So, Clemson is going to Baton Rouge.
At night.
To play LSU.
Against Lane Kiffin.
That sounds like something somebody would come up with after making several poor decisions, but here we are.
The Tigers are walking into one of the toughest environments in college football to face a ranked LSU team in Kiffin’s first season in Baton Rouge. And because this is college football, there is apparently no shortage of reasons why this particular Saturday night could get a little weird.
Just one year after LSU walked into Death Valley and walked out with a 17-10 victory over Clemson, the Tigers get a chance to return the favor by heading south to one of the most intimidating venues in the sport.
What exactly qualifies as a “normal” Saturday night in Baton Rouge is probably up for debate, but I’m guessing this won’t be it.
So here we are.
Clemson and LSU will meet Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. ET inside Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge. The game will be broadcast nationally on ABC, with Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit and Holly Rowe on the call. ESPN College GameDay will also be in Baton Rouge for the matchup.
And unlike last year, when Clemson entered the season ranked No. 4 in the country, the Tigers come into this one with something to prove.
A lot, actually.
Clemson finished 2025 at 7-6. LSU also finished 7-6.
Both teams underachieved compared to preseason expectations.
Both teams made significant changes.
And both teams are hoping Saturday night looks a whole lot different than the end of last season.
The difference is LSU gets to make those changes at home.
And LSU has Lane Kiffin.
Here is everything we think we know about our Tigers first game of the season against the NFL’s…or wait, the SEC’s LSU Tigers
Louisiana State University Tigers
School Location: Baton Rouge, LA
Game Location: Tiger Stadium
Time: Saturday 9/5; 7:30 EST, ABC
2025 Record – 7-6; (3-5 Southeastern Conference)
Wins Against: Clemson, Louisiana Tech, Florida, Southeastern Louisiana, South Carolina, Arkansas, Western Kentucky
Losses against: Ole Miss, Vanderbilt, Texas A&M, Alabama, Oklahoma, Houston
Head Coach: Lane Kiffin (1st Season at LSU; Career: 116-53 as a Head Coach)
Lane Kiffin’s NFL coaching tenure was so bad and his desire to return to the league so great that he’s apparently resorted to poaching players off NFL rosters to build a college team, and somehow a judge in Louisiana sees nothing wrong with it. But all that aside, Kiffin brings his traveling circus to Baton Rouge to take over a once-proud LSU program after a couple of rough seasons. Once again, Kiffin has fully embraced the villain role that seems to follow him everywhere and now leads a program desperate to get back to the College Football Playoff and, eventually (if given ample time), a national championship.
And for all the jokes we can make about Lane, the man can coach offense. His Ole Miss teams led the SEC in total offense four times in six seasons, averaged at least 33 points per game every year, and produced some of the most explosive offenses in the country. Before that, he was the offensive coordinator at Alabama, where he helped develop Derrick Henry into a Heisman Trophy winner and Jalen Hurts into the SEC’s Offensive Player of the Year. He also helped build those ridiculous USC offenses that averaged nearly 50 points and 580 yards per game during his first run there. So, yes, Lane Kiffin is an absolute menace to the common sense rules of college football. Unfortunately for everyone who has to play him, he’s also really, really good at coaching up the offense wherever he’s been…except the Raiders.
Offense
Offensive Coordinator: Charlie Weis Jr. – 1st Season at LSU (Previously: OC at Ole Miss)
Charlie Weis Jr. arrives in Baton Rouge with Lane Kiffin after four seasons running the offense at Ole Miss, and he brings a pretty impressive résumé with him. Weis has been Kiffin’s offensive coordinator for six seasons dating back to their time together at FAU, so he knows exactly what Kiffin wants and how to build it. At Ole Miss, Weis helped produce some of the most explosive offenses in school history, including a 2025 team that averaged 489.7 yards and 36.9 points per game on its way to the College Football Playoff semifinals. Now he gets a new quarterback, a new roster and a new set of expectations at LSU. If Kiffin is the architect, Weis is the guy calling the plays and making sure the blueprints actually work on Saturday night.
Because Kiffin was in Oxford, MS last season and he took a lot of players with him, we’ll use their offensive stats from a season ago in this spot.
Ole Miss averaged 37.3 points in their fifteen games last season (11th) with 188.5 yards rushing per game (21st) and 309.6 yards through the air (3rd) for a total of 498.1 yards of offense per game through fifteen games (3rd).
Here is a look at the projected offensive starters for LSU (lots of new faces from different places for the Tigers this season) from OurLads, as well as their 2025 statistics through their respective amount of games:
| Position | Name (Prev. School) | Class Year | Jersey # | On the Ground | Through the Air |
| Quarterback | Sam Levitt (Arizona State) | RS Junior | 10 | 73 attempts, 306 yards, 4.2 yards per carry, 5 TDs | 145-of-239, 1,628 yards, 60.7%, 10 TDs, 3 INTs |
| Running Back | Dilin Jones (Wisconsin) | RS Sophomore | 13 | 76 attempts, 300 yards, 3.9 yards per carry, 2 TDs | 9 catches, 21 yards, 2.3 yards per catch, 0 TDs |
| Wide Receiver | Jayce Brown (Kansas State) | Senior | 1 | 7 attempts, 116 yards, 16.6 yards per carry, 1 TD | 41 catches, 712 yards, 17.4 yards per catch, 5 TDs |
| Wide Receiver | Jackson Harris (Hawai’i) | RS Junior | 4 | 49 catches, 963 yards, 19.7 yards per catch, 12 TDs | |
| Wide Receiver | Winston Watkins Jr. (Ole Miss) | Sophomore | 6 | 5 attempts, 21 yards, 4.2 yards per carry, 0 TD | 26 catches, 373 yards, 14.3 yards per catch, 1 TD |
| Tight End | Trey’Dez Green | Junior | 7 | 33 catches, 433 yards, 7 TDs | |
| Left Tackle | Jordan Seaton (Colorado) | Junior | 77 | 561 offensive snaps; 1 sack allowed; 5 pressures allowed; 0 QB hits allowed | |
| Left Guard | Bo Bordelon | RS Senior | 67 | 23 offensive snaps; 0 sacks allowed; 0 pressures allowed; 0 QB hits allowed | |
| Center | Braelin Moore (Virginia Tech) | RS Senior | 61 | 623 offensive snaps; 1 sack allowed; 5 pressures allowed; 0 QB hits allowed | |
| Right Guard | Aliou Bah (Maryland) | RS Senior | 55 | 681 offensive snaps; 0 sacks allowed; 2 QB hits allowed | |
| Right Tackle | Weston Davis | RS Sophomore | 75 | 699 offensive snaps; 4 sacks allowed; 30 pressures allowed; 0 QB hits reported |
Defense
Defensive Coordinator: Blake Baker – (3rd Season at LSU)
Blake Baker enters his third season as LSU’s defensive coordinator after dramatically improving the Tigers on that side of the ball over the last two seasons. Baker wants an aggressive front paired with press-man coverage on the back end, and that approach helped LSU rank fifth in the SEC in scoring defense and sixth in total defense last season. Now, with Lane Kiffin taking over the program, Baker is one of the few defensive coaches who stayed in Baton Rouge. The personnel has changed, but the philosophy should not. Expect Baker to bring pressure, challenge Clemson’s receivers at the line and force Christopher Vizzina to make quick decisions. If LSU can create pressure without selling out, Baker’s defense could make for a very long night for Clemson’s new signal caller.
The LSU defense gave up 19.8 points per game through their thirteen games (23rd). They had given up an average of 124.1 yards on the ground (32nd) and 204.6 yards through the air (42nd). The Tigers gave up a total of 328.7 yards last season(23rd).
Here is a look at the projected starters for the Tigers on defense along with stats from whatever school they played at last season.
| Position | Name (Prev. School) | Class Year | Jersey # | Statistics |
| Left Defensive End | Jordan Ross (Tennessee) | Junior | 29 | 26 tackles, 5.0 TFL, 1.5 sacks |
| Left Defensive Tackle | Malik Blocton (Auburn) | Junior | 47 | 18 tackles, 4.5 TFL, 0.5 sacks |
| Right Defensive Tackle | Deuce Geralds | Freshman | 99 | |
| Right Defensive End | Princewill Umanmielen (Ole Miss) | Senior | 1 | 44 tackles; 13.0 TFL; 9.0 sacks; 1 INT; 15 QB hurries; 3 PBUs |
| Will Linebacker | Whit Weeks | Senior | 7 | 205 career tackles, 16.5 TFL, 5.0 sacks |
| Mike Linebacker | TJ Dottery (Ole Miss) | 5th Year | 6 | 98 tackles, 5.5 TFL, 1.5 sacks |
| Star | Dashawn Spears | Junior | 10 | 29 tackles; 3.0 TFL; 1.0 sack; 2 INTs; 2 PBUs; 2 QB hurries |
| Strong Safety | Tamarcus Cooley (NC State) | RS Junior | 0 | 13 starts at LSU in 2025; 113 career tackles, 4 INTs |
| Free Safety | Ty Benefield (Boise State) | Senior | 2 | 235 career tackles, 5 INTs; 2025 First-Team All-Mountain West |
| Left Cornerback | DJ Pickett | Sophomore | 5 | 37 tackles, 3.0 TFL, 1 sack, 3 INTs |
| Right Cornerback | PJ Woodland | Junior | 11 | 61 career tackles, 3.0 TFL, 1 sack, 12 PBUs, 2 INTs |
Here is a list of the specialists for LSU along with statistics from the 2025 Season:
| Kicker | Scott Starzyk (Arkansas) | Sophomore | 80 | 14-18 FG, 47-47 PAT, 89 points, long 53 yds. |
| Punter | Grant Chadwick (Middle Tennessee) | Junior | 90 | 62 punts, 45.7 avg., 2,834 yds., 20 inside 20, 21 50+ yds. |
| Punt Returner | Jayce Brown (Kansas State) | Senior | 1 | No punt returns in 2025 |
| Kick Returner | Harlem Berry | Sophomore | 22 | No kick returns in 2025 |
Final Thought
Saturday night, Clemson football heads into Baton Rouge for a 7:30 kickoff in one of the loudest stadiums in college football. Not exactly the gentle little season opener you draw up when you have a new quarterback, a new offensive coordinator and a new defensive coordinator, but apparently Clemson decided everyone had enough peace and quiet.
Chad Morris takes over the offense. Tom Allen in his second season leading the defense. There are plenty of new faces, plenty of questions and absolutely no shortage of things to worry about.
And then there’s Lane Kiffin.
The man who has somehow managed to make an entire country root against him now gets to make his LSU debut in front of 100,000 people. Somewhere Saturday night, Clemson fans, South Carolina fans, SEC fans, ACC fans and people who couldn’t find Baton Rouge on a map will all be sitting on the same couch, wearing the same color and rooting for the same team.
Clemson.
For one night, America has a common enemy.
So let’s ruin his debut.
Let’s see what Chad Morris has cooked up.
Let’s see what Tom Allen does with this new-look defense.
Let’s see what this Clemson team looks like when somebody finally turns the lights on.
Let’s go to Baton Rouge, make some noise, maybe steal a football game and send Lane home wondering why even people who don’t care about LSU were rooting against him.
Let’s go. Spot the ball!
Go Tigers!
