LSU Tigers quarterback Sam Leavitt earned Southeastern Conference co-offensive player of the week honors Monday after a dual-threat debut that powered the No. 11 Tigers to a 51-10 rout of Clemson.
Leavitt completed 16 of 28 passes for 230 yards with one touchdown and one interception. He also carried 12 times for 113 yards and two scores, finishing with 343 total yards in less than three quarters.
The Arizona State transfer shared the award with Ole Miss wide receiver Deuce Alexander, who had 159 receiving yards and two touchdowns in the Rebels’ 41-38 win over Louisville.
LSU announced the honor on social media with the message “The SEC Offensive Player of the Week” alongside Leavitt’s handle.
The recognition came two days after Lane Kiffin’s first game as LSU head coach. A weather delay pushed kickoff back nearly two hours, but once play started the Tigers took control in Tiger Stadium.
Clemson grabbed a 3-0 lead on a 49-yard field goal after Leavitt’s second-play interception. LSU answered with 31 unanswered points before halftime and never looked back.
Dilin Jones, a Wisconsin transfer, scored on a 1-yard run to give LSU the lead for good. Edge rusher Jordan Ross then returned an interception 30 yards for a touchdown.
Leavitt added rushing scores of 8 and 13 yards in the second quarter. He later hit Winston Watkins Jr. for a 32-yard touchdown pass that made it 38-3.
Jones finished with 113 rushing yards and two touchdowns of his own. The pair became LSU’s first two 100-yard rushers in the same game since 2023.
LSU piled up 644 total yards and a school-record 38 first downs while holding Clemson to 145 yards and eight first downs. The Tigers rushed for 309 yards on 58 carries.
“I’m happy for our fans, I’m happy for our university, our leadership,” Kiffin said after the game.
Leavitt said he simply took what the defense gave him.
“Anything I can do to help my team get into the endzone I will do,” he said. “I’m going to take the plays when they come to me.”
Jones praised the new offense.
“Everyone saw what this offense is capable of — I mean, the quarterback we have, the offensive coordinator (Charlie Weis Jr.), the offensive line,” Jones said. “We really felt like we could just go out there and execute.”
Leavitt also addressed the offseason noise surrounding the program.
“With all the noise throughout the offseason, we really have done an incredible job of blocking it out,” he said. “It’s never even been a thought process in the building.”
A crowd of 102,321 watched LSU hand Dabo Swinney the worst loss of his Clemson tenure. The 41-point margin was Clemson’s most lopsided defeat since 2000.
LSU hosts Louisiana Tech this Saturday before traveling to Oxford to face No. 9 Ole Miss. That game will mark Kiffin’s return to his former program. The Tigers then host No. 8 Texas A&M the following week.
The SEC went 16-0 in Week 1 with an average victory margin of more than 37 points. LSU’s opener set an early tone, but the schedule only gets harder from here.
Leavitt led Arizona State to the College Football Playoff in 2024 before a foot injury limited him last season. His first night in purple and gold suggested the dual-threat ability that made him one of the top names in the transfer portal remains intact.
Kiffin’s staff kept the pressure on even after the game was decided. Backup Landen Clark threw a 30-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter before Clemson scored a late consolation touchdown.
For one night, at least, the questions that followed Kiffin from Oxford to Baton Rouge took a back seat to the scoreboard.
