AUBURN, Ala. -- LSU, after beating up on Mississippi State and Auburn in consecutive weeks, is back looking like the title contender it was expected to be in the preseason after hiring coach Lane Kiffin away from Ole Miss and spending big on a roster that included several big-name transfers.
Kiffin said he was proud of his team's performance in beating Auburn 38-17 on Saturday. But he also said it was expected.
"This is what the whole thing was supposed to look like when it was put together," he explained.
Sam Leavitt, arguably the top transfer quarterback in the country after coming over from Arizona State, was a standout on the road in Jordan-Hare Stadium, completing 32 of 45 passes for 387 yards and three touchdowns. He also ran for 54 yards and a score.
Kiffin said Leavitt has been "off-the-charts efficient" in the last two games.
Getting star tight end Trey'Dez Green back from injury made things "just feel different," the coach said. Green, who missed the last three games, had 50 yards and a touchdown.
The offense put up 552 yards and converted three of four fourth-down attempts.
"This is where we planned on being," Kiffin said. "Would have loved for it to be that way every game, but we just kind of -- probably realistically it was going to be a little bit slower with Sam missing all of spring and basically, outside of Trey'Dez, every skill player that plays is new.
"And so them just meshing together with Sam missing spring in the passing game and now you see them, a lot of receivers go in there and play and make plays and they mesh together really well."
One such receiver was transfer Jackson Harris, who finished with nine catches for 178 yards and two touchdowns. Leavitt said Harris is a great "feel" receiver, meaning he knows how to create space.
Kiffin said Leavitt and offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr. have done a "great job" of getting on the same page.
"You probably see a lot of it getting in and out of plays and all the stuff," Kiffin said. "They've really come along, and if you look at the last two weeks and basically three quarters of play both times, I bet [Leavitt's] numbers are off-the-charts efficient. I think he said completion percentage last week for over 30 attempts, 80-something percent.
"So, he was really good today and it's kind of where we have been, for kind of years actually, in our passing game. And so it's great to have it going here."
Saturday was LSU's first road SEC win of the season and broke an eight-game losing streak in such games.
Kiffin said it was "really important" to get to the bye week and have a chance to recuperate.
LSU has the second-toughest remaining schedule, according to ESPN Analytics, with the next three games against Alabama, Texas and Tennessee.
Kiffin's message about what it will take to win out and make the College Football Playoff: "One game at a time."
Hopefully, Kiffin said, they can get injured star linebacker Whit Weeks back and "be the team that we put together."
"I think when we have our players and we don't screw games up, we're really hard to beat and we play really good and I think play as well as anyone in the country," he said. "And that's what this roster was put together to do."