By TODD HORNE, Executive Editor
Tiger Stadium more closely resembled a pressure chamber than a cauldron on Saturday night, and No. 3 LSU leaned into the crush. In a 20-10 SEC-opening victory over Florida, the Tigers’ defense delivered a master class in disruption—setting the tone for SEC play—while Brian Kelly’s offense oscillated between head-snaps of brilliance and frustrating caution, a unit Kelly adamantly refuses to label “broken.”
The scene was electric. More than 102,000 fans bristled with anticipation, hoping for some fireworks from a Brian Kelly offense. Instead, LSU’s defense seized control. Stripped of key starters from last season and badly needing to upgrade itself from Kelly’s first three seasons in Baton Rouge, the Tigers leaned on a cocktail of homegrown talent, talented portal transfers and a deeper rotation to suffocate the Gators. Early euphoria came in the form of sophomore safety Dashawn Spears, who picked off DJ Lagway twice—once thwarting a Florida field-goal bid and again returning one 58 yards for a pivotal third-quarter touchdown. Freshman corner DJ Pickett later iced the game with his own interception, and linebacker Davhon Keys piled up 14 tackles in a grueling showcase of “competitive depth,” as Kelly dubbed his offseason goal.
That depth was no accident. When All-American linebacker Whit Weeks was ejected for targeting on Florida’s third snap, many would have braced for collapse. Instead, portal pickups like AJ Haulcy and Tamarcus Cooley stepped in, snagging key turnovers and reaffirming Kelly’s mantra: “If you don’t have depth, it’s hard to have a championship team.” Even a calf injury to veteran West Weeks mid-third quarter failed to dent the Tigers’ resistance.
Yet the night was equally a litmus test for an LSU offense still searching for consistency. Garrett Nussmeier—one of the season’s early Heisman favorites—flashed his cannon arm on a tidy, 6-for-7, 75-yard second-quarter drive that culminated in a touchdown. Later, he hooked up with Bauer Sharp on a 65-yard catch-and-run that briefly ignited the crowd. But six drives ended in punts, and a late interception handed Florida one final lifeline. All told, LSU piled up 316 yards—just 6.1 yards per play—numbers more befitting a rebuilding unit than one helmed by a supposed Heisman contender.
When WBRZ-TV’s Michael Cauble afterwards asked Kelly about LSU’s offense’s fits and starts, the coach bristled. “What do you want me to tell you? We played to win the game. LSU won the game,” he snapped. “I don’t know what you want—70-0 against Florida to make you happy? You’re spoiled. Give them some respect instead of picking every little thing apart.” Kelly then pointed out that LSU is 17–1 in night games, a record he felt deserved more acclaim than another dissection of arrows missed or reads misfired.
Meanwhile, Florida’s sophomore quarterback DJ Lagway tasted the Tigers’ pressure firsthand, throwing five interceptions in his first venture into Death Valley—one halting momentum inside LSU territory before halftime, another returned for that back-breaking score. After averaging 10.0 yards per attempt last season (second nationally), Lagway now sits at a modest 5.9 on the year. Gators coach Billy Napier acknowledged Lagway’s spring maladies—shoulder and leg injuries—but refused to chalk up the performance to excuses. “Tonight is not indicative of who he is,” Napier insisted, even as his team fell to 20–21 under his watch and faces a brutal stretch including Miami, Georgia and Texas in the coming weeks.
Back at LSU, the night underscored the program’s renewed identity. The defense, fundamentally reshaped in the offseason, delivered a stifling, pressure-filled blueprint for success. The offense remains a work in progress—but in Death Valley, perfection is a luxury, not a prerequisite. Kelly summed it up best: “We’re not perfect, but we’ll make progress every day. We have a great defense, and we’ll keep working to get better on offense.”
In the SEC’s pressure cooker, LSU just proved it has the brass to handle the heat.
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