium. But this LSU team looks different already, and the opener against Clemson backed that up on both sides of the ball. Kiffin’s offense worked efficiently on the ground and through the air, while LSU’s defense kept Clemson to just 145 total yards.
The big question here is whether LSU brings the same edge after such an emphatic start. If the Tigers match that intensity, Louisiana Tech will have very little room to breathe.
There’s also a real swing point in how LSU starts the game on the ground. Against Clemson, the Tigers showed they can move the ball without leaning only on Leavitt’s arm.
Leavitt and Jones both went over 100 rushing yards, and that kind of balance gives Lane Kiffin multiple ways to attack a defense. Leavitt’s legs also force defenders to stay honest, which opens up space for the backs and creates cleaner looks downfield.
That’s where Louisiana Tech has a chance to make things interesting early. The Bulldogs were strong against the run last season and opened 2026 by keeping Northwestern State bottled up. If they can slow LSU on first and second down and push Leavitt into obvious passing situations, they can hang around longer than Clemson did.
Still, LSU’s opener suggested the Tigers have answers everywhere. Even without a huge explosive play, they stayed on schedule and kept drives alive. On defense, they should be able to generate pressure without overcommitting, which would help them limit the kind of big plays Louisiana Tech used to put up 80 points in Week 1.
The Bulldogs may be confident after that explosive start, but this is a major jump in speed and physicality. If LSU wins at the line of scrimmage on both sides, the gap should widen as the game goes on.
Louisiana Tech can make LSU work for a while, but the Tigers look built to pull away and move to 2-0.
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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 🡒]
Brian Kelly Just Added Fuel To LSU Fans Clemson Debate
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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 🡒]