#4 Clemson plays host to #9 LSU in the Battle of Death Valley and a top 10 matchup in Death Valley to kick off the year just feels good. LSU comes in with Heisman hopeful QB, Garrett Nussmeier, a plethora of wide receiver targets in Aaron Anderson, Nic Anderson, Chris Hilton Jr., and Barion Brown, and a defense that has improved immensely over the past 3 years. Clemson returns the most production in College Football and replaces their former Defensive Coordinator with emphatically aggressive Tom Allen. In a game this big, Dabo likes to say that the game will come down to about 6 plays – below I have the keys to those 6 plays and how Clemson can win this matchup.
1. Redzone Offense:
Last year Clemson made it to the Red Zone, 52 times(38th in the country) and came away with points on 45(33rd) of those attempts – sounds good, right? Well, out of those 45 Redzone “successes,” the Tigers only scored touchdowns 31 times or about 60% of the time – good for the rank of 77th in the country. In my opinion, the biggest reason for this was the ability (or inability) to consistently run the football. A lot of Clemson drives would stall out because the running game was unable to get them into manageable situations. If Clemson can establish the run early, then the Redzone offense will improve and in a game of this magnitude, every point matters.
2. Stop the run
Last year Clemson allowed 150.8 rushing yards per game which was good for a rank of 60th in the nation – not even remotely close to Clemson’s standard in the past. Insert a new Defensive Coordinator in Tom Allen, two key transfers in defensive end Will Heldt and linebacker Jeremiah Alexander, and a ton of experience from the young players who had to play last year (1st in the country with 3,494 snaps from freshman in 2024). With the depth, experience, and talent that Clemson has again, along with a better gameplan, I believe this team will be better at stopping the run. If they are, they will allow the defense to do what it’s set up to do best, pressure the QB – if not, the LSU offense will keep the Tiger defense guessing, which is not the place you want to be.
3. Protect Cade Klubnik
Everyone is talking about Clemson’s receiving corps and Cade Klubnik’s improvement – many have even projected the signal caller to win the Heisman trophy. However, it won’t matter who throwing the ball or catching it, if the Offensive Line can’t keep the Quarterback clean. Clemson attempted around 39 passes a game last year and allowed pressure on the Quarterback 37% of the time (14.4 times per game) – 25 of those pressures turned into sacks. If Clemson wants to put pressure on the LSU defense, they must be able to keep a clean pocket for Cade and allow him to move through his progressions and find the open man.
If all 3 of these things happen, I wouldn’t be shocked if Clemson wins by double-digits, but that’s the power of “if.” Camp is over and game prep is beginning, the power of “if” is turning into the excitement of show me – it’s time to spot the ball and see what this team can do.
