LSU made quick work of McNeese State on Saturday even despite a turnover miscue and other missed opportunities.
The No. 11 Tigers (4-1) cruised their way to a 63-14 rout of McNeese State (2-4), their highest-scoring performance in more than three years, in their first non-conference matchup before seven straight SEC tests.
“It was good to see, good to see a lot of guys make plays,” coach Lane Kiffin said. “A lot of snaps for guys, which was the goal. The goal was to get up and evaluate these guys, because they’re going to need to play with the injuries we have and down the stretch. Now you’ve got seven conference games in a row, so 101 plays of offense is a lot of snaps for backups to get in there and do some things.”
Kiffin said he declined an official’s offer to utilize a running clock in the second half, but instead challenged the players to live up to a standard of play from start to finish.
LSU racked up 731 yards — the second-most in program history — on a balanced 367 rushing and 364 passing with 101 total plays, 37 first downs and 9-for-17 third-down and 3-for-3 fourth-down conversions, while holding the Cowboys to 196 yards, much of which came with the game with the game well out of reach.
Perhaps as important as any other element, the banged-up and depleted roster appeared to avoid any more major hits.
“I think we didn’t have any major injuries for the first game — that was really big,” Kiffin said. “We obviously pulled people really early, you know, with concern about our depth and things. The good thing about it was a lot of our guys got to play. I thought our guys, outside of some guys late with a few things, played really well. I know you’re supposed to win these games big, but that doesn’t always happen.”
Quarterback Sam Leavitt, who has been nursing a hamstring injury, played the bulk of the first half and finished 18-for-23 for 176 yards, three touchdowns and an interception.
LSU kept him clean and in the pocket nearly all of his snaps, allowing no sacks or hurries, and he delivered his most accurate and in-rhythm passing performance thus far of his first season in purple and gold.
Two of the incompletions came on potential touchdowns deep, and another on a well-placed, but well-covered shot down the sideline.
McNeese State corner Lorenzell Dubose, a former Neville star and Ragin’ Cajun, snatched the second-quarter interception on a great read and break on a play that resembled the second drop, just a couple snaps prior.
“We were just calling certain plays with him and certain protections and things that we feel pretty good about,” Kiffin said of managing Leavitt safely. “And then if they’re not in those, we would get out. So it’s a lot more complicated of to just say we just throw him in there and he gets hit. (Offensive coordinator) Charlie (Weis Jr.) did a great job today of that to make sure that he wasn’t getting hit and that we changed plays based off of the defenses they were running.”
But the Tigers were already up, 14-0, at that point on a 1-yard Dilin Jones direct-snap and 1-yard Leavitt throw to converting tight end Roman Mothershed and arguably in even greater control than the scoreboard indicated.
McNeese State gained 30 yards on seven plays on its first possession before veteran safety Tamarcus Cooley could intercept a third-down shot that squashed the early threat and gave the LSU defense a chance to settle in.
The Cowboys needed another eight possessions to pick up another first down and a ninth before former Barbe star Jamaal “Speedy” Levi could bounce a quick pass outside the Tigers’ reserves and 43 yards up the sideline to finally crack the scoreboard.
Levi managed to get loose again on McNeese State’s next possession for a 64-yard rush back to the end zone.
“I was too tired to even celebrate,” Levi said. “I just threw the ball back to the ref. I was like, ‘I’ll just celebrate when I get back to the sideline.’ I’m glad my teammates and everybody can celebrate when we go and score.”
Edge rusher Princewill Umanmielen and young defensive tackles Daverin “Deuce” Geralds and Dominick McKinley (Acadiana) each recorded sacks.
And reserve linebackers Tylen Singleton (Many) and Zach Weeks and edge rusher Dylan Carpenter (St. Amant) tied for the team lead with five tackles each with linebackers T.J. Dottery and Davhon Keys and second-year safety Jhase Thomas (Destrehan) each with four in a balanced team effort.
LSU ballooned the lead to 35-0 by halftime on a 3-yard run by quarterback Landen Clark and two touchdown passes from Leavitt to true freshman Corey Barber Jr.
Geralds joined the end-zone part with a 1-yard direct-snap touchdown run in the third, and sophomore running back Harlem Berry followed from 11 yards out on the next possession to extend the margin to 49-0 before the McNeese scores.
Sophomore Stacy Gage broke a 46- and 39-yard touchdown runs early in the fourth quarter to push the Tigers to a 63-14 advantage, marking the program’s most points since a 72-10 defeat of Grambling State on Sept. 9, 2023.
“Oh, we’re not letting ’em out the door,” Berry smiled when asked what Kiffin told the team early in the half. “They wanna run the clock. We weren’t doing that. We’re trying to run up the score. We’re trying to get everybody in the game and get everybody the opportunity. We’re trying to go.”
Berry finished with a season-best 125 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries, Gage joined him over the century mark at 110 yards and two scores on six touches and Jones totaled 79 yards and his touchdown on 16 early carries .
Barber led the receivers with seven catches for 83 yards and his two scores, and Eugene “Tre” Wilson III, Jayce Brown and Jackson Harris each caught four passes for 58, 52 and 37 yards, respectively.
Clark was 7-for-16 for 126 yards in relief of Leavitt and rushed three times for 11 yards and a score, and USC transfer Husan Longstreet came in as well and went 6-for-9 for 62 yards through the air and rushed four times for 32 yards as well.
“Corey’s done a great job,” Kiffin said of Barber. “(Winston Watkins Jr.) dropped two easy touchdowns, and so we put Corey in. And Corey stepped up and did a really good job. We actually started him in a series after that. And the backup quarterbacks both made some plays at times and did a good job. Obviously, you know, Harlem and Stacy Gage with 100-yard days was really big. So I thought those were kind of the obvious (standouts late).”
The Tigers travel to No. 24 Kentucky (4-1, 2-1) next week where the new-look Wildcats — including familiar faces such as former LSU offensive coordinator Joe Sloan, former LSU wide receiver Nic Anderson, former LSU defensive lineman Ahmad Breaux and former Airline star and LSU commit Kenny Darby — are fresh off a thrilling overtime win at South Carolina (2-3, 0-3).
