LSU walked out of its Week 4 win over Texas A&M with momentum, but also with a roster that looks increasingly thin in key spots. The Tigers handled the Aggies at home and shook off the loss to Ole Miss from the week before, yet the bigger story out of Saturday Night in Death Valley was the injury list growing again.
Linebacker Whit Weeks was among the latest concerns, leaving with a right leg injury. Sam Leavitt also showed signs of dealing with a hamstring issue. Their status remains uncertain for the rest of the season, and LSU is now in the spot every team dreads: having to patch holes fast and keep moving.
That has changed the feel of the season. Early on, the program leaned into the “spot the ball” mentality Kiffin introduced at the start of the year. Now, the Tigers are living by a different rule entirely - the “next man-up mentality.”
On offense, Leavitt’s right hamstring could force more time off for healing, which makes LSU’s backup plan even more important. Landen Clark already gave the Tigers a glimpse of what that looks like.
Against Texas A&M, the Elon transfer ran for two touchdowns and showed he can be trusted when called upon. If Leavitt needs a break, or if LSU needs someone to finish out a blowout, Clark has put himself in position to handle it without dragging the offense backward.
The receiving group has taken its own hits. Phillip Wright III is out for the season after a severe leg injury in the Louisiana Tech game, and tight end Trey’Dez Green is expected to be sidelined until LSU meets Alabama in November after hurting his knee against Ole Miss. Those losses force the Tigers to keep reshuffling the passing game, and the picture could look very different from here on out.
Jackson Harris is already making that case for a bigger role. He broke out against Texas A&M with 163 receiving yards and two touchdowns, and he now looks like a player who could become a preferred target for Leavitt.
The defense has been hit just as hard. Weeks’ injury came on top of Charles Ross II going down with an ACL injury during the Texas A&M game.
That leaves LSU needing answers at linebacker, where TJ Dottery and Davhon Keys stepped in when Weeks exited. Their job now is to turn into a reliable tandem and keep opposing quarterbacks uncomfortable.
There’s also been movement in the secondary. Tamarcus Cooley shifted to the star position in place of Dashawn Spears, who is out for the season after a knee injury against Ole Miss. Cooley made the most of the opportunity right away, finishing with two total tackles, an interception and a sack against the Aggies.
All of this is happening to a defense that entered the season ranked No. 2 in the nation and No. 1 in the SEC. That kind of reputation does not disappear because of a few injuries, but LSU now has to prove it can preserve that standard while leaning on backups and underclassmen.
The Tigers are going to look different from here. That means more than just new names on the field.
It also means new voices in the locker room, new leadership in each position group, and a lot more pressure on players who were not supposed to carry this much this soon. For LSU, that’s the reality now.
In Other News...
LSUs Poll Position After That Win Says Plenty About The Tigers
LSUs latest surge still came with a familiar caveat in the polls, even after a convincing 35-6 win over Texas A&M. The Tigers held at No. 11 in the Coaches Poll and slipped one spot to No. 11 in the AP Top 25, a ranking that says as much about the national crowdedness around them as it does about their own performance. Floridas climb to No. 8 after beating Ole Miss was one of the bigger shifts near the top, but LSUs place remained a reminder that one big win does not always bring a corresponding leap.
For LSU, the more interesting part may be how little room there is left for error if the Tigers want the respect that usually comes with a late-season push. The AP list and the coaches version both showed movement elsewhere, with teams dropping out and others collecting votes, but LSU stayed planted just outside the top tier. In a week when some programs rose sharply and others faded from view, the Tigers were left in the middle, good enough to stay in the conversation but still waiting for the kind of change in perception that only comes with another statement win. [Read more 🡒]
LSUs Texas A&M Grades Revealed One Breakout And One Lingering Concern
Pro Football Focus latest grading from LSUs game against Texas A&M offered a tidy snapshot of where the Tigers found traction and where they still have work to do. Jackson Harris came out as the highest-graded offensive player with a 92.0 mark, while Tamarcus Cooley paced the defense at 87.7, giving LSU a couple of bright spots to point to after a matchup that demanded consistency on both sides of the ball.
The same report also flagged the Tigers rougher edges, with Jayce Brown drawing the lowest offensive grade and Dylan Carpenter landing at the bottom on defense. For LSU, that kind of split matters because it reinforces the difference between isolated standouts and full-game reliability, leaving the staff with clear evidence of who is elevating the group and where the lingering concern still sits. [Read more 🡒]
Dukes Unbeaten Start Has Turned The AP Poll Into A Debate
The Week 5 AP Poll has already stirred the usual debate around college footballs top 25, and LSU is part of the broader conversation about which teams are being properly rewarded for what they have done on the field. Alongside Texas Tech, Wisconsin, Duke and North Dakota State, the Tigers are being held up in a larger argument over whether recent performance is matching poll placement, especially when some teams keep winning while others cling to spots that seem harder to defend.
For LSU fans, it is the kind of ranking talk that lingers because it shapes how a season is framed long before the postseason picture comes into focus. The point of the discussion is not an official correction or a fresh ballot reveal, but the growing sense that the AP rankings are inviting more questions than answers, and that a few teams continue to look more impressive on Saturdays than they do on paper. [Read more 🡒]