The anticipation had to wait a couple of hours for Lane Kiffin’s LSU head coaching debut due to a lengthy lightning delay, but once the action got going, the 102,321 fans were certainly not disappointed as the LSU Tigers put up a near flawless, dominant performance on both sides of the football against the Clemson Tigers.
It originally did not start that way as on the second play of the football game, LSU quarterback Sam Leavitt’s pass was intercepted as it went through the hands of Malik Elzy and into the arms of Ashton Hampton. The Clemson Tigers took a 3-0 lead off the turnover, but after that, the rest of the game was one sided with LSU outscoring Clemson 51-7 in what was the most lopsided loss in Dabo Swinney’s career.
“You screw up the first series and give them the ball and give up three points and you go on a 51-0 run after that. A lot of players were focused and a lot were doing their job. We’re going to have to improve, work on some things, but I’m happy for our fans. I’m happy for our university.”
LSU Head Coach Lane Kiffin
Arizona State transfer Sam Leavitt was electric with his legs for Lane Kiffin’s offense as he looked a lot like another former Sun Devil turned Tiger quarterback in Jayden Daniels running around and making the Clemson defense look silly with two rushing scores both coming in the first half. The passing game was a little slow early on, but it did pick up in the second half as Leavitt started the second half finding a wide-open Winston Watkins for a touchdown. In his LSU debut, Leavitt finished completing 16 of 28 passes for 230 yards and one touchdown to one interception while rushing for 113 yards and two touchdowns. Altogether, the former Sun Devil accounted for 343 total yards of offense and three scores. Backup quarterback Landen Clark filled in for Leavitt late in the third quarter and even threw a touchdown to at the end finding Phillip Wright III from 30 yards to make it 51-3.
“Sam Leavitt started off pretty slow and then played really well, which is what he has done all camp. The game’s played out of rhythm a lot. The game is not always in rhythm if you are a quarterback and one of the biggest things is how you play when it is out of rhythm because you may not block everybody right or a receiver gets covered. Sam plays really well out of rhythm. If you look into the analytics, he’s been well out of rhythm when he gets outside the pocket moving around. He showed that today.”
LSU Head Coach Lane Kiffin
LSU’s first touchdown drive was established on the ground as Wisconsin transfer Dilin Jones accounted for 46 of their 89 yards including a one-yard touchdown to give them a 10-3 lead. Jones looked the part of Kiffin’s number one lead back having 23 carries for 113 yards and two touchdowns in his debut. Watkins turned out to be the leading receiver for the Tigers with seven grabs for 110 yards and one touchdown, but Trey’Dez Green was heavily involved as well, targeted for four catches for 58 yards.
“The guys up front know exactly what to do and how to block it, and then I trust them.”
LSU RB Dilin Jones
The LSU defense then stretched the lead as defensive end Jordan Ross had a 30 yard interception return for a touchdown to stretch the lead at 17-3. Blake Baker’s defense was suffocating in this game allowing -4 rushing yards in the first half and 40 rushing yards total.
“I told (Kirk) Herbstreit and their whole group yesterday and they ask you questions about the roster. I didn’t realize it, but it was the first time that in all the games that you start talking about the defense. We got really good players over there. Before we went to our backups, we only have given up three first downs through three quarters. Pleased with our players to get to 1-0.”
LSU Head Coach Lane Kiffin
The discrepancies in the total yardage were mind numbing as LSU outgained Clemson 631 yards to 145 while also having a school record 38 first downs to allowing only eight from Clemson.
“The stat I look at is first downs because you have to do a lot of things right besides just explosive plays. 38 first downs in a game is doing a lot of things right. I think 35 is the most in the history of the school. Impressive first night by the guys.”
LSU Head Coach Lane Kiffin
Clemson quarterback Christopher Vizzina was flustered the entire game as he finished completing 6 of 11 passes for 51 yards and a pick six. Tait Reynolds entered the game for Vizzina but did not have much more success. Ross, who had the pick six, had a standout game with four tackles, one sack, and two tackles for loss. His counterpart on the opposite side Princewill Umanmielen ended with six tackles, 1.5 sacks, two tackles for loss, and one quarterback hurry. Whit Weeks, who was awarded the number 7 jersey, was active getting involved on a couple of third down stops and had six tackles along with 1.5 TFLs.
“It felt good; our defensive coordinator Blake Baker drew it up perfectly. We ran through it at practice all the time. Like they say, big two, little two, and I just came over with the pick and scored a touchdown.”
LSU DE Jordan Ross
The headlines were dominated earlier in the week in regards to the court cases and attempting to get two former pro players to join the LSU roster, but Lane Kiffin could not resist in poking fun at it when talking to Holly Rowe about their excellent first half.
“Imagine if we had pro players.”
LSU head coach Lane Kiffin
The start of the Lane Kiffin era could not have gone any better and if this game was any indication, then the Bayou Bengals look like they have a chance to be an immediate playoff contender.
LSU will be back at home hosting Louisiana Tech in Tiger Stadium next Saturday.