LSU’s quarterback room got a jolt this offseason, and Landen Clark was part of the shuffle from the start.
The Tigers brought in three transfer quarterbacks, with Sam Leavitt drawing the biggest spotlight. But LSU also added Husan Longstreet from USC and Clark, the Elon transfer, to give the room depth and a developmental piece in Lane Kiffin’s offense. Clark, a Virginia native, arrived without a rating out of the portal because he was coming from an FCS program.
Even without the fanfare attached to the other names, Clark had already shown he could produce. In 2025, he was named the CAA Co-Offensive Rookie of the Year after putting up 2,946 yards and 29 total touchdowns. He started all 12 games for the Phoenix and helped guide them to a 6-6 record.
He also made an impression on LSU early in the process. Clark was the first quarterback to commit to Kiffin at LSU, before the staff added Leavitt and Longstreet.
His trainer, Baylin Trujillo, has said in multiple interviews that Clark never backed away from the competition. According to Trujillo, Clark told Kiffin and the coaches during his visit that he believed he could win the starting job.
Through LSU’s first two games of the 2026 season, Clark has already seen the field. After the Clemson and Louisiana Tech games were comfortably in hand, he came on as the primary backup behind Leavitt.
So far, he has completed 7 of 10 passes for 109 yards and a touchdown, with that score coming against Clemson near the end of the game. He’s also given LSU a running threat, carrying seven times for 42 yards, a 6-yard average, and scoring on the final touchdown of the game against Louisiana Tech.
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Longtime LSU football pressbox announcer James Manasseh has spent enough Saturdays around Tiger Stadium to know which games carry their own kind of weight. In a recent look back at LSUs history in nationally televised night games, the 19th District Court Judge traced how those matchups helped define the programs home-field mystique, with the Ole Miss rivalry standing out as one of the fixtures that has always felt a little different under the lights.
Manasseh pointed to the rivalrys place in LSU history as something distinct from even the better-known Alabama series, a reminder that not every big game means the same thing in Baton Rouge. He also sounded confident about the next chapter, expressing belief that LSU will handle Ole Miss, which only adds to the anticipation for a matchup Tiger fans still treat like it belongs on its own night. [Read more 🡒]
LSU And Ole Miss Just Turned This Showdown Into A Scouting War
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For both programs, the result is an unusual level of inside knowledge on each sides tendencies, habits and roster makeup. What once looked like a standard showdown now has the feel of a scouting war, with each staff carrying a deep understanding of the others structure and strategy. In a game like this, the edge may come less from surprise and more from who can adapt quickest to a setting where almost nothing is truly unfamiliar. [Read more 🡒]
Pete Golding Brings A Saban Edge Into Ole Miss' LSU Test
Ole Miss is getting LSU at a moment when Pete Golding has a familiar voice in the background of his coaching decisions. The former Alabama defensive coordinator, now running the Rebels, spent time talking this week about the matchup and the imprint Nick Saban left on him, especially the emphasis on discipline and accountability that became such a defining part of life in Tuscaloosa.
Goldings connection to Saban matters here because LSU is about to see a coach whose approach was shaped inside one of the SECs most demanding environments. However the game plays out, the Rebels are bringing a different kind of edge into the rivalry week conversation, and Goldings comments only sharpen the sense that this one is about more than just another league matchup. [Read more 🡒]