After five weeks, LSU appears to be as statistically balanced as any team in college football.
Statistics can lie. Often, they do this early in the calendar. With that caveat, Lane Kiffin’s team looks extremely impressive on paper.
The Tigers (4-1, 1-1 in SEC) are second nationally in total defense and third nationally in total offense. Only Kansas joins LSU with both units in the top 10. Both Tiger units are in the top five.
“I think I’d feel really good if it weren’t for the injuries,” Kiffin said. “We’ve at times played as well as anybody, a lot of times played as well as anybody in the country. Our first defense has given up one touchdown in the second half all season long.”
LSU leads the country in first downs allowed and has converted the second most first downs as an offense.
The starting defense held Clemson without a touchdown, only allowing a first possession field goal set up by an interception. Louisiana Tech’s first touchdown came on a pick six. The Bulldogs didn’t score an offensive point until eight minutes remained in a 38-7 game against the Tigers reserves.
LSU kept Texas A&M out of the Tiger Stadium end zone and held McNeese scoreless for 40 minutes.
The outlier came when Ole Miss and Trinidad Chambliss torched the Tigers for 24 points in the first half in Oxford. LSU’s worst defensive half coincided with a bad offensive 30 minutes and a 32-24 loss resulted.
In terms of production, Kiffin is getting what he wants. The long-term injuries are clearly still a lingering concern.
“You guys (media), I hope you’re figuring out, I don’t make excuses,” Kiffin said. “I just see how things are. I think I’d feel really good. I’d feel really good about our team. I mean, having lost two significant what I think were on pace to potentially be All-American players.”
The loss of Trey’Dez Green is showing. Zach Grace dropped a pass on Saturday night and hasn’t made a reception in two games since Green left the lineup. Roman Mothershed did catch a touchdown pass on Saturday, but he totaled 11 yards receiving, hardly Green’s All-America level output.
Davhon Keys and Jhase Thomas have had a couple of games now to get their feet wet in this defense which will head out on the road for Kentucky this week.
Whit Weeks was still on a scooter with his surgically repaired broken leg in a wrap on Saturday.
Green has shed his knee brace and is making progress, but no timetable is publicly known about his return from the knee injury he suffered at Ole Miss.
“Still feel good, feel good,” Kiffin reiterated. “So, hopefully Whit and Trey’Dez will be back at some point. That will make us feel a lot better because those guys not just are great all-American players, you know, they were the sevens for a reason. They’re dynamic leaders on the field.”
Two months of football remain in this season, and LSU’s goals are in front of them. So is plenty of football beyond the 2026 season.
“I feel great about the future,” Kiffin said. “I know what that is if we put together this team in that short amount of time without any background with them. I know what next year and the year after will look like, and that has nothing to do with how this season’s going. I just know that it’s a great combination of all these things coming together. It’s why we came here.”
