Landen Clark is not arriving at LSU as a developmental project. He is coming to Baton Rouge after accounting for 29 touchdowns in his first full season as a college starter, rushing for more than 600 yards, throwing for more than 2,300 and establishing himself as one of the most dangerous young dual threat quarterbacks in the FCS.

Clark completed 155 of 277 passes for 2,321 yards, 18 touchdowns and eight interceptions at Elon in 2025. He added 614 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns on the ground, giving him 2,935 yards of total offense and 29 touchdowns accounted for in 12 games.

That works out to 244.6 yards of total offense per game.

His 29 total touchdowns tied for second in Elon single season history, while his 11 rushing touchdowns set the program’s FCS era single season record.

And he did all of it as a redshirt freshman.

Clark is not the classic pocket quarterback who scrambles only when a play breaks down. Running the football is a legitimate part of his game. He carried it 189 times in 2025 and finished second on Elon’s team in rushing.

He scored a rushing touchdown in eight different games and recorded six games in which he threw for at least one touchdown and ran for another.

That is a true dual threat quarterback.

Clark showed exactly what that looks like against Western Carolina. He threw for a career high 305 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for 72 yards and two more scores.

With Elon needing a play late, Clark delivered it himself.

His 10 yard touchdown run with 4:53 remaining gave Elon the lead in a 37-31 victory. He finished the afternoon with 377 yards of total offense and four touchdowns and was named CAA Rookie of the Week.

Against Davidson, Clark needed only one half to tear apart the defense.

He completed 15 of 24 passes for 247 yards and three touchdowns while adding 37 rushing yards and another score. Elon erupted for 41 points in the first half, and Clark earned another CAA Rookie of the Week honor.

But his late season performances may provide the best evidence of what LSU is getting.

Against Campbell, Elon was tied 24-24 with just over a minute remaining. Clark had already thrown two touchdown passes and rushed for two scores.

Then he hit Isaiah Fuhrmann for a 96 yard touchdown with 1:07 left.

Game over.

The play tied an Elon record for longest pass and gave the Phoenix a 31-24 victory. Clark finished with 228 passing yards, 59 rushing yards and four total touchdowns.

One week later, he was even more explosive.

Against North Carolina A&T, Clark threw for 231 yards and a career high four touchdowns. He also rushed for 105 yards and two more scores.

Six touchdowns in one game.

He ripped off an 86 yard touchdown run, Elon’s longest rush since 2018, and finished the afternoon with 336 yards of total offense. That performance earned him CAA Offensive Player of the Week honors.

Over the final two games of the season alone, Clark accounted for 10 touchdowns.

Ten touchdowns in two games.

That kind of finishing stretch is why Clark became the CAA Co-Offensive Rookie of the Year and was selected as one of 25 finalists nationally for the Jerry Rice Award, which honors the top freshman in FCS football.

He was also named CAA Rookie of the Week three times during the season and CAA Offensive Player of the Week once.

Clark’s explosiveness should not surprise anyone who followed him in high school.

At Radford High School in Virginia, he put together one of the wildest senior seasons imaginable. Clark accounted for more than 4,300 yards of offense and 71 touchdowns while leading Radford to a perfect 15-0 record and the school’s first state football championship in 51 years.

Seventy-one touchdowns.

The season before that, he produced more than 3,300 yards and 52 touchdowns while helping Radford finish 10-2.

Clark was a two-time region Player of the Year, earned first team all-state honors at both quarterback and defensive back and was named the VHSL Offensive Player of the Year. He was also a second team all-state punter.

And football was not his only sport.

Clark won a state championship in track and field and helped his basketball team finish as state runner-up.

That athletic background matters. At 6 feet and 195 pounds, Clark has the quickness and open field ability to turn a broken play into a first down or a routine quarterback keeper into a touchdown.

There is still room for improvement. His 56.0 percent completion rate in 2025 needs to rise, and moving from FCS competition to SEC defenses represents a major increase in speed, size and complexity.

But the upside is obvious.

Clark has already produced a 305 yard passing game.

He has rushed for more than 100 yards in a game.

He has scored six touchdowns in one afternoon.

He has thrown a 96 yard game winning touchdown.

He has broken an 86 yard touchdown run.

He has accounted for 29 touchdowns in a season.

And before college, he accounted for 71 touchdowns while leading an undefeated state championship team.

Landen Clark may not enter LSU with the national name recognition of some of the Tigers’ other quarterbacks.

That does not make him an afterthought.

It makes him one of the most intriguing players in LSU’s quarterback room.

The talent is real.

The production is real.

And if his development continues in Baton Rouge, LSU may have found another quarterback who can flat out make plays.