By KACE KIESCHNICK, Tiger Rag Staff Reporter
The one blemish on LSU’s near-spotless, dominant start under head coach Lane Kiffin is a 32-24 loss to Ole Miss. Even a look at that game shows the Tigers have only been outscored in one half this season.
Rebels quarterback Trinidad Chambliss carved up the defense, and the Ole Miss defensive line blew through the LSU offensive front. It was an all-around flat performance on an emotional night in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. It exposed the biggest concerns of the 2026 Tigers, but fifth-year senior center Braelin Moore said the team – especially the offensive line – can learn from that experience and use it for motivation.
“I think it was a huge moment for us to learn and grow,” Moore said during media availability on Tuesday. “It was a competitive game, one that we wish that we won at the end of the day, but we take it as a learning lesson and grow from that.”
LSU quarterback Sam Leavitt finished the Ole Miss game completing 16 of 27 passes for 158 yards, one touchdown and an interception. He was sacked twice, hurried 12 times and never got comfortable in the pocket, looking to scramble quickly and missing open receivers.
“We didn’t like the way that we pass blocked that game, just too much pressure, too many sacks, really didn’t let Sam settle into the game,” Moore said. “He just felt rushed the whole game.”
After that poor showing, however, LSU did not give up a sack versus Texas A&M and McNeese State. Moore said there is still room to improve.
“I think we’re just striving for consistency,” he said. “We’ve shown in bits and pieces – the second half of the Ole Miss game, pretty clean besides the first drive of the Clemson game and pretty clean besides a couple drives in the Texas A&M game – but we know there’s so much more meat on the bone for us to go achieve. And we’re really excited to go out there and work and achieve those things, but we’re far from where we want to be on the offensive side of the ball.”
There are multiple factors that have gone into the Tigers’ improved protection. For one, the pass rushes of Texas A&M and McNeese have not been as effective as the Rebels’ this season, but the LSU coaching staff also made some changes to the front. Tennessee transfer William Satterwhite II has replaced Bo Bordelon as the starting left guard, and the two rotated against the Aggies and Cowboys.
“I don’t think there’s too much of a change,” Moore said of the difference Satterwhite brings to the o-line. “I think they’re just trying to give guys opportunities, see what guys can do. Obviously we struggled a little bit in the Ole Miss game, so that caused the little rotation change, but when either guy goes in there, we’re confident that they’re going to get the job done.”
Another difference has come not from the trenches but from Leavitt. The dual-threat quarterback suffered a hamstring injury against Texas A&M that he said has actually helped him stay in the pocket and improve as a passer. That has made him more comfortable under pressure, and Moore said it changed the mindset of the offensive line.
“I feel like it kind of helped that he got injured, and it put more pressure on us that we have to keep that pocket that much more clean,” Moore said.
The other lesson Moore said the team has learned from its trip to Oxford, Mississippi is the importance of clean pre-snap communication. The Tigers had four false starts called in their first away game of the season.
“That just can’t happen in the SEC,” Moore said. “You’re not going to win games doing that.”
With another Southeastern Conference road night game at Kentucky on Saturday (6 p.m., ESPN), Moore said LSU is preparing for another hostile crowd.
“That’s a huge point of emphasis,” he said. “Our equipment manager was riding around on the truck blasting music right behind our huddle, so it was pretty much impossible to hear each other. It’s been huge for us just emphasizing communication just from me to the guard, from the guard to the tackle, from the tackle to tight end. It has to get all the way down the line of scrimmage for us to operate.”
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