So much changed, yet so much changed the same.
The new quarterback and the new playcaller didn’t matter. Neither did the overhauled roster full of transfers, or the alleged “sense of urgency.”
The Clemson team that got routed 51-10 by No. 11 LSU on Saturday in Tiger Stadium is the same Clemson team we saw in 2025 … and 2024 … and, well, you get the point.
Coach Dabo Swinney’s program has been trying to get back to its championship standard for a long time now. Saturday’s 41-point loss is a reminder of how much work they still have to do.
That margin also marked the worst loss of Swinney’s 19-year Clemson tenure. The Tigers’ previous worst loss was by 37 points to Florida State in 2014 and West Virginia in the 2011 Orange Bowl.
Clemson had one first down to LSU’s 25 in the first half and mustered just 54 total yards and -4 net rushing yards before halftime in a lifeless performance that marked the team’s fourth-straight season-opening loss and its fifth defeat in its last six openers.
The Tigers scored the game’s first three points after being gifted a short field on a fluky interception and didn’t score again until there was 3:14 left in the game.
Heck, LSU coach Lane Kiffin probably spent more time cooking up his parting shot in a halftime ABC interview — “Imagine if we had pro players” — than he did worrying about his opponent in a second half where LSU clearly took its foot off the gas and still ran laps around Clemson.
LSU quarterback and Arizona State transfer quarterback Sam Leavitt was on another planet compared with Christopher Vizzina, Swinney’s hand-picked QB successor to Cade Klubnik. When Clemson freshman Tait Reynolds spelled Vizzina, he wasn’t much better.
Swinney’s Clemson program has now lost eight straight games to ranked SEC teams dating back to the 2020 national championship against LSU. The Tigers are also the only team among the 68 Power 4 schools to lose their last four season openers.
Those stats are two of many that illustrate just how far away Swinney and Clemson remain from the championship standard they established from 2015-20, a span that included six straight appearances in the four-team College Football Playoff, four national championship appearances and two titles.
On a night like Saturday, those days feel as far away as ever.
Game recap
The hype surrounding Saturday’s game was already massive: Kiffin’s coaching debut, “ESPN College GameDay” on site, drama over LSU’s NFL player roster decisions.
Then rain and lightning delayed Saturday’s kickoff time by two hours, adding even more drama and intrigue to Clemson-LSU Round 2.
Clemson threw the first punch when an LSU receiver bobbled one of Leavitt’s passes on the second snap of the game and Clemson cornerback Ashton Hampton grabbed it, presenting his team with a potentially game-altering turnover.
But new offensive coordinator Chad Morris’ group, led by Vizzina, promptly went three-and-out and had to settle for a 49-yard field goal from Clemson kicker Nolan Hauser. That became a trend — the three-and-out part, not the field goal part.
Those three points were the only ones Clemson scored in the first half. While Leavitt threw the ball all over the field and excelled as a runner against a gassed Clemson defense, Clemson’s offense looked overwhelmed and out of sorts against LSU.
Vizzina threw a pick-six with Clemson trailing LSU 10-3, and the Tigers recorded five straight three-and-outs after that early turnover, often going into surrender mode and calling RB draw plays on third and longs.
Clemson had 14 total yards in the second quarter and 54 in the first half while going 0 for 8 on third downs and averaging 2.2 yards per play.
The Tigers recorded exactly one first down. In contrast, LSU had 25 first downs and 336 yards of total offense (213 rushing).
LSU led Clemson 31-3 at halftime of a game that felt over long before that.
Clemson alternated between Reynolds and Vizzina in the second half and will likely spend next week’s game getting more tape on their top two quarterback options against Georgia Southern after neither player made much of an impact against LSU.
For that reason and many others, it’s going to be a long plane ride home.