LSU quarterback Sam Leavitt had a terrific game on Saturday night in the Tigers’ 35-6 win over Texas A&M.

And he did it despite not being anywhere close to 100 percent healthy.

Leavitt passed for 312 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception in the win. He also rushed for 22 yards.

LSU head coach Lane Kiffin said after the game that he was close to taking Leavitt out of the game because of his health.

Leavitt, however, told Kiffin there was no way he was coming out of the game.

“Sam was obviously very injured,” said Kiffin. “I joked with him that maybe it was the best thing that happened because he had to stay in the pocket and throw on time because he knew he couldn’t run. It was a really gutsy performance by him. I was actually getting ready to take him out, and he said there was no way he was coming out. He was going to play through it.”

Leavitt faced a lot of criticism this past week for playing too much “backyard football” in LSU’s loss to Ole Miss.

I think that criticism was fair — every player has room to improve, so it’s not like all criticism is a bad thing — and I think the response from Leavitt was telling.

The Arizona State transfer showed his toughness in a game the Tigers had to have. And he silenced a lot of the critics (including myself) with 312 passing yards.

There’s a long way to go this season, but I feel like we learned a lot about Leavitt on Saturday against Texas A&M. He’s an elite competitor who can handle the noise, and that’s a dangerous combination when Kiffin is your head coach.