LSU football vs Louisiana Tech score prediction, scouting report

BATON ROUGE — The on-field Lane Kiffin era went off without much of a sweat last weekend.

LSU football easily handled a two-hour lightning delay, remained focused on the task at hand and ran Clemson off the field for 51-10 win inside Tiger Stadium in Kiffin's debut.

As Kiffin put it, emotions and tensions were high going into the matchup with Clemson with many players on the roster playing in front of 102,000 fans for the first time. But for all the off-the-field narratives about Kiffin and the LSU program, the players showed zero distraction.

Now, No. 8 LSU (1-0) looks to stay hot as instate foe Louisiana Tech comes calling Saturday, Sept. 12.

The Bulldogs (1-0) dropped 80 points on Northwestern State in their season opener last week, the most points they've ever scored in a Division I game.

Here's what to know about the LSU-Louisiana Tech matchup.

LSU report card | Grading LSU's dominant win over Clemson to open Lane Kiffin era

How much is LSU football paying Louisiana Tech for game?

According to the game contract between LSU and Louisiana Tech obtained by The Daily Advertiser via an open records request, LSU is slated to pay Tech $1.6 million for the meeting.

Through two nonconference games so far this season, LSU has doled out $2.1 million between Clemson and Tech.

Louisiana Tech runs a tempo-style offense

This could easily fall into the LSU defense's hands, but the Bulldogs under head coach Sonny Cumbie operate on offense with tempo. While the starters were in the game against the Demons last week, Tech usually snapped the ball with around 20 seconds to go on the play clock.

LSU practices against tempo every day. Tigers coordinator Blake Baker 's defense won't be knocked off-balance by Louisiana Tech's desire to go fast.

LSU defense will have to defend RPO, big plays

The Bulldogs piled up a ton of big plays last week and plenty of them came off RPOs. LSU tackled very well against Clemson. Tech will test the Tigers' ability in that regard this Saturday night.

Cumbie designs some plays to move the pocket to give Tech quarterback Blake Baker more time to set and throw. If LSU edge rushers Princewill Umanmielen and Jordan Ross stay as effective as they were last week, that strategy likely won't matter for Louisiana Tech.

What to know about Louisiana Tech's defense

Tech only returns two starters from the 2025 defense that gave former LSU coach Brian Kelly and his offense loads of fits last season.

Defensive lineman Emmanuel Oguns and Ruston native Jadon Mayfield return, giving the Bulldogs some experience against LSU up front. Louisiana Tech held NSU to just 6 points last week but that's an FCS opponent.

Kiffin's offense will be a much bigger bugaboo for the Bulldogs.

LSU football vs Louisiana Tech prediction

This is going to sound strange, but Louisiana Tech's offense is far better suited to have a pulse against LSU's defense than Clemson's was. Expect the Bulldogs to score some points but LSU's offense is a runaway freight train right now. LSU 42, Louisiana Tech 14

Cory Diaz covers the LSU Tigers for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his Tigers coverage on Twitter: @ByCoryDiaz. Got questions regarding LSU athletics? Send them to Cory Diaz at bdiaz@gannett.com .