Lane Kiffin Wins LSU Debut in Blowout Win Over Clemson

Week 1 of the college football season is in full swing. After a busy Saturday, there are three games on Sunday, each featuring at least one ranked team. There’s even a matchup of ranked foes as #24 Louisville takes on #9 Ole Miss in Nashville. Meanwhile, the slate closes with an ACC tilt on Monday night when #19 SMU travels to the Sunshine State to take on Florida State.

Perhaps the biggest news story of the weekend was the debut of Lane Kiffin as the new coach at LSU. He left Ole Miss prior to the CFP last season and brought a ton of transfers into the program. LSU hosted Clemson in a matchup of programs that have Tigers as the mascot. In addition, both programs call their home field Death Valley so there was plenty at stake Saturday night in Baton Rouge. As it turned out, things were one-sided as #11 LSU trounced Clemson 51-10. Let’s break it down from both sides.

Kiffin Wins Debut in One-Sided Fashion

Things couldn’t have started worse for the Kiffin era as weather delayed kickoff for nearly two hours. Then, on LSU’s second offensive play, Sam Leavitt, the transfer quarterback from Arizona State, threw an interception. That set Clemson up at the LSU 33 just 30 seconds into the game. However, the LSU defense held, giving up just two yards before Nolan Hauser booted a 49-yard field goal to give Clemson a 3-0 advantage. LSU regrouped from there, scoring the next 51 points en route to the blowout victory. They didn’t allow Clemson to score again after the opening field goal until just over three minutes remained in the contest.

Kiffin’s squad racked up a ridiculous 644 yards of total offense, rolled up 38 first downs, converted 11 of 16 third downs and held the ball for 36:09 in the game. Leavitt shrugged off the early pick to complete 16 of 28 passes for 230 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Meanwhile, he carried 12 times for 113 yards and two scores. All told, the Tigers racked up 309 yards, 5.3 yards per carry and four scores on the ground in the contest. Dilin Jones also cracked the century mark with 23 carries for 113 yards and two scores. Winston Watkins reeled in seven balls for 110 yards and a touchdown. In addition, the defense had four sacks and Jordan Ross logged a pick-six.

Clemson, Swinney Have a Long Road Ahead

Last season was a down year for Clemson and coach Dabo Swinney. The Tigers finished the year just 7-6 and came into this season with an unsettled QB situation following the graduation of Cade Klubnik. Christopher Vizzina was named the starter during camp and the hope was that the team could turn things around in 2026. Instead, Swinney took the worst loss of his coaching career at Clemson as his squad was badly outplayed by a ranked LSU squad. After the game, Swinney said that the Tigers “had a long way to go.”

In the game, Clemson took a 644-146 trouncing in total offense and a 38-8 thrashing in first downs. The Tigers took a 3-0 lead 92 seconds into the game but didn’t score for the next 54 minutes by which point the game was long over. Vizzina was benched at the half, by which point Clemson trailed 31-3. In addition, the Tigers allowed 21 first downs while picking up one in the first half and were outgained 336-54. He was 10 of 16 for 83 yards and an interception. Tait Reynolds came on in relief and was four of six for 22 yards. Clemson is uncertain as to which quarterback starts against Georgia Southern next week. This marked the fifth time in the last six years that Clemson dropped their season opener. One wonders if Swinney’s seat heats up any after the blowout loss.