BATON ROUGE, La. — Lane Kiffin had to wait a little longer than planned for his first night leading LSU, but once the Tigers took the field, the debut quickly turned into a statement.
Sam Leavitt powered No. 11 LSU with 113 rushing yards and two touchdowns on the ground while adding 230 passing yards and another score through the air, and edge rusher Jordan Ross delivered a defensive highlight with an interception return for a touchdown as the Tigers rolled past Clemson 51-10 on Saturday night.
“Imagine if we had pro players,” Kiffin joked during a brief halftime television interview, with LSU already in complete control at 31-3 after piling up 336 total yards to Clemson’s 54 and dominating the first-down count 21-1.
The comment nodded to two former Mississippi players who have committed to Kiffin at LSU: tight end Dae’Quan Wright and defensive tackle Zxavian Harris, both of whom spent part of the offseason with NFL teams.
A Louisiana court ruling this week opened the door for Kiffin to add them to the roster, but amid strong pushback from both the NCAA and the SEC, he chose not to do so.
At least, not yet.
“If we would have won close or ugly, the whole story would have been I screwed the whole team up” by trying to sign recent pros, Kiffin said. “I have been criticized heavily the last two weeks, and I get it. But my job is to not please you and what you are going to write. My job is what I believe is right — and I believe we were fighting for what is right for those kids.”
Lightning strikes
A sellout crowd at 102,000-seat Tiger Stadium was scattered by a downpour and a lightning delay that pushed the start back nearly two hours.
Still, Death Valley was packed when the game began — and fans didn’t have to watch more than one quarter to see Kiffin’s up-tempo offense live up to its reputation, running 23 plays for 140 yards.
LSU finished with 644 yards of offense while handing Clemson its worst loss in about 30 years.
“The best thing about that game is it’s over,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said. “Just really poor performance, not what we worked for or expected.
“You’re not going to win if you can’t stop the run,” Swinney added. “We just did a really poor job of setting the edge, especially versus the quarterback run, which really killed us.”
Dilin Jones, a transfer from Wisconsin who finished with 113 yards and two TDs rushing, gave LSU the lead for good with a 1-yard run that made it 10-3.
“Everyone saw what this offense is capable of — I mean, the quarterback we have, the offensive coordinator (Charlie Weis Jr.), the offensive line,” Jones said. “We really felt like we could just go out there and execute.”
Ross’ 30-yard interception return made it 17-3 before Leavitt’s frenetic scoring runs of 8 and 13 yards put LSU up by four TDs late in the second quarter.
“Anything I can do to help my team get into the endzone I will do,” said Leavitt, a transfer player who helped lead Arizona State to the College Football Playoff in 2024, but saw his 2025 campaign derailed by a foot injury. “I’m going to take the plays when they come to me.”
Clemson’s offense struggled so much that Swinney subbed starting QB Christopher Vizzina out of the game in favor of freshman Tait Reynolds late in the second quarter.
LSU pulled farther away when Leavitt found Ole Miss transfer Winston Watkins Jr. for a 32-yard TD down the left sidelined in the third quarter. Jones’ 12-yard TD made it 44-3.
Leavitt given the rest of the night off after that, but LSU scored once more when reserve Landen Clark completed a 30-yard scoring pass to Phillip Wright III.
The takeaway
Clemson: Swinney could be in for a tough season. Clemson hasn’t taken a loss this bad since falling 41-0 to Syracuse in the 1996 Gator Bowl.
A promising start to the game on defense belied how tough of a night it was going to be for Clemson, which briefly led 3-0 after cornerback Ashton Hampton intercepted Leavitt’s second pass of the game.
“The start of the game was great for us, but we couldn’t truly capitalize on it,” Vizzina said, referring to his offense’s stumbles. “We’re not helping our defense at all.”
LSU: After ranking 126th nationally in rushing with 104 yards per game in 2025, LSU is benefitting from improved play by the offensive line, the addition of Jones and Leavitt’s legs. LSU rushed for 213 yards in the first half alone, more than in any game last season.
Meanwhile, coordinator Blake Baker’s defense picked up where it left off, producing four sacks and a defensive score while holding Clemson to below 100 yards and without a TD until less than seven minutes remained fourth quarter.
LSU’s defense has “a chance to be really good, with players that fit well together,” Kiffin said. “That is exciting, and they should be excited about that.”
It could not have been a much better start for Kiffin or LSU athletic director Verge Ausberry, who moved aggressively to hire the charismatic, yet polarizing coach. The two embraced as Kiffin walked off the field after the game.