LSU and Clemson have lots in widespread.
Each are nicknamed the Tigers, each have a house stadium nicknamed “Loss of life Valley,” each have quarterbacks who could possibly be in New York for the Heisman Trophy presentation in December and be excessive first-round picks within the NFL draft, and each have head coaches feeling strain to make a powerful run at a nationwide championship.
However the successful workforce will obtain some separation when No. 9 LSU and No. 4 Clemson meet of their season opener Saturday night time in Clemson, S.C.
“They’re much like us in a variety of methods,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney mentioned of LSU. “They’ve elite quarterback play, elite talent and dudes within the trenches on either side. That is why it is a High 10 matchup.”
Each quarterbacks not solely have caught round longer than a lot of their counterparts in school soccer, however each have stayed at their present colleges the entire time.
Cade Klubnik is in his fourth season at Clemson, and Garrett Nussmeier is in his fifth at LSU. Klubnik threw for 3,639 yards and 36 touchdowns final season, and Nussmeier handed for 4,052 and 29, respectively.
“It is nice,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney mentioned of the quarterbacks’ persistence. “It is onerous to develop them once they’re not in your program. The continuity with the folks round them is nice.”
Klubnik arrived in 2022 as one of many prime recruits within the nation however began only one recreation as a freshman earlier than incomes the highest job two years in the past.
“He might have gone to a variety of locations,” Swinney mentioned. “I informed him to be in it for the long run, not simply his freshman yr. That child has actually grown and developed. He has actually purchased in.”
Clemson, which completed 10-4 in 2024, made it again to the CFP final season after a three-year drought, however its final nationwide championship got here in 2018, which was its second title in three seasons.
Swinney’s workforce is favored to repeat as ACC champion — the Tigers went 7-1 final season — and maybe do higher than its first-round CFP loss to Texas final season.
LSU hasn’t gained a season opener since its nationwide championship marketing campaign in 2019, and Kelly’s first three groups fell far wanting preseason expectations with their performances in opening losses to Florida State (2022 and 2023) and Southern California (2024).
Final season, LSU completed 9-4 general and 5-3 within the SEC, and the workforce has been picked to complete fourth within the convention.
Kelly was far more lively within the switch portal throughout this offseason than he had been beforehand, and he got here away with one of many highest-rated lessons.
“The fact is we had some work to do,” Kelly mentioned, “and that work was constructing a foundational piece on this program. Every year, you are creating depth. I feel that is in all probability probably the most depth we have had. I’d say what’s totally different is this can be a mature group that has performed a variety of soccer.”
Kelly mentioned he believes this workforce has the “DNA” to deal with the problem of opening in opposition to a program as profitable as Clemson in an surroundings as hostile because the one his house stadium creates for guests.
“Once we get to those moments, it is having a workforce that’s assured, that performs the sport the correct manner in a hostile surroundings,” Kelly mentioned. “Many would say composure, maturity, they usually’ve bought to play with nice competitiveness. Every play goes to be vital for us.”
–Discipline Stage Media
