No. 8 LSU came home Saturday night for LSU vs LA Tech in Death Valley, with kickoff set for 6:32 p.m. CT. The game aired on SEC Network+ and the LSU Sports Radio Network, giving LSU its first home-stage test after a 51-10 start against Clemson.
The return mattered because the Tigers did not just bring back a win; they brought back a profile. LSU rolled up 644 total yards against Clemson, split almost evenly between 309 rushing yards and 335 passing yards, while holding Clemson to 145 total yards. Sam Leavitt was central to that surge, finishing his LSU debut with 16 of 28 passes for 230 yards and a touchdown, plus 113 rushing yards and two scores on 12 carries. Dilin Jones added 113 rushing yards and two touchdowns, giving LSU two 100-yard rushers in the same game for the first time since 2023.
Leavitt’s night also came with help all over the field. Winston Watkins Jr. led LSU with seven catches for 110 yards and a touchdown, Jordan Ross returned an interception 30 yards for a score with 2:07 left in the first quarter and added a sack, and Princewill Umanmielen finished with six tackles, 1.5 sacks and a QB hurry. Whit Weeks had six tackles and a QB hurry, while TJ Dottery added five tackles. On Monday, Leavitt, Jordan Seaton and Ross were rewarded with SEC weekly honors, underscoring how sharply LSU opened the season.
Louisiana Tech arrived with its own momentum after an 80-6 win over Northwestern State, led by Blake Baker’s 232 passing yards and three touchdowns. Jalen Mickens had 133 receiving yards on three catches and a touchdown, while Sam Fongang, Zheric Hill and Grayson Hardy each supplied steady defensive production. That made the matchup more than a simple follow-up game for LSU. It became a test of whether the Tigers could carry the same pace and precision into a different kind of opponent, one whose defense was described as unusual enough to force LSU to change a lot of rules and do a lot of different stuff.
The setting added to the weight. Saturday’s game was LSU’s second straight sellout, and fans were encouraged to wear purple as Death Valley filled again for another home-night stage. LSU had already shown it could overpower Clemson with balance, speed and disruption. The question now was whether that edge would hold when the opponent came in with a very different recent result and a scheme built to make the game less familiar.
Clay Matvick, Rocky Boiman and Laura Stickells handled the SEC Network+ call, while Chris Blair, Jacob Hester and Gordy Rush anchored the radio broadcast. LSU had already answered the first test of the season with a lopsided win. The next measure was simpler and harder at the same time: keep the same standard at home, against a team that had just scored 80 and would not treat Death Valley as a backdrop.
