With his team leading 7-0 after scoring on its first possession of the game LSU head coach Lane Kiffin had a familiar sensation in his throat after Mississippi State’s Kolin Wilson was stopped for a one-yard gain at the Tigers’ 41.
Play was stopped at the 8:15 mark of the first quarter when LSU trainers entered the field to attend to senior edge rusher Princewill Umanmielen who lay motionless following the play.
Several minutes went by until Umanmielen was helped to his feet where he took a long pause. He seemingly gathered himself and made a slow walk to the injury tent under his own power where he had his helmet taken away.
Umanmielen’s day was over, the result of a head injury, and his production at edge rusher resulted in one tackle. He later reappeared on the sideline in a sweat suit and urging on his teammates in a 31-0 shutout win over Mississippi State.
“That’s my guy,” LSU senior linebacker TJ Dottery, who along with Umanmielen transferred from Ole Miss. “I was definitely worried, but when I saw him and asked him what was going on, he told me he was fine. I knew everything would be OK.”
Kiffin also had to stomach the loss of redshirt junior wide receiver Jackson Harris who enjoyed one of his more productive outings, catching two of quarterback Sam Leavitt’s four touchdown passes. He was second on the team with six catches in six targets for 85 yards and a pair of scores but was forced from action with an ankle injury.
By game’s end, Harris was in a walking boot, when the Tigers (5-2, 2-2 in SEC) left victorious from the field.
“I know people will talk about their injuries,” Kiffin said of Mississippi State. “We got a break today. I don’t think we’ve gotten many breaks since the beginning of the season in a lot of areas. I can start listing them on and off the field – it happens.
“You’ve still got to play; there are plenty of backups that went around the country, and (Jeff) Lebby is a great coach with a great offense, and they got really good receivers,” Kiffin said. “I’m really proud of our defense for shutting them out.”
Week-long plots to the LSU-State matchup centered around who the Bulldogs may not have in their starting offensive lineup.
Talented quarterback Kamario Taylor was suffering from a reported case of turf toe and his status for the game was downgraded on Friday to doubtful. Running back Fluff Bothwell had injured his left foot against Alabama, and his status was also doubtful when the Bulldogs released their injury report the day before the game.
“Again, I know you’re going to talk about injuries, and that’ll be a storyline,” Kiffin said. “But hey, there isn’t a team in America that has more significant players standing on the sideline than us. Not a lot of pity there.
“Coming in, the No. 7s (Trey’Dez Green and Whit Weeks) don’t play for us in a one-yard game for us last week,” Kiffin said of a 35-34 overtime loss at Kentucky. “And then another significant player (Umanmielen) goes out early and wasn’t able to return. The doctors help which was the right thing to do.”
Kiffin praised Lebby’s acumen for his creative ability to coach offense regardless of the level of quarterback he’s had running his teams.
The Bulldogs finished with 291 total yards with walk-on quarterback Parker Puckett getting his first career start in place of Taylor. He completed 16 of 26 passes for 121 yards, was sacked four times and intercepted once when safety Ty Benefield picked him off the same drive Umanmielen was injured.
“That’s a great offensive coach over there,” Kiffin said of Lebby. “I’ve watched him with backups over the years play really well because the system can move without great play from the quarterback position. I don’t have a lot of empathy for injuries.
“This team from Day 1 has gotten more bad breaks this season” Kiffin said. “Phenomenal leaders of the team sitting on the sideline game after game. We had a lot of people sitting on our sideline and won 31-0. Really proud of our players and coaches for moving people around.”
Dottery commended redshirt sophomore Kolaj Cobbins of Destrehan for leading a group of reserves in place of Umanmielen.
Cobbins recorded three tackles, redshirt junior Dylan Carpenter of St. Amant had two tackles and was credited with a half sack.
“The entire edge room, those are some good leaders,” said Dottery, who finished with a game-high 12 tackles. “I have great confidence in whoever comes in behind him. I know they take very good notes. He’s just a great example to watch when you’re watching from the sideline.”
Junior defensive end Jordan Ross, a transfer from Tennessee, tied for third on the team with six tackles. He had 2 ½ tackles for loss that totaled minus-9 yards, 1 ½ sacks and two pass breakups.
“He’s like an older brother to me. I learn from him, he learns from me,” Ross said Umanmielen. “We really just talk about how we can get an advantage in the O-line.”
Leavitt, who had a career-high 31 completions, completed 82% of his passes for 289 yards and matched his career-high of four touchdowns. He paired with Harris on scoring throws of 27 and 17 yards, respectively, in the first half and once Harris left the field, Leavitt connected twice with Malik Elzy, one on a 6-yard TD pass, and Corey Barber Jr. (3-24) and Roman Mothershed (1-9).
“We have guys that are stepping up week after week,” Leavitt said. “Guys that hadn’t been playing a lot, come in the game and do incredible things. That’s a testament to the whole room and how we control everything as an offense. We constantly keep getting better. We also say, when your number’s called you’ve got to make a play.”
