Is Sam Leavitt Entering The Joe Burrow Zone? LSU QB Completes 30 Passes In Back-To-Back Games

By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor

LSU coach Lane Kiffin had a statistic he wanted to share Sunday as a question about quarterback Sam Leavitt’s progress was asked.

“Well, Sam’s done a really good job of putting together two really good back-to-back games,” he said.

Then he found his game notes left by LSU sports information director Michael Bonnette.

“Sam Leavitt joins Joe Burrow as the only quarterback in LSU history to have 30-plus completions in back-to-back games,” Kiffin read.

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Leavitt completed 32 of 45 passes for a career-high 388 yards and three touchdowns without an interception in the No. 18 Tigers’ 38-17 win at Auburn on Saturday.

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The previous week, he hit 31 of 38 for 289 yards and four touchdowns without an interception in LSU’s 31-0 win over Mississippi State.

In LSU’s national championship, 15-0 season of 2019 when Burrow won the Heisman Trophy, he completed 32 of 42 passes for 321 yards and a touchdown with an interception in the No. 2 Tigers’ 23-20 win over No. 9 Auburn on Oct. 26. After an open week, he followed that with 31-of-39 passing for 393 yards and three TDs with zero interceptions in No. 1 LSU’s 46-41 victory at No. 2 Alabama on Nov. 9.

“Sam does a phenomenal job,” Kiffin said. “Credit to Sam for playing really good football.”

After an open week this week, Leavitt and the No. 15 Tigers (6-2, 3-2 Southeastern Conference) host No. 10 Alabama (6-2, 4-2 SEC) at 2:30 p.m. on Nov. 7 in Tiger Stadium on ABC.

“It’s a constant progression, and I thought today was another step forward,” Leavitt said Saturday in Auburn.

Just five weeks ago, Leavitt’s game was all over the place – not progressing forward very well. He stood 97th in the nation and 14th in the SEC in passing efficiency at 127.3 through three games on 57-of-93 passing for 732 yards with five interceptions and three touchdowns.

Three weeks later after six games, Leavitt was 46th nationally and eighth in the SEC in efficiency at 150.1 on 117-of-173 passing for 1,496 yards and 10 touchdowns with eight interceptions.

As of today, Leavitt is No. 27 in the nation and fifth in the SEC in efficiency at 159.69 on 180-of-256 passing for 2,172 yards and 17 touchdowns with the interceptions still at eight.

“This is where we planned on being,” Kiffin said as he enters the stretch run of the regular season with four games remaining. “Would have loved to be that way every game, but realistically, it was going to be a little bit slower with Sam missing (virtually) all his spring. And basically outside of Trey’Dez (Green), every skilled player who plays is new. So them just meshing together, and now you see them. A lot of receivers go in there and make plays, and they mesh together really well.”

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— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) October 25, 2026

Tight end Trey’Dez Green, a 6-foot-7 target for Leavitt who is hard to tackle at 237 pounds, returned to action at Auburn for the first time since the Ole Miss game on Oct. 19 because of a knee injury. He caught five passes for 50 yards with a 15-yard touchdown in limited time as he is not 100 percent.

“Every time you get man-to-man coverage, throw the ball to number seven,” Leavitt said of Green.

And junior Hawaii transfer Jackson Harris caught nine for 178 yards and two touchdowns, including a 70-yard score – the longest of the season for the Tigers. He ran for 55 of those yards after Leavitt hit him perfectly on a crossing route over the middle of the field.

“That’s the moment where now the confidence really turns on when you just run away from people like that,” Kiffin said. “It’s awesome to see and makes everybody feel different, especially the quarterback.”

Harris caught six passes for 85 yards and two touchdowns the previous week from Leavitt.

“Feel players,” Leavitt said. “And when I say that, it’s just the way they feel space. Jackson feels it very well.”

Leavitt is obviously feeling it and seeing it very well, too, and his hamstring injury suffered against Texas A&M in week four is getting better. He rushed for 54 yards on eight carries with a touchdown on Saturday.

“If you look at the last two weeks and just three quarters of play both times, I bet his numbers are off-the-charts efficient,” Kiffin said.

Over the last two games, Leavitt is 63-of-83 passing for a .759 completion percentage for 677 yards and seven touchdowns with zero interceptions. That is a 172.25 efficiency rating, which would have him No. 12 in the nation and third in the SEC.

Leavitt figures those numbers will keep rising with the return of Green and the emergence of Harris.

“Having Trey’Dez on the field along with Jackson – that’s two dominant one-on-one players,” he said. “How are you going to cover two dominant one-on-one players? You can’t double them both.”