Statistics don’t lie. They also don’t tell the whole story.
Those are clichés, but they’re so often true. LSU piled rushing yards on Clemson Saturday night. All in, the Tigers ran for 308 yards and four touchdowns on more than five yards per carry without a run longer than 18 yards.
Sometimes those 75-yard runs can dress up an otherwise pedestrian stat sheet. Not Saturday. The ground game was steady all night. Still, head coach Lane Kiffin and his coaching staff saw the flaws.
“I think offensive line, we can do some things better in there,” Kiffin said. “We got beat a few times on a few things, and when you have a really elusive quarterback and you have a really good running back, which we’ve had that combination for a while now, that makes up for some things.”
Point taken.
Quarterback Sam Leavitt ran for 113 yards, and 62 of them came on scrambles he created. Running back Dilin Jones forced 10 missed tackles by Clemson, and 99 of his 113 yards (88%) came after contact.
“I still honestly feel like there’s a lot of things that we didn’t do too well,” said left tackle Jordan Seaton. “Those numbers are always great to hear, and I’m actually happy that we got to run the ball that much. We’ve still got to get better running the ball and making sure it’s cleaner.”
Kiffin specifically mentioned the guard spot as an issue on Saturday night. Pro Football Focus graded Bo Bordelon a 64.4 overall and a 37.3 in pass protection. That can create scramble situations for the quarterback. Right guard Aliou Bah graded 59.6 overall.
Still, LSU only allowed two tackles for loss in the game. Considering the 58 carries, that’s a low number.
“I think I need to get better also,” Seaton said. “We’re a unit, so I think as a whole group there’s a lot that we got to work on. I don’t really single out, oh, this is the guard’s fault, this is the center’s fault, this is the tackle’s fault. I feel like as a unit, if one person messes up, we all mess up.”
If LSU “messes up” to the tune of 300-plus rushing yards, four scores, two TFLs allowed and 44 offensive points, things will be just fine in Baton Rouge. That said, Kiffin is grading on a championship curve.
Saturday’s effort suggests this LSU team has a chance to be elite. That’s far from a certainty, but the possibility exists. After this weekend, LSU will play a pair of College Football Playoff programs from a season ago. The operation needs to be clean.
“We had over 300 yards rushing,” Kiffin said. “We had no sacks, but at the same time, Sam got us out of trouble a couple times. So, you’ve got to be careful with that stat and thinking, ‘oh, we played great up there.’ So, we did some really good things, but we’ve got to improve.”
Jones and Leavitt figure to be able to help the way they did on Saturday. Leavitt showed that at Arizona State when he helped lead the Sun Devils to the Big 12 title and CFP as a redshirt freshman.
He shouldered a heavy load against Clemson in his return from injury. Seaton knows his group’s ability to pave the way for the ground game and protect Leavitt will ultimately tell LSU’s story in 2026.
“That dude is electric,” Seaton said. “He is an electrifying quarterback, and we need to do everything in our power to keep him clean. The healthier he is, the further we go.”
