GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
CLEMSON, S.C. – Put your paws up!
LSU has been talking about beating Clemson to go 1-0 since January. There have been “1-0” and “Beat Clemson” signs and T-shirts and pictures of the signature Clemson Paw all over the football facility until LSU players were Orange and Purple in the face.
Well, the Tigers trampled all over that large Paw at the center of what LSU coach Brian Kelly called “Death Valley Junior” to the tune of 354 yards to 261 and a 37:10 to 22:50 time of possession domination.
Now, the Tigers can keep talking about it … at least until next week’s game.
No. 9 LSU is 1-0 for the first time since 2019 after upsetting No. 4 Clemson, 17-10, in front of 81,500 at Memorial Stadium to break a five-game losing streak in season openers.
“That was something we’ve been doing the last six months now,” quarterback Garrett Nussmeier of the Clemson On The Brain strategy instituted by Kelly. “It wasn’t just something we started in camp.”
Camp Clemson is now over, and the rest of the season looks like gravy after three straight 0-1 starts under Kelly and five in all going back to 2020.
“It was huge,” said Nussmeier, who was an ultra-efficient 28-of-38 passing for 230 yards with no interceptions and the game-winning, 8-yard touchdown pass to tight end Trey’Dez Green with 12:18 to go. The defense did the rest, stuffing Clemson to a mere 1.6 yards a rush (31 yards on 20 attempts) and throwing a shutout in the second half.
“To win a game like that,” Nussmeier said. “It wasn’t pretty. But to win like that in week on on the road against the No. 4 team, it’s huge. It’s a momentum boost, a confident boost.”
And the Tigers beat their highest ranked opponent ever in an opener at an opponent’s stadium in the process and the first one in the top five. LSU was 0-for-3 against top five-ranked teams in season openers at the opponents’ home stadium, going back to No. 4 Texas in 1954 (20-6), No. 5 Texas A&M in 1993 (24-0) and No. 3 Texas A&M in 1995 (33-17). LSU’s previous highest ranked win at an opponent’s home stadium was 35-31 at No. 15 Arizona State in 2005 in a game moved from LSU because of Hurricane Katrina.
For the much-criticized Kelly, it meant even more. He won his first season opener at LSU after losing his first three from 2022-24.
BRIAN KELLY’S HISTORY AGAINST TOP 5 NOT GOOD
He snapped an 0-for-3 spell against top five teams at opponent stadiums with all three coming as Notre Dame’s coach. Counting neutral site and true road games, Kelly was 0-8 against the top five with seven of those as Notre Dame’s coach and one while at LSU (No. 1 Georgia in 2022). His only previous win against a top five team anywhere was over No. 1 Clemson at Notre Dame in 2020.
“These wins are big,” Kelly said. “And there’s a boomerang effect.”
Yes, No. 9 LSU opens the season as a 1-0 national championship contenders and likely to rise near the top five in the polls.
But the sweetest part for LSU fans was that the 2025 Tigers did not become the first team in school history to lose six straight season openers. LSU had lost five straight openers from 1991-95.
The Tigers took their first lead of this game not until the fourth quarter when Nussmeier threw a 12-yard touchdown to tight end Trey’Dez Green with 12:18 to play.
Offensive coordinator Joe Sloan and Nussmeir set up the play perfectly by bunching four receivers together to Nussmeier’s right. He looked that way, but threw left to an open Green.
And suddenly the crowd quieted. LSU’s defense then held for the rest of the fourth quarter, stopping a last-minute drive at LSU’s 15-yard line. On 3rd-and-4, Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik threw incomplete with safety A.J. Haulcy covering after having to sit out the first half on suspension.
Then under a heavy rush from LSU star linebacker Harold Perkins Jr., Klubnik threw incomplete again. And it was over. LSU ran out the final seconds for the win.
The Tigers, held to a measly three points in the first half as they trailed 10-3 at the half, finally scored a touchdown with 8:59 to play in the third quarter just when the Tigers seem destined for a school record sixth straight loss in a season opener. Running back Caden Durham scored on 2nd-and-goal on a 2-yard run for a 10-10 tie after Damian Ramos’ extra point. Durham finished with 74 yards on 17 carries.
LSU had a chance to tie it 10-10 or get within 10-6 before halftime when it drove 62 yards in 12 plays for a first down at the Clemson 20-yard line. But on 3rd-and-2 from the 12, Nussmeier threw incomplete.
Kelly decided to go for it instead of kicking the field goal with 15 seconds to play in the half. But Nussmeier did not throw into the end zone. Instead, he threw short to wide receiver Chris Hilton Jr. for a loss of a yard, then Hilton fumbled.
LSU had tied the game 3-3 on a 52-yard field goal by Damian Ramos with 10:53 to play in the second quarter.
A fumble by LSU tight end Bauer Sharp after a catch set up a 42-yard field goal by Nolan Hauser for a 3-0 Clemson lead with 8:57 left in the first quarter. Clemson’s Ricardo Jones returned Sharp’s fumble 24 yards to the LSU 24 to set up the score.
A stubborn and blitzing defense in the second season of coordinator Blake Baker continually harassed Klubnik and expertly kept the Tigers in the game in the first half and third quarter before the offense began to get going.
“Our offensive line (with five new starters) – I thought they did an unbelievable job,” Nussmeier said. “And some of those guys are really young.”
Young, like Clemson’s “Death Valley Junior.”
LSU returns to its Death Valley Saturday to host (1-0) Louisiana Tech (6:30 p.m., SEC Network+, ESPN+).
“I’m excited to get on the plane and get back home to Death Valley,” Nussmeier said.
The real one for now.
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