As LSU moves into the quieter stretch of its season, the word hanging over everything is the one Lane Kiffin probably least enjoys hearing: caution.
That’s a sharp turn for a coach whose defining moment in LSU’s first month came when he looked at fourth-and-1 from the LSU 43 against Texas A&M and stayed true to himself. LSU hired Kiffin to be bold, and he answered with an aggressive call that turned into a 57-yard touchdown pass from Sam Leavitt to Jackson Harris, a play-action strike that had Texas A&M yell leaders yelling “Oh no!” It was classic Kiffin - the kind of call that screams why LSU wanted him in the first place.
But the season’s tone has shifted. LSU’s first act brought all the noise and drama that came with lawsuits, legal brinksmanship, overflowing emotions and the kind of national storylines that land on “SportsCenter.” Through all of that, the Tigers went 3-1 and climbed back to their No. 11 preseason AP ranking after four games.
Now the story changes. LSU hosts McNeese State on what could be a rainy Saturday night in Tiger Stadium at 6:45 p.m. on SEC Network, and Kiffin has already acknowledged he may consider holding out some key players. That idea comes after a rash of injuries that has hit LSU hard, with at least six major season-ending or long-term losses to important pieces like linebacker Whit Weeks, tight end Trey’Dez Green, Star (safety) Dashawn Spears, and a hamstring issue that has Leavitt listed as a concern.
On paper, this is the softest part of the schedule. ESPN lists McNeese, which is 2-3, as a 53½-point underdog.
LSU could probably get by with backup Landen Clark if Leavitt sits. The Tigers could probably even line up Jontre Kirklin - the wide receiver who had to play quarterback in LSU’s 2021 Texas Bowl - and still come away with the win.
That reality is what makes the decision so interesting. Kiffin does not sound like a coach eager to play it safe, and his weekly news conference made that clear. Still, the logic for protecting bodies now is hard to ignore when the bigger stretch is looming.
And that stretch is where the season gets tricky. LSU goes to Kentucky next Saturday, comes home for Mississippi State, then finishes the month at Auburn.
None of those games will be easy enough for the Tigers to sleepwalk through, even if they’re favored in all three. Any one of them could become the kind of stumble that changes the whole shape of the season if LSU isn’t careful.
That’s the point of this middle act. Survive it, and the final stretch becomes the real stage.
LSU still has back-to-back home games with Alabama and Texas, then a trip to Tennessee, where the atmosphere figures to be every bit as hostile as what Kiffin saw in Oxford a couple of weeks ago. The regular season closes with a post-Thanksgiving trip to Arkansas, which right now looks like the neat counterpart to McNeese at the other end of the schedule.
For LSU, the second act is about getting to the third act in one piece. If that means being cautious now so the Tigers can keep playing for something meaningful in November, so be it.
In Other News...
LSU Has Every Reason To Push Back On ESPN's Latest Outlook
LSU has already given itself a strong early foundation in 2026, opening 3-1 with wins over Clemson, Louisiana Tech and Texas A&M before falling to Ole Miss. That start alone is enough to make the Tigers look more dangerous than a middle-of-the-pack projection, especially with a schedule that still leaves plenty of chances to stack quality wins in SEC play.
Still, ESPNs latest College Football Power Index is treating LSU more like an 8-4 team, with a 4-3 mark in the rest of league play. The numbers also have to account for the injuries that have thinned out the roster, and that uncertainty is what makes the next stretch so important for LSU, which has the rsum to argue with the forecast but not yet the margin for error to ignore it. [Read more 🡒]
LSUs Damien Shanklin Is Back At Center Of A Serious Off-Field Case
Damien Shanklins case has moved well beyond the usual campus-discipline cycle, and the details now hovering around LSU football are serious enough to keep it in the foreground. LSUs Office of Civil Rights and Title IX found Shanklin responsible for forcible rape and initially handed down a two-semester suspension, a ruling that would have kept him away from the team and campus for a meaningful stretch.
An administrative law judge later cut that punishment to four semesters of probation without restrictions, allowing Shanklin to remain in Baton Rouge, and the accuser then publicly criticized the reduced penalty. The fallout has since reached the criminal side, with the East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorneys office opening an investigation and asking for the related reports and evidence, while Shanklins attorneys continue to deny the allegations and push back on how the case has been portrayed. [Read more 🡒]
LSU Fans Now Face A Real Sam Leavitt Debate
Through the first month of the 2026 season, LSU has found itself in the middle of a quarterback conversation it would rather not have had. A Week 4 review of five high-profile passers across college football put Sam Leavitt in the same discussion as names like Arch Manning, John Mateer, Marcel Reed and Bryce Underwood, which tells you how closely the position is being watched and how quickly expectations can shift once the games start counting.
For LSU, the interest is not just about numbers, but about whether Leavitt is tracking the way a program with the Tigers ambitions needs him to. The review pointed to uneven production and the kinds of game-by-game challenges that can leave a quarterbacks reputation ahead of his results, and that is where the tension now sits for LSU fans. The broader question is whether Leavitt is settling into the role or whether the early returns are forcing a real debate about what comes next. [Read more 🡒]