Brian Kelly and his staff completely re-vamped the LSU secondary from a season ago. Primarily through the transfer portal, the Tigers brought in some of the top talent in the country, which has the LSU defense playing at a National Championship level through six games. Transfers such as S AJ Haulcy and S Tamarcus Cooley have made an immediate immpact, but nobody has had a bigger breakout for LSU than CB Mansoor Delane.
Mansoor Delane continues elite 2025 season against South Carolina
Delane came to LSU after three season in Blacksburg with Virginia Tech, and has immediately cemented himself as one of the top cornerbacks in all of college football this season. Delane put together a stand-out performance against Clemson in Week 1, and opponents learned their lesson to not throw the ball in his direction.
Delane was targeted just twice against South Carolina, and he made the play that essentially sealed the victory for LSU in the 4th quarter. With LSU leading 17-10 with just under six minutes to play, South Carolina was staring down a 4th and 4 from the LSU 31-yard line. Delane came up with a massive pass break up that handed the ball back to the offense and put the game on ice.
Delane is awesome. Teams have simply stopped targeting him—until they have to. And this is the result.
— Matt Moscona (@MattMoscona) October 12, 2025
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Along with his clutch pass break up, the senior cornerback added three tackles and a pressure of LaNorris Sellers. His efforts led the LSU defense to another elite performance, as the Tigers held the Gamecocks to just 10 points and 317 yards of total offense en route to a 20-10 win.
Delane entered Saturday's contest against the Gamecocks as the highest-rated cornerback in the country, and his performance on Saturday night showed why. Delane is rapidly shooting up NFL Draft boards for the spring, and is widely considered to be a First Round selection in waiting. With Delane leading the way, this LSU defense has the capacity to keep putting together elite performances this season. Delane and the Tigers are set to face Diego Pavia and the No. 20 Vanderbilt Commodores this Saturday, Oct. 18 in Nashville.
#LSU CB Mansoor Delane entered Saturday night against South Carolina as the highest-graded cornerback in America.
— Zack Nagy (@znagy20) October 12, 2025
The Bayou Bengals’ CB1 proved why he’s considered a first round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.
“You have to make those plays. That’s why you come to LSU.” pic.twitter.com/BQm0A7kvkE