By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
LSU quarterback Sam Leavitt was asked on Tuesday if he would be able to cut loose on Saturday with his surgically repaired right foot that ended his 2025 season midway through.
“We’ll find out Saturday night,” he said with a big smile.
And everyone sure did.
Leavitt, the redshirt junior transfer from Arizona State, ran like a mad man all night Saturday. He rushed for 113 yards with touchdown runs of eight and 13 yards on 12 twisting, turning, cutting, planting runs on the right and left foot as the No. 11 Tigers trampled No. 23 Clemson, 51-10, in front of 102,321 at Tiger Stadium.
He also completed 16 of 28 passes for 230 yards with a touchdown and an interception.
“It’s great when your quarterback can move around,” LSU coach Lane Kiffin said. “In football, you have to play out of rhythm a lot. Sam plays really well out of rhythm, and he showed that tonight.”
Meaning, he was running left, right, reversing his field, about to run out of bounds, but not.
“The running lanes opened,” Leavitt said. “I never come into a game knowing if I’m going to run a lot. It’s what happened.”
Leavitt’s most spectacular run was his 8-yard touchdown twisting, turning jaunt for a 24-3 lead midway in the second quarter. As he ran toward the sideline and inside the 5-yard line, it looked like he would go out of bounds. But he made a cut on his previously injured right foot as Walter Payton would have, turned up field and scored.
DIVING IN FOR SIX @S_leav10 pic.twitter.com/qF4OI8zHSd
— LSU Football (@LSUfootball) September 6, 2026
“It’s all situational,” Leavitt said. “What angle are they going to hit me? I saw an opening.”
One reporter compared Leavitt to Lamar Jackson.
“I don’t know if I’m on Lamar’s level,” Leavitt said. “He’s got more moves and is faster.”
After watching former quarterback Garrett Nussmeier turn down open running lanes time and time again the last two seasons, LSU fans will settle for Leavitt being Leavitt.
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