Early in the second quarter of LSU's 38-17 Week 8 win at Auburn, quarterback Sam Leavitt rolled right and uncorked an underthrown mistake that landed in the arms of diving Auburn safety Eric Winters. For a moment, it seemed Leavitt's streak of interception-free games was going to end at one. But the replay center gave Leavitt and LSU a gift, overturning the call and ruling the football hit the ground.
Leavitt took full advantage of his second chance, hitting 8 of 10 passes on the remainder of the drive as the Tigers completed a 14-play, 95-yard touchdown march to go ahead 17-3. Auburn never fully recovered, and Leavitt kept the football out of harm's way the rest of the game. Even with a gimpy hamstring limiting his mobility, LSU's prized transfer quarterback completed his second straight interception-free game while throwing for a season-high 388 yards.
Slowly but surely, the No. 1-ranked transfer quarterback of the offseason is beginning to look the part as he develops chemistry with a new group of receivers and limits mistakes like the ill-advised throw against Auburn that got overturned. Leavitt isn't a finished product, but he's clearly making strides under LSU coach Lane Kiffin, who told Leavitt that he was "lucky" to get away with his early miscue against Auburn. Sam Leavitt on the money to Jackson Harris! 70 yards to the house 🔥 pic.twitter.com/tsDstIEvkq "This is where we planned on being," Kiffin said.
"Would have loved to be that way every game, but realistically, it was going to be a little bit slower with Sam missing all his spring." Leavitt wasn't healthy in the spring, and he's not 100% healthy now. But he is improving, and that's reflected in this week's CBS Sports quarterback power rankings. Mensah delivered 387 passing yards and four touchdowns in Miami's 52-23 win over Pittsburgh.
The Duke transfer maintains a significant lead over all FBS quarterbacks in passing efficiency and is second in touchdown passes with 22 behind only Oregon State's Braden Atkinson. Last week: 1 Oregon State was off in Week 8, but Atkinson tied a school record with his seventh straight 300-yard passing game while leading the Beavers to their fifth straight win in Week 7. The Mercer transfer leads the country in passing yards (2,604) and touchdowns (24), all while ranking No. 7 in passing efficiency.
Last week: 2 Wake Forest was off in Week 8, but Lopez's breakthrough season continued with a high-efficiency bludgeoning of California in Week 7, as he completed 16 of 23 passes for 267 yards and four touchdowns. He also totaled 51 yards rushing. Lopez ranks fifth nationally in total yards per game at 314.3.
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