LSU’s season-opening blowout of Clemson didn’t just turn heads in the scoreboard column. It also put three Tigers on the SEC’s weekly honor roll.
Quarterback Sam Leavitt took home SEC Offensive Player of the Week after steering LSU to a 51-10 win in Tiger Stadium. The redshirt junior from West Linn, Ore., was making his first start as a Tiger and made it count, accounting for three touchdowns - two on the ground and one through the air.
Leavitt did plenty of damage with his legs, piling up a career-high 113 rushing yards and scoring on 8-yard and 13-yard runs in the second quarter as LSU raced to a 31-3 halftime lead. He also completed 16 of 28 passes for 230 yards.
By the end of the night, LSU had stacked up a school-record 38 first downs and 644 total yards, with 309 coming on the ground and 335 through the air. It marked just the sixth time in program history LSU has reached 300 rushing yards and 300 passing yards in the same game.
The Tigers’ dominance up front showed up on the offensive line as well, and Jordan Seaton was rewarded with SEC Offensive Lineman of the Week. The junior tackle from Washington, D.C., started his first game for LSU and helped anchor an attack that rolled up those 644 yards and 38 first downs.
Seaton finished without a penalty or a sack allowed, while LSU averaged 5.3 yards on 58 rushing attempts, produced two 100-yard rushers and had only two negative offensive plays. After an interception on the opening possession, LSU scored on seven of its final 10 possessions and punted only twice.
On the other side of the ball, Jordan Ross gave LSU another jolt in his first appearance for the program and earned SEC Defensive Lineman of the Week. The junior end from Birmingham, Ala., took a first-quarter interception 30 yards for a touchdown to push the lead to 17-3.
On Clemson’s next snap, he dropped a runner for a 4-yard loss. Ross finished with four tackles, a sack for an 11-yard loss and a quarterback hurry.
LSU’s defense smothered Clemson all night, limiting the Tigers to eight first downs, 145 total yards and 48 offensive snaps. Clemson went 1-of-13 on third down and was forced into 10 punts. On 13 possessions, Clemson went three-and-out eight times, including six straight in the first half as LSU built the big halftime cushion.
In Other News...
Clemson Loss Put Fans In The Middle Of An Ugly Postgame Debate
The aftermath of LSUs win over Clemson did not stay on the field for long. Once the game ended, a video of Lane Kiffin shoving a college student began making the rounds online, adding a jarring postgame footnote to a night that was supposed to be remembered for the Tigers result and the energy around it.
It also landed in the middle of a broader conversation about what happens when crowds spill into the field and emotions boil over. A separate scene from the Border War between Wyoming and Colorado State showed a Wyoming player shoving a Colorado State fan as the field was rushed, and both clips have kept the debate going well beyond the final whistle about where celebration ends and conduct becomes a problem. [Read more 🡒]
LSU Just Got Caught In College Footballs Eligibility Chaos
A Baton Rouge judge was weighing whether two former NFL players should be cleared to play for LSU this fall, a reminder of just how tangled college footballs eligibility rules have become. For a program like LSU, where every roster move is scrutinized and every available player matters, the case lands in the middle of a broader fight over who gets to decide when an athlete is eligible, how transfers are handled and what standards still apply in a sport that keeps changing underneath itself.
That backdrop is what has helped push the issue to Capitol Hill, where Sen. Ted Cruz has been promoting the bipartisan Protect College Sports Act. The proposal is designed to set federal standards for eligibility, name, image and likeness rules and transfers, while giving the NCAA limited antitrust protection so it can enforce those rules with more authority. A Senate vote is expected between Sept. 15 and 23, and for LSU and everyone else trying to navigate the uncertainty, the question is whether lawmakers can bring some order to a system that keeps ending up in court. [Read more 🡒]
LSUs Big Spending Bet Already Looks A Lot More Dangerous
After LSU opened the season with a dominant win, Lane Kiffin pointed back to the most obvious reason the Tigers can keep stacking results: the money. He talked through the schools heavy financial commitment to football, from buyouts to NIL deals, and made the case that spending at a high level is part of the job if a program wants to keep pace at the top of the sport.
The broader picture only makes the bet look bigger. LSUs football operation brought in substantial revenue in the 2025 fiscal year, and university officials are already exploring ways to funnel more media-rights money back into the programs future. For LSU, the payoff from a win like this is not just the scoreboard - it reaches into recruiting, player buy-in and the kind of fan energy that can make the whole investment cycle even more aggressive. [Read more 🡒]