Three things I’m watching vs Clemson

With a brand new head coach and an entirely new offensive staff, there are endless storylines going in to season opener against Clemson . Pair that with a roster full of around 60 new players, all we can do is speculate about what we may see until the ball is spotted.

Lane Kiffin is set to make his debut as LSU's head coach. Charlie Weis Jr and the rest of the offensive staff came over from Ole Miss, as well. There's precedent for what to expect based on their history, but Kiffin is constantly adjusting to his personnel. Fellow ATVS writer, Zach Nunez, described him as a "chameleon" in his piece breaking down Lane's coaching career .

There are fewer questions on defense, considering Blake Baker and the bulk of his starting defensive players are back from 2025. That doesn't mean there aren't any questions, though. How do newcomers fit with returnees? Does the standard of 2025 continue on? So on and so forth.

So, while we wait to see this long-awaited and much-anticipated season kick off, here are a few of the things that I'm specifically looking out for.

Leavitt's Lisfranc injury that limited his redshirt sophomore season in 2025 is well-documented. It was the biggest question during the transfer portal period when LSU was recruiting the former Sun Devil to Baton Rouge. His ability and talent were clear, having led Arizona St to a Big 12 championship and a playoff berth as a first-year starter in 2024. Would he be healthy, though. That was the ongoing question when Kiffin was searching for the guy to hand the keys to his team.

All reports indicated a smooth recovery during the spring, some indicating that he was ahead of schedule. He was able to throw and participate in some less-strenuous activities until he was shut down to have his pins removed from the injured foot. Fast forward to fall camp, there was no indication that he was coming off of an injury. Kiffin told the media following the first practice that he felt as if there was no way to know that Leavitt had an injury when watching him, aside from knowing that he did. His quarterback echoed that statement during his two media availabilities and claims he's 100%.

That may be the case, but the question is whether or not the coaching staff will call plays as if that's the case. You may ask the question, "why wouldn't they." Simply for precaution. It's been 11 months since Leavitt was playing a real game against defenders that can hit him. While he may be able to do everything, it's possible that they choose to avoid fully testing the foot in game 1. They may also feel strongly that there's nothing to worry about and call multiple designed runs to let him be himself. It should be fairly clear based on what we see tomorrow.

What does the wide receiver rotation look like?

There wasn't a position on the team with more roster turnover than wide receiver. Barion Brown, Zavion Thomas, Aaron Anderson, and Chris Hilton Jr all moved on to the NFL. Kyle Parker and Nic Anderson left in the portal. That led to Kiffin bringing in 10 new receivers from the portal. Phillip Wright III is the only returner at the position.

Even through fall practice, there was a constant rotation, leaving everyone curious as to who will see the most action. Will anyone separate themselves? There is no clear #1 wide receiver, as of now. Trey'Dez Green will be the top target, but from the tight-end position. It's not uncommon for Kiffin to deploy a rotation of 6-8 guys and not have a true WR1. That could remain the case for this entire season.

Even if that is the case, the group will narrow down starting against Clemson and we'll start to have a clearer picture.

Can LSU pressure Christopher Vizzina with a 4-man rush?

Despite how good Blake Baker's defense was in 2025, getting to the quarterback was a problem. Getting to the quarterback with a 4-man rush was more rarer than seeing Bigfoot. The problem wasn't just getting sacks, it was getting pressure in general. That led to athletic quarterbacks being able to scramble and hurt a good defense that was ranked 6th in the SEC in total defense and 5th in scoring. They finished with the 12th most sacks in the entire conference. Harold Perkins Jr led the way with only 4 of them.

Pair that with how often the unit was on the field due to offensive struggles and it was like Baker's unit was playing with one hand tied behind their back at times. Thankfully, the coverage was incredible thanks to guys like Mansoor Delane and PJ Woodland. With Delane gone, it's DJ Pickett stepping in the role as CB2. Confidence is high, but the luxury of a solid pass rush can take the defense to a higher level.

LSU invested in making that a reality. They went and got Princewill Umanmielen from Ole Miss, who was 3rd in the SEC with 9.0 sacks a year ago. He's an immediate upgrade that will make a difference on his own. The Tigers also hope their other portal addition at the defensive end position can finally become the player he was expected to be coming out of high school. Jordan Ross transferred in after spending his first two seasons at Tennessee. He was the #1 ranked edge rusher in the class of 2024, but has only able to secure 1.5 sacks in his career. The hope is that new defensive line coach, Sterling Lucas, can unlock that potential that he showed coming out of high school.

Vizzina is already facing a daunting challenge of making his first road start in Tiger Stadium, so a steady pass rush could turn his outing in to a nightmare.