2–0 tastes fine. Oxford won’t care about the first half.

No. 8 LSU beat Louisiana Tech 4514, then the NFL Week 1 board opens — and next Saturday is already the Kiffin Bowl.

By Rhett Landry

Death Valley sold out again — 102,321, per LA Techs box — and No. 8 LSU walked out 2–0 with a 4514 win that looked like a hangover for a half and a statement after it. Sam Leavitt threw three interceptions. Tech’s Jordan McRae took one 100 yards the other way for a program-record pick-six that made it 107 at the break. The Associated Press had it clean: Leavitt answered with three rushing touchdowns, Trey’Dez Green finished with six catches for 104 and a score, and the Tigers piled up 528 yards while holding Tech to 140 and minus-3 on the ground. Princewill Umanmielen, the edge who followed Kiffin from Oxford, had three sacks. Seven sacks as a defense. Four LSU turnovers. Ten LSU penalties. A win is a win. Film won’t lie about the red zone.

Lane Kiffin wanted Clemson energy for an in-state Saturday. He got it in the second half. He also got a reminder that Week 2 against a mid-major can still turn your stomach before it turns your scoreboard. Tech forced four first-half turnovers and left with a moral and a 67-yard Mickens bomb in the fourth. LSU left with 2–0 and a short week into No. 9 Ole Miss  the program Kiffin walked away from, the one that already talked after beating Louisville. Call it the Kiffin Bowl if you want. The AP already framed next Saturday that way. Oxford won’t care that Tech only put up 14. Oxford will care that Leavitt put three balls in the other jersey.

While Baton Rouge was sorting its second half, Austin stole the national night. No. 4 Texas erased a 20-point fourth-quarter hole and beat No. 1 Ohio State 24–23 on Hollywood Smothers’ one-yard run with 25 seconds left, per ESPN and Texas Athletics. AP No. 1s don’t usually survive that kind of math. The SEC just put a dent in the top of the poll without LSU touching the ball.

Now the NFL Week 1 board is live, Mountain clock. Early window: Bills at Texans, Jets at Titans, Bears at Panthers — CBS and FOX splitting the noon-ish starts. Later: Packers at Vikings on CBS. Sunday night is Cowboys at Giants on NBC. Monday night is Broncos at Chiefs. For this desk, Houston and Dallas always matter, and so do the former Tigers scattered across those rosters. Watch the Texans open at home. Watch the Cowboys under the lights. Then circle Saturday — LSU at Ole Miss — because 2–0 only buys you the right to walk into Oxford with a target on the chest.

Purple got the win it needed. Film got the problems it needed. The Magnolia Bowl doesn’t grade on a curve.

Related:

- It’s Saturday. Purple night: https://capitolandcleats.com/blog/its-saturday-purple-night-the-hangover-talk-ends-at-kickoff

- Death Valley sold out again: https://capitolandcleats.com/blog/death-valley-sold-out-again-tech-gets-the-hangover-test