On the night of September 6, 2025, LSU had their first home game of the season where the Fighting Tigers beat the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs 23-7 to push their record to 2-0 on the season.
“We are happy with the win, but not happy with the production on the board,” Head Coach Brian Kelly said in his opening remarks to the media after Saturday’s win.
It’s safe to say that while the score was a win for LSU, the reaction from players and coaches Saturday night did not reflect their success.
Only 128 yards on the ground for the Tiger offense, which is better than last week’s 74 yards against Clemson but the Tigers also ran the ball 17 more times than they did a week ago.
One reason causing this to happen were the injuries on the offensive line. On the first play of the game from the line of scrimmage, starting center Braelin Moore was injured during the play. Moore was seen in a boot for the remainder of the game and did not touch the field again.
Along with Moore, freshman tackle Weston Davis was also injured in the first quarter. Davis did return but the injuries towards the offensive line did not help the cause by any means. At the end of the day there needs to be a “next man up” attitude from the offensive line.
“There are five guys on the offensive line, and putting it on Braelin (Moore), is really minimizing the work that the other four guys are doing, as well as the tight ends,” said Kelly on the struggles that the offensive line showed tonight.
After struggling to get anything to work offensively, LSU managed to start off the scoring with 12 seconds left in the first quarter. Garrett Nussmeier was able to find Nic Anderson for the first touchdown in Death Valley for the 2025 season and Anderson’s first as a Tiger.
A field goal was next for the Tigers which put LSU up 10-0 going into the half. Although the offense had its struggles the defense held the Bulldogs to 33 rushing yards as well as 38 passing yards in the first half.
“I think he is the best (defensive) coach in college football, ” West Weeks said when asked about how Blake Baker helps the defense get better. “I think any player on that defense, he is helping them out.”
As we moved to the second half, the Tigers scored their only touchdown for the rest of the game,a three yard rushing touchdown in the third quarter by Caden Durham.
Then it became time for more defensive dominance from the Tigers. If it wasn’t for a 33 yard touchdown by Devin Gandy in the fourth quarter, it would have been a shutout night for LSU. All in all, it was an impressive showing from defensive coordinator Blake Baker and the LSU defense.
Even though the Tigers got the win against their in-state opponent, there could be a lot more in store for this talented team.
“I don’t think it’s just that we have talented guys, we have great dudes, we have a brotherhood in this room,” said West Weeks on why there is a feeling of the team being able to do more. “When we don’t play up to the standard it feels like you let your brother down.”
Although guys in the home locker room may be upset with the way the game was played, a win is a win at the end of the day. Take it, learn from it, remember the positives and move on.
Next week the “Gold Game” is coming back to Tiger Stadium for the first time since 2022. After Florida lost to in-state opponent USF on Saturday night it was announced College Gameday will not be coming to Baton Rouge next week.
LSU is more focused on that task at hand as they look to remain undefeated. They take on Florida next week in Death Valley at 6:30 p.m.
