Lane Kiffin's debut with No. 11 LSU matches the hype in a 51-10 victory over outmatched Clemson

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BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Lane Kiffin's LSU debut was delayed, but by no means derailed.

Sam Leavitt complemented his 113 yards and two rushing touchdowns with 230 yards and a TD passing, edge rusher Jordan Ross returned an interception for a score, and No. 11 LSU rode the “Lane Train” to a resounding 51-10 victory over Clemson on Saturday night.

“Imagine if we had pro players,” Kiffin said lightheartedly at the end of a brief TV interview at halftime, by which time LSU led 31-3, had outgained Clemson 336 yards to 54, and had 21 first downs to Clemson's one.

Kiffin has gotten commitments from two of his former Mississippi players — tight end Dae'Quan Wright and defensive tackle Zxavian Harris — who spent part of this offseason with NFL teams. A Louisiana court ruling cleared the way for him to place them on his roster this week. But in the face of fervent opposition from the NCAA and SEC, he elected 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.”

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.

Clemson: Swinny 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.

Clemson: Hosts Georgia Southern on Sept. 12.

LSU: Hosts Louisiana Tech on Sept. 12.

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