For the first time in five games this season, LSU’s began a game with a touchdown drive on its first series.
The Tigers enjoyed it so much, they scored again, overcame an interception at the goal line to score on five consecutive series for a commanding 49-0 lead at the 8:22 mark of the third quarter on Harlem Berry’s 12-yard TD run.
“That was a big emphasis, starting faster on offense,” LSU head coach Lane Kiffin said of his team’s fast start en route to its 63-14 nonconference win over McNeese on Saturday. “We’ve had these great third quarters, but not first quarters. That was great to see. We need to do that. We need that right off the bat instead of waiting around to go score. It was good to see, and we need to keep doing that.”
LSU (4-1, 1-1 in SEC play) had failed, or even register a first down, on its opening four possessions of the season. Four drives, one interception and three straight three-and-out series that led to punts, were part of Kiffin’s emphasis to his team.
It seemed to get plenty of traction when a visit to Ole Miss’ Vaught-Hemingway Stadium placed LSU at a 24-7 halftime deficit. The Tigers rallied in the second half, rallying to tie the game 24-all with 11:21 remaining until the Rebels added a touchdown in the final six minutes of play, coupled with a two-point conversion, for a 32-24 victory.
LSU, which forced an opening punt by McNeese, covered 48 yards in nine plays in just over three minutes when running back Dilin Jones took a direct snap one yard for a touchdown.
Quarterback Sam Leavitt helped LSU register three of its record 39 first downs on the initial drive, completing all three of his passes for 20 yards. Jones accounted for the other six plays on the drive with a pair of eight-yard carries.
LSU didn’t belabor the point much on any of its seven scoring drives that established a 49-0 lead midway through the third quarter.
LSU put together three double-digit drives with the longest being a 12-play, 77-yard drive that Leavitt finished with a 1-yard TD pass to Roman Mothershed at the 3:18 mark of the third quarter.
Freshman wide receiver Corey Barber Jr. took advantage of its early playing time in place of sophomore Winston Watkins who dropped two potential touchdown passes in the first half.
Barber had back-to-back touchdown passes of 6 and 12 yards, respectively, from Leavitt to stretch the Tigers’ lead to 35-0 at halftime.
LSU’s longest drive in terms of yards (81) was completed on the first series of third quarter in an unconventional way.
The Tigers reached the Cowboys’ 1-yard line when freshman defensive tackle Deuce Geralds took a direct snap in a shotgun formation and the 6-foot-1, 285-pounder plowed into the end zone.
It was the first carry of Geralds’ career which includes 14 tackles, good enough for sixth on the Tigers’ defense.
It reprised a role Kiffin introduced in 2022 and 2024 during his career at Ole Miss. He said when the Rebels lacked the ‘big back’ presence in short yardage and goal line situations, he brought 6-2, 325-pound defensive tackle JJ Pegues to his offense. He carried 20 times for 62 yards and seven touchdowns during the ’24 season and went on to be drafted in the sixth round of the Las Vegas Raiders where he’s still a member of the team.
“We took a 3-technique on defense and made him into a running back,” Kiffin said. “Sometimes if you don’t have that type of mind, or you don’t think that way, there might be answers right in front of you, Sometimes in life the answers are right in front you and you don’t realize them because you’re not open to them.”
Kiffin said his quirky way of thinking played a part in having third-team quarterback Husan Longstreet fielding a pair of punts, both of which made fair catch calls on, in the second half.
The Tigers utilized Berry and Tamarcus Cooley in the first half on punt returns and had Longstreet secure fair-catch punts at his own 14 and 30-yard lines.
Longstreet followed Leavitt and Landen Clark to the field and accounted for 94 total yards. He was 6-of-9 passing for 62 yards with 32 more on the ground in four attempts.
“We really have a program like that, that anybody can bring up ideas,” Kiffin said. “We challenge old ways of thinking all the time to try and find things like that.”
NOTES: While he didn’t provide a timetable on the return of standout tight end Trey’Dez Green, Kiffin said that Green’s no longer wearing a brace on his knee and moving around. “No,” he said in response to Green’s timeline to return. “It’s getting closer.” … The SEC announced LSU’s home game Oct. 10 against Mississippi State is an 11 a.m. kickoff and will televised by either ABC or ESPN.
