After the 9-month wait for the Lane Kiffin era to finally begin at LSU, the season finally kicked off and LSU found themselves on the good side of a blowout over Clemson. The dust has settled and the season is underway as we go full steam ahead towards week 2. The now 1-0 Tigers will welcome in Louisiana Tech for the second consecutive year. The Bulldogs jumpstarted their season with an even bigger blowout, defeating Northwestern State 80-6 to start their campaign 1-0. Sonny Cumbie’s squad gave the Tigers quite the battle when they came to Tiger Stadium in week 2 of the 2025 season. LSU struggled to get much going, only defeating LA Tech by a final score of 23-7. The Bulldogs went on to finish the regular season with a record of 7-5, before defeating Coastal Carolina at home in Shreveport in the Independence Bowl. While the differences are vast for LSU, much is the same for LA Tech. Cumby, a disciple of the late Mike Leach, is in his 5 th season with the program as head coach. Offensive coordinator, Nathan Young, has been on staff serving as their offensive line coach since 2022, but was promoted to take over for the 2026 season. LA Tech enters week 2 ranked 29 th in total offense with their 528 yards last week. Their 80 points have them ranked 1 st in scoring offense. Going back to last year, they ranked 88 th in total offense with an average of 359.2 yards per game and 71 st in scoring with 27.3 points per game. They’ll face off with an LSU defense that comes in ranked 11 th in total defense after allowing only 145 yards against Clemson and 46 th in scoring with the 10 points allowed. Luke Olson enters his second season as the defensive coordinator, running his unusual 3-3-5 defense. The Bulldogs rank 10 th in total defense with 129 yards allowed in week 1 and T-21 st with the 6 points allowed. Back in 2025, they ranked 68 th in total defense by allowing 374.8 yards per game and 35 th in scoring with 20.8 points per game. On the other side, Charlie Weis Jr’s offense is ranked 11 th with 644 yards last week and T-27 th with 51 points scored. LSU Offense vs LA Tech Defense Passing Game The passing game got off to a bit of a slow start with Sam Leavitt and his receivers against Clemson, but as the game progressed, it got cleaned up. There were multiple batted passes and the tip drill off of Malik Elzy’s hands that led to the interception on the second play of the game. The pass protection could also see some improvement, which would help prevent so much scrambling out of the pocket. Winnie Watkins, Trey’Dez Green, and Phillip Wright III were the first few pass-catchers to emerge with good nights. LSU enters with the 26 th ranked passing offense with 335 total yards including what Landen Clark and Husan Longstreet added. Although the Bulldog pass defense was solid against Northwestern St and come in T-4 th with only 43 yards allowed, it was a struggle in 2025. They ranked 107 th in the country with 240.3 yards per game allowed. Linebacker Jadon Mayfield is the returning leader in sacks with just 3.5 a year ago. Defensive end Donovan Rieman is next behind him with 2.5. The secondary is full of new starters. Free safety MJ Moultrie II is the only of the five that started more than 2 games a year ago. He started in 12 with Hampton and has the most production with 64 tackles, 2 interceptions, and 3 pass breakups. Sam Fongang will play aside Moultrie II at free safety and then the Bulldogs play in base nickel with 3 cornerbacks. Amari Butler, Kameron Carter, and Jordan McRae all enter their second season in the program, but have had limited opportunities until this year. They most important aspect of this game for the passing offense is Leavitt and his receivers locking down some better timing. They were a bit off at times last week, which is understandable considering none of them have ever played together and Leavitt was working his way back from foot surgery during the offseason, limiting their practice time together until fall camp. The opportunities should be there against an inexperienced secondary. Expect to see Weis Jr attempt more down field passes, which will force the offensive line to protect their quarterback. Running Game What can’t be said about Dilin Jones last Saturday? He was a beast, carrying the ball 23 times for 113 yards and 2 touchdowns. His most impressive stat was the 99 yards after contact. Stacy Gage was the first running back in to the game behind Jones, so it will be interesting to see if that continues moving forward or do individual gameplans call for more Harlem Berry and Caden Durham. Leavitt added 113 yards rushing, mostly on scrambles, looking like he was playing backyard football. The 309 yards rushing against Clemson ranked the Tigers 13 th in rushing offense. Despite the 80-6 blowout, LA Tech gave up more rushing yards than you may have expected. They come in ranked 48 th after allowing 86 yards on the ground. That ranking is pretty spot on with where they were a year ago, giving up 134.5 yards per game on the ground as the 47 th best rushing defense. Look for Zheric Hill, Jadon Mayfield, and Grayson Hardy to be heavily involved against the run. The three combined for 17 tackles a week ago, despite playing limited snaps once the game got out of hand. Of the returners from 2025, Mayfield led the way with 61 tackles and 9.0 for loss. Kiffin and Weis Jr are always going to run the ball. It’s their bread and butter and it’s what helps set up the beautifully drawn up passing plays that open up the entire field. It’s clear that Jones is the guy, so expect much more of him. With massive games to follow in week 3 and 4, I would expect to see more Berry and Durham in this one. Neither of them entered the game until the 4 th quarter against Clemson, but they are likely to be counted on against the Bulldogs. The question will be whether LA Tech decides to replace their nickel corner with an extra down lineman or linebacker if they are getting manhandled in the trenches by the LSU offensive line. LSU Defense vs LA Tech Offense Passing Game Blake Baker’s defense sent Christopher Vizzina and Tait Reynolds home having nightmares. LSU recorded 4 sacks and 5 more QB hits, along with constant pressure all night. Princewill Umanmielen and Jordan Ross lived in the backfield, combining for 2.5 of the sacks and showing why Kiffin brought them in from the transfer portal. The chaos in the backfield made the jobs of PJ Woodland and DJ Pickett easy, each only having to record 2 tackles. The 105 yards allowed have them ranked 25 th in pass defense entering week 2. LA Tech’s offense is very easy to separate in to passing and rushing, because that’s what they do with two quarterbacks. Their passer is ironically named Blake Baker and will be the guy in the game when they’re looking to sling the ball around. Cumby runs an Air-Raid offense, just like what Mike Leach used to do. Baker had a short night against Northwestern St with an efficient 10-14 for 232 yards and 3 touchdowns. He threw for 1,251 yards and 5 touchdowns a year ago. The Bulldogs run a good bit of 4 and 5 receiver sets, normally including tight end Eli Finley, who reeled in 4 receptions for 52 yards and a touchdown in week 1. Jalen Mickens led the way with 3 receptions for 133 yards and a touchdown, including a big 75 yard catch and run through defenders on their first offensive play from scrimmage. Look for Marcus Calwise Jr and Oklahoma St transfer, Talyn Shettron, to round out the usual set of receivers. Their 296 yards passing last week have them ranked 40 th , which is a giant improvement from 2025. Last season, they ranked 121 st in the country with only 163.8 yards per game through the air. LA Tech runs out a very experienced offensive line, especially on the edges. Both starting tackles are redshirt juniors and in their 4 th year of college football. They will have their hands full with the pass rush of LSU. This will be an interesting matchup, because with the way Cumby spreads defenses out, we will likely get to see the next set of cornerbacks behind Woodland and Pickett. Ja’Keem Jackson and Havon Finney Jr were listed directly behind those two on the depth chart a week ago, so expect to see plenty of them. This feels like a matchup in which the speed and ferocity of the pass rush is going to make for a tough night for Baker to go through progressions. LSU went cover 0 with no one over the top multiple times against Clemson, trusting their pressure both on the quarterback and at the line of scrimmage against receivers. Running Game Clemson got absolutely stuffed when trying to run the ball a week ago. The longest rush that LSU allowed was of 11 yards and that was on the touchdown run by Eziomume with the 3’s in the game on the final defensive drive. Whit Weeks and TJ Dottery did exactly what was expected of them, filling gaps and flying to the ball all night. Weeks was the leading tackler with 6, along with Umanmielen. Dottery finished with 5 and 0.5 for loss. Baker’s unit only allowed 40 yards rushing, which ended up being 16 th best in the country. It was a solid night on the ground for the Bulldogs in week 1. Their 232 yards on the ground was 40 th best in the country. They also ran the ball very well in 2025, finishing 24 th with 195.4 yards per game. Dylone Brooks is the lead back, carrying 6 times for 48 yards and a touchdown against the Demons. Behind him, Andrew Burnette carried the ball 7 times for 33 yards. The name to watch in the running game is their “running” quarterback, Trey Kukuk. He had 5 carries for 50 yards last week, but was big in their rushing attack in 2025, carrying the ball 98 times for 649 yards and 5 touchdowns. One of my most anticipated matchups in this game is the battle of the interior lines in the trenches. LA Tech is very experienced across the line, but especially so in the middle. From left to right, their left guard is a redshirt senior, the center is a redshirt junior, and their right guard is the youngest as a redshirt sophomore. That’s 9 years of playing experience between 3 players coming in to this year. As for LSU, they’re incredibly young in the middle of their defensive line. Deuce Geralds and Richard Anderson are both 5-stars, but they’re both true freshmen playing in their second career game. You can even throw Lamar Brown in there, who lined up as a defensive tackle a few times in certain scenarios against Clemson. Dominick McKinley and Stephiylan Green provide some experience, but I’m looking forward to watching the freshman when they’re in the game. Look for Dashawn Spears to be heavily involved against the run being lined up at the STAR position near the line of scrimmage. He could be especially important when Kukuk enters the game. Prediction The spread for this game is -35.5 in LSU’s favor. It opened at -32.5 and quickly jumped up over 5 touchdowns. I tend to agree with that confidence in the Tigers. Although LA Tech’s quarterbacks each have more experience than what Clemson’s had coming in a week ago, I still see Blake Baker’s unit giving them a very hard time. It will be extremely tough for the Bulldogs to score. On the other side, this is a gigantic mismatch between an inexperienced secondary and a crop of talented weapons. With two massive SEC games to follow, I expect Kiffin and Weis Jr to get Leavitt and his targets on the same page. That won’t all come together immediately, but it can go a long way, especially after not playing for the final 20 minutes in week 1.  LSU – 55 LA Tech - 6