The Battle of the Tigers is finally here as the #9 LSU Tigers make the travel to Memorial Stadium to take on the #4 Clemson Tigers in a highly anticipated primetime opening season Top 10 matchup.
There is a lot on the line to start the season for both Tigers for a lot of different reasons. Even though the loser of this game is not out of the playoff picture, the winner will catapult them early in the championship hunt. Here are a couple of things to keep an eye on for when the football gets kicked off on ABC at 7:30 Eastern Time.
Will the Real Death Valley Please Stand Up?
Not only does LSU and Clemson have the same mascot, but they also share the same name of their stadium “Death Valley.” Both LSU’s Tiger Stadium and Clemson’s Memorial Stadium have claimed to be the real Death Valley and both will get the chance to host the other the next two years. Clemson first monikered the nickname in the 1940’s while LSU later was nicknamed “Deaf Valley” for their loud environment and rambunctious fans. Both LSU and Clemson have also been taking jabs at each other for being the real Death Valley. Even Brian Kelly got in the action by saying that Clemson’s Memorial Stadium is “Death Valley Junior.”
While Clemson will host LSU this year, LSU will get their chance to do the same next year to kickoff the 2026 season. This is the fifth time that both college football powerhouse programs have faced off against each other with LSU holding the current all-time series at 3-1. Two of those wins actually helped decide national championships for LSU with their most recent matchup coming in the 2019 National Championship which was won by LSU 42-25 and the other was the 1958 Sugar Bowl that also helped secure the Bayou Bengals by a final score of 7-3. LSU will look to continue to add another big win while Clemson wants to pull within one game of the all-time series while show LSU that they are the Real Death Valley.
Who Will Get Off The Week 1 Schneid?
Both LSU and Clemson are trying to put a stop to a Week 1 losing streak. LSU’s has been the most talked about as they have not got a season opening win since winning a National Championship in 2019. The streak has continued in every season under Brian Kelly. Ever since taking the job in 2022, LSU has lost two season openers to Florida State and one to USC last season. This offseason has been a different approach for Brian Kelly as the indoor facility’s video monitor has played a lot of Clemson highlights throughout the majority of fall camp while their team meeting room only has Clemson pictured on their schedule.
“Everybody’s excited. Excitement is a part of college football and passion. We’ve got a passionate fanbase. They have high expectations. We have high expectations. But like I’ve said to you, we’ve been working on this since January after our Baylor win. We went to work on our roster process in developing this football team. So that when we get to these moments, it’s having a team that is confident that plays the game the right way in a hostile environment. Many would say composure, maturity, and they’ve got to play with great competitiveness. Each and every play is going to be important for us.”
LSU HC Brian Kelly
While LSU is trying to put an end to a season opener losing streak, Clemson is too after losing two straight to Georgia and Duke. Clemson is trying to avoid their third straight loss to kickoff a season as well and one of those losing streaks will come to an end on Saturday night.
Brian Kelly vs. Dabo Swinney
Brian Kelly and Dabo Swinney are two of the most accomplished coaches currently in college football. Since taking over the Clemson Tigers program in 2008, Swinney has posted a 180-47 overall record including two national championships and nine ACC championships.
“Clemson is, obviously, a top-ranked team. Whatever poll you’re looking at, it’s a top-five team. They’ve reached the College Football Playoff. I know Coach Swinney very well. Thirteen seasons with 10 wins – they’re the epitome of consistency at the highest level.”
LSU HC Brian Kelly
Brian Kelly has won a lot of games over his coaching career. In fact, he is the most active winning coach in college football with an overall 292-107-2 record, but the knock on Kelly is that he has not won a national championship. Through four seasons at LSU, Kelly has had good seasons posting a 29-11 record, but the expectation in Baton Rouge is to be great.
Kelly will have to go through Swinney, who he has a 1-3 record against during his time at Notre Dame in order to help get LSU from good to great.
Early Heisman Statement: Nussmeier vs. Klubnik
There is not only a lot on the line between the teams, but there is a lot on the line for the two Tigers star quarterbacks that will have their shot on center stage for an early campaign at the Heisman Trophy.
The LSU offense has a lot of high expectations entering the 2025 season and those high expectations were set in place when Garrett Nussmeier announced that he was going to forgo the NFL Draft and was going to return for his fifth season of college football at LSU.
After waiting his turn behind Jayden Daniels, Nussmeier finally had his time to start last season and showed what he can do by throwing for 4,052 yards and 29 touchdowns to 12 interceptions last season. His 5,772 passing yards and 40 touchdowns puts him on pace to be one of the program’s all-time leading passers by the end of the season. The Tigers’ gunslinger is one of the top quarterbacks in all of college football and is an early favorite for the Heisman Trophy as well as being a top potential draft pick in the upcoming NFL Draft.
“There are obvious things that I need to improve on when protecting the football and using my legs a little bit more. I feel like I’ve done a good job of becoming a better player. I am excited for the opportunity to put that on tape. Just having a full season last year to put on tape and make corrections on was a huge thing for me this offseason. Having an opportunity to watch myself and correct myself on technique schematically was huge.”
LSU QB Garrett Nussmeier
Nussmeier is focused on the upcoming season in trying to lead the Tigers to the College Football Playoff and was awarded recently to wear the coveted #18 jersey becoming the first LSU quarterback to wear the number since Matt Mauck in 2003.
“It’s an honor. I am very grateful and thankful that I was selected to wear that number. I hope to live up to the standard. When I was a freshman, one of the first guys that I saw 18 was Damone Clark. That’s what I think of when I think of 18 and how he interacted. He took me under his wing a little bit as a freshman. He was one of the guys that lifted me up, gave me words of encouragement, and kept me going. I want to be like him when wearing the number so I am super grateful.”
LSU QB Garrett Nussmeier
There are a lot of things going for Nussmeier, but he is not the only reason why the offense can have a lot of success. He has great wide receivers to throw the football to including Aaron Anderson, Chris Hilton Jr., Zavion Thomas, Kentucky transfer Barion Brown just to name a few, and don’t forget about the tight ends as well with the 1-2 punch of 6’7 matchup nightmare Trey’Dez Green and Oklahoma transfer Bauer Sharp. Brian Kelly has said that there can be as many as eight wide receivers that see the field. They are fast, explosive, and can make plays with the ball in their hands. Pair that with Nussmeier’s NFL arm, then this passing offense has the potential to become one of the best in the entire country.
The same can be said for the Clemson Tigers as they return their starting quarterback Cade Klubnik for the third year. After some growing pains his sophomore year, Klubnik broke out and showed why he was such a highly recruited quarterback coming out of Austin Westlake High School. Last season, Klubnik emerged and was playing like one of the top quarterbacks in the country after their lopsided season opening loss to Georgia by throwing for 3,639 yards and 36 touchdowns to only six interceptions while also rushing for 463 yards and seven more touchdowns on the ground. Like Nussmeier, Klubnik is also a favorite for the Heisman Trophy and to be an early NFL Draft pick. He is currently top five in program history in nearly every category including passing touchdowns (fourth), passing yards (fourth), passing attempts (fourth) and completions (fifth).
Both Nussmeier and Klubnik spent some time together at the Manning Passing Academy and have tremendous respect for each other.
“Playing behind Jayden Daniels and waiting until it was really his fourth year to start – I have a ton of respect for that. He’s a heck of a player. I loved watching him last year – just his anticipation on throws, the way he leads his guys.
“When we were at Manning [Passing Academy], the LSU receivers would come over and being able to watch them and the way he leads them – his relationship with them – was really cool to see. You can just tell that his teammates really love him.”
Clemson QB Cade Klubnik
Like Nussmeier, Klubnik will have weapons to throw the football to. Antonio Williams is back as Clemson’s leading receiver with 904 yards receiving and 11 touchdowns. Williams is quick, shifty, a good route runner, and somebody that LSU will have to keep an eye on. TJ Moore is a 6’3 target that had over 650 yards receiving last year, and Bryant Wesco is another big play target that averaged close to 18 yards per catch last season.
Both teams have talented signal callers and playmakers so whichever offense can be more effective has the best chance of winning on Saturday.
Retention vs. Transfer Portal:
There is the old way of doing things and the new way of doing things. These conflicting styles will also be against each other on Saturday night. Earlier this week, Dabo Swinney had said that these two teams mirror each other on paper. Both have great quarterbacks, playmakers, and a fantastic defensive front seven with LSU having All-American caliber linebackers in Harold Perkins Jr. and Whit Weeks and Clemson having All-American caliber defensive linemen in T.J. Parker and Peter Woods. However, both teams did it differently to get there.
Clemson leads the country in player retention with the number of players that are coming back. 80% which is 16 of 22 total starters from last year’s Clemson team that won the ACC and made the College Football Playoff return thus making this a perennial Top 5 ranked team no matter what poll you are looking at. It is hard to argue against Dabo Swinney’s track record, but unlike most coaches, Swinney would rather develop his own players that he recruits out of the high school ranks than try and recruit heavily in the portal.
“Our process is different. We have a process of alignment, as far as how we put it together. We recruit kids that align with our purpose and what we’re about. I’m not against the portal at all. If we have to use it, we’ll use it. I just prefer to be able to get the best high school kids and develop those guys.”
Clemson HC Dabo Swinney
On the other hand, LSU used the transfer portal to their advantage by having one of the top classes in the country. The influx of talent is insane with some of the best transfer portal additions from across the country. The Tigers did add some pieces offensively in getting the likes of WR Barion Brown (Kentucky), WR Destyn Hill (Florida State), WR Nic Anderson (Oklahoma), C Braelin Moore (Virginia Tech), OG Josh Thompson (Northwestern), and TE Bauer Sharp (Oklahoma) to name just a few, but it is what they did defensively that can help elevate a struggling defense the last couple of seasons.
The LSU Tigers have one of the deepest defensive lines in the country thanks to the additions of transfers such as DE Patrick Payton (Florida State), DE Jack Pyburn (Florida), DE Jimari Butler (Nebraska), DT Bernard Gooden (South Florida), and DT Sydir Mitchell (Texas). Adding in defensive backs like Mansoor Delane (Virginia Tech), Tamarcus Cooley (NC State), A.J. Haulcy (Houston), and Ja’Keem Jackson (Florida) gives defensive coordinator Blake Baker a lot of pieces to play with. For head coach Brian Kelly, it wasn’t about just acquiring talent, but the right pieces when assembling a roster that cost around $18 million.
“We weren’t ready to bring in guys from the outside until our own program was in a really good space, so it took us a few years, and I felt like this year we were in a place where we could invite people into our locker room, transfers, if you will. So that’s the long and short of it. I’ve been doing it for over three decades, and putting together teams every year is a little bit of art; if it was just add water and stir, you don’t need me.”
LSU HC Brian Kelly
There are some of these transfers that have experience of playing at Clemson whether it is Virginia Tech’s Braelin Moore or Mansoor Delane or Florida State’s Patrick Payton. That experience was another big factor in acquiring these players.
“I mean, certainly the intention here to get to the press conference that I want is that we brought in some veteran players that in this environment at Clemson, he’s been through it. He opened up against Clemson last year as the starting center at Virginia Tech, so he knows what it’s like to play against (Peter) Woods. He knows he’s got that experience. So when you go on the road and you play in an environment like that, you want to bring in veteran guys that you know bring that composure and leadership and experience. Experience is the greatest teacher, so that means a lot, clearly, that you know he’ll have a great influence on the offensive line.”
LSU HC Brian Kelly
While there is a lot of playing experience individually, these pieces will be coming together for the first time on Saturday. Seeing how those pieces gel against a team that has played a lot of football together in Clemson will be an interesting thing to watch.
Keys To The Game:
1. LSU must be able to run the football.
It is easier said than done though. LSU will be playing a new offensive line against one of the best defensive fronts in college football led by two All-Americans T.J. Parker and Peter Woods. Brian Kelly said that there could be many as seven linemen that will rotate for the new offensive line. The good news is that despite having two future 1st round draft picks, Clemson has shown to be suspect in their rush defense finishing 84th nationally last year by allowing 160 yards per game. LSU has a talented leading back in Caden Durham and other gifted backs like Kaleb Jackson, Harlem Berry, and Ju’Juan Johnson to incorporate in the ground game, but in order to have success, they have to avoid the negative plays, which Clemson made a lot of last year finishing Top 20 in tackles for loss.
2. Defend the quarterback run game.
The LSU defense’s biggest achilles heel last year was defending the quarterback running game. Cade Klubnik will put that to the challenge once again as an athletic dual threat quarterback. With a converted wide receiver Adam Randall getting the start at running back for Clemson, a lot will be on Klubnik to have success in the ground game.
“I would say he’s (Cade Klubnik) central to their run game. You can go back to last year’s Texas A& M game. We didn’t handle ourselves very well, or the Alabama game. Whoever you want to point out: South Carolina, I could keep going. We didn’t do a very good job against the running quarterback, so it’s important that we contain him within the run game. Look, he’s going to do things outside the realm; that’s what he does. He’s really good at that. We’ve got to keep him in the pocket and make him operate from there.”
LSU HC Brian Kelly
LSU has a pair of All-American linebackers in Harold Perkins and Whit Weeks that will have the task of making sure that Klubnik does not continue that trend from last year. Perkins said earlier this week that they need to force Klubnik to run laterally and not north-south. If they can do that, then LSU can show not only improvements in that area, but help their chances of winning.
3. Make the plays when the plays are needed to be mad especially in the red zone.
In two of the previous three season opening losses, LSU was right there for the taking, but fell short. There were times including last year’s loss to USC that LSU had opportunities to really put the game away, but couldn’t whether it was getting a stop on a third down or trying to convert in the red zone. A player to keep an eye on in the red zone is Ju’Juan Johnson. The former record breaking quarterback from LCA has moved all over the place from quarterback to defensive back to now running back. Johnson has been getting a lot of goal line looks in practice and how they utilize him could be a huge key in this game. Winning the money plays on third down while converting sevens in the red zone and not kicking field goals could separate LSU from having a breakthrough win or another disappointing loss.
Prediction: Clemson 28, LSU 24
This season, I have LSU going 10-2 and making the College Football Playoff. Unfortunately, I believe that this will be one of their two losses. I like the makeup of this team and I do believe that this team can accomplish a lot of great things this season. This is just a tough challenge in Week 1 especially on the road against a team that is probably the best team LSU has faced in an opener since Brian Kelly took the job. LSU is going to be a dangerous team once they start playing together, but Clemson is a veteran team that is playing at home. It should be a great game, but I am going to lean towards the Clemson Tigers in this one.
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