LSU has officially rushed for more yards in seven games this season than it did across the 13 contests it played last season.

The Tigers needed to tally only 70 rushing yards on Saturday in their win over Mississippi State to eclipse the 1,352 yards that the program’s 2025 team piled up. They wound up with 90 in the win, which was more than enough to have a productive offensive day against a struggling Bulldogs’ defense.

Sophomore Dilin Jones was LSU’s leading rusher again on Saturday. He picked up 84 yards on his 18 carries.

“I don't really know how some people can tackle (Jones) in space,” quarterback Sam Leavitt said. “He does an incredible job making the first guy miss and (on) checkdowns, making explosive plays for me. It's super easy for me to just check the ball down and go get a first down.”

LSU was stuck outside the top 100 nationally in rushing offense in each of the last two seasons of coach Brian Kelly’s tenure. Now, with coach Lane Kiffin in charge of the offense, the Tigers were able to begin the back half of their schedule on Saturday ranked 27th among FBS teams in rushing offense (214 yards per game) and third in rushing touchdowns (20).

Those ranks should improve after Week 7. LSU piled up 379 total yards and scored three touchdowns on its four trips to the red zone.

Leavitt completed 31 of his 38 pass attempts for 289 yards and four touchdowns. It was his first game of the year without a turnover.

Jones has now rushed 128 times for 566 yards (4.4 yards per carry) and five touchdowns this season.

LSU’s leading rusher last season, Caden Durham, finished with only 505 yards and three scores.

Leavitt said that “playing fast” was the key to unlocking a productive day of offense against Mississippi State. LSU uses tempo to help itself open up holes for the ground game.

“They didn't do a great job of getting lined up,” Leavitt said, “so props to our o-line. I was pushing the tempo all day and getting them going. We did a great job with our IDs in the run game, going really quick and then just taking a profit.”