After an eye-popping 51-10 win over the Clemson Tigers at home last week, Lane Kiffin and the LSU Tigers stayed in the comforts of Tiger Stadium to host Louisiana Tech. The Bulldogs came into the matchup after also winning convincingly over Northwestern State.
It took until the second half for the Tigers to pull away from the visiting Bulldogs to improve to 2-0 with a 45-14 win on Saturday evening in Death Valley.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
LSU had a rough first half, scoring only 10 points. After going three-and-out on their opening possession, the Tigers scored 10 straight points, including a five-yard rushing touchdown by quarterback Sam Leavitt. Both scores came in the first quarter.
The second quarter was a disaster for the Bayou Bengals as all four drives ended in turnovers. Eugene Wilson III fumbled near the sideline with Louisiana Tech’s Janard Lockhart recovering and returning the ball to the Tiger 19-yard line before the Bulldog kicker missed a 54-yard field goal attempt. After that, Leavitt threw back-to-back-to-back interceptions, two of which were in the redzone. One of those two was returned 100 yards by Jordan McRae for a pick-six.
LSU went into the locker room with a 10-7 lead, even with its defense holding the Bulldog offense to zero net yards (20 passing, -20 rushing).
The Tigers began to pull away in the third quarter by having Leavitt score his second rushing touchdown of the day, paired with a successful two-point conversion to Malachi Thomas in the back of the end zone. Kicker Scott Starzyk also made a couple of chip-shot field goals to take a full two-touchdown lead heading into the final quarter.
Louisiana Tech picked up its first 1st down that wasn’t via a penalty, yet the Tiger defense stood strong throughout the final 15 minutes. LSU reached pay dirt two more times before the end of the game as Leavitt completed his hat trick of rushing touchdowns and found Trey’Dez Green open for the 10-yard score.
Jalen Mickens scored the Bulldogs’ first and only offensive touchdown with a 67-yard catch before the clock hit all zeros and LSU scored one final time in the closing with their backups to defeat the Bulldogs 45-14 and improve to 2-0 on the season.
BIG NUMBER: 1
Sam Leavitt became the first power conference quarterback since Josh Rosen in 2015 to throw at least three interceptions in the first half versus a non-power conference team. LSU had four total turnovers on the day.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Princewill Umanmielen
Umanmielen lived in Louisiana Tech’s backfield, finishing the game with three sacks and three tackles for loss (four tackles, three solo) as the Tigers won 45-14.
UP NEXT: The LSU Tigers will make their first road trip of the season when they head to Oxford next Saturday to take on the Ole Miss Rebels. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:30 PM on Saturday, September 19th, and the action can be heard on ESPN 103.7 Lafayette and 104.1 Lake Charles.