WHAT WE ARE HEARING: PREVIEW & PREDICTION FOR CLEMSON AT NO.11 LSU

Welcome to the 2026 season opener edition of What We Are Hearing!

 

Game week is finally here! For Clemson fans, it’s been the longest, most painful offseason since 2011 when Dabo was coming off his worst season at 6-7 with a bowl loss to USF. For over 95 percent of the country, last year’s 7-6 record would not be a team’s worst record in 15 years.  However, the fact that everyone believed that the Tigers would at the very least win the ACC and make a deep playoff run last season makes it one of the most disappointing seasons in Clemson history. One year ago, Rece Davis predicted that Clemson would win the national title, as did I and many others. The Tigers had all of the pieces to do just that, and the NFL Draft confirmed it. Poetically, Dabo re-hired Chad Morris as Offensive Coordinator, just as he did following that brutal 2010 season with so many close losses, and the offense took off immediately in 2011 with Sammy Watkins, Nuk Hopkins, Dwayne Allen and early-season consecutive wins over defending national champion Auburn, FSU and VA Tech, all ranked. The Tigers had not been outside the preseason top 25 until now (they were the top vote getter at 26 in the AP Poll).

 

Dabo also turned to the transfer portal in an unprecedented way. The previous season, he dipped his toe into it, bringing in Will Heldt, Tristan Smith and Jeremiah Alexander. This time, he went All In! Probably the biggest acquisition was RB Chris Johnson, Jr. (CJ) from SMU and Miami. He can absolutely fly at 4.3 speed and had a monster game against the Tigers in Death Valley last season with over 100 total yards and a touchdown in the shootout, which, ironically, was Christopher Vizzina’s lone career start. How crazy is it that they will now be in the same backfield?! Dabo also brought in some key defensive linemen and 4 much-needed defensive backs to improve their terrible pass defense from a year ago. One of them is Elliot Washington, who played for Tom Allen at Penn State. Hopefully, we will see the wisdom in the Tom Allen hire in his second season! People forget that the Tigers’ defense took a huge leap forward between 2012 and 2013 when Brent Venables was hired, and from 2014 until his departure, the Tigers had the best defense in the nation. The word of camp has been "competition." Dabo says that the competition has been great across the board, and we all know that iron sharpens iron. I can tell you that Dabo's demeanor at practice has been a little different, too, following the disappointment of last season. He has been on the mic at every practice, calling players out for good plays and bad. He also did that for the first time in the Orange and White Game last spring. If the most descriptive word of the Tigers' offseason is "competition," the second-most descriptive might be "accountability."

 

Before getting into the weeds on the primetime showdown in the copycat Death Valley, a quick commentary on the insane state of affairs in college football that has gone completely off the rails. As most of you know, Lane Kiffin decided that he needed NFL players to compete with Clemson, so he weaseled his way into getting a Louisiana judge to rule that former Ole Miss TE Dae’Quan Wright, who signed with two NFL teams, suited up for preseason NFL games and was recently released, had a legal right to return to college football due to the NCAA’s offseason rule change that allowed all players 5 years of college eligibility beginning with this year’s freshman class. Wright was in the 2022 class, so his four years of eligibility according to the old rule had expired. You could argue that he would have gone pro regardless of whether he knew the rule would change, but that is beside the point. Anyone with an objective, functioning brain agrees that it is preposterous to allow players that have signed and practiced with NFL teams to return to college football, let alone make that announcement 48 hours before kickoff! How is Dabo supposed to prepare for that?? It’s so insane that the SEC—not exactly a bastion of conservatism when it comes to rule-bending—banned NFL and other pro athletes from returning to college play (as did the other Power Four conferences), and now they are SUING LSU for breaking the rule! You just can’t make this stuff up, folks. Personally, I wish the NCAA and/or SEC would instruct the refs to throw a 15-yard flag every time an NFL player takes a snap. That seems like a perfectly viable solution to me, and no backwoods Louisiana judge would have jurisdiction over what is or is not a penalty! Be that as it may, all indications are that Wright will indeed play against Clemson on Saturday night. Incidentally, Kiffin also brought back an NFL DT who played for him at Ole Miss, but he has not practiced with LSU yet and will likely not play against Clemson. All of the SEC coaches are united in their disgust of what Kiffin is doing, but make no mistake, if he gets away with it, they will all follow suit. Just one more piece of evidence that the state of college football is in utter disarray, that the NCAA has absolutely zero control over the sport and that it desperately needs a commissioner who will have absolute power and enforcement, just as baseball turned to Judge Kennesaw Moutain Landis for its first commissioner after the 1919 Chicago Black Sox scandal. The idiotic, inept and impotent NCAA could have avoided this whole mess with a modicum of forethought. If they had simply waited until the season began to enact the five-year eligibility rule, none of this would be happening right now. The 2022 freshman class would be an afterthought.

 

One final sidenote of interest. Former Clemson power forward RJ Godfrey was in that 2022 freshman class, and he was one of the beneficiaries of the Colorodo judge’s ruling over the summer that started this whole mess. It was ruled that Godfrey and the others had a right to a fifth year of eligibility, and he will play for Arizona next season. The big difference, however, is that Godfrey did not sign a professional contract or practice with NBA teams in the interim! Godfrey is a great kid, and I am happy for him getting another opportunity to showcase his talent. I’ll be rooting for him!

 

Glad we got that mess out of the way. As if this marquee matchup of blue blood programs needed any more fuel to the fire, right?! What a circus we have on our hands in Baton Rouge, and with ESPN College Gameday there to boot, it’s gonna be a whole lot of fun!

 

On to the game…

 

LSU SYNOPSIS

Naturally, one of the biggest storylines of last season was Lane Kiffin’s decision to abandon his playoff team, Ole Miss, to take over at LSU, adding to his ever-growing list of haters across the country. His entire career, he has carried controversy wherever he goes, and he has even outdone himself by bringing in NFL players two weeks before the season opener. Controversies, shenanigans and rule-breaking aside, Kiffin has become an excellent game day coach, especially on the offensive side. He brought Charlie Weis, Jr. with him as his Offensive Coordinator and retained Blake Baker from Brian Kelly’s staff as Defensive Coordinator. The latter hasn’t been talked about much, but it was a huge acquisition for Kiffin. After what he did with the LSU defense last season—including holding Clemson to 10 points in Death Valley in the opener—Baker was a candidate for a number of head coaching jobs but decided to stay at LSU with Kiffin.

Kiffin might have been the first coach to truly embrace and rely on the transfer portal at Ole Miss, and this year is no exception. He has brought in another big haul of transfers, including some from his former Ole Miss team—including the aforementioned NFL TE Dae’Quan Wright. In fact, 12 of their 21 projected starters are transfers! Even their kicker is a transfer. Dabo told me that he’s been watching film of countless teams across the country in scouting the personnel he’s going to face on Saturday. He joked with me that he’s also been studying tape on NFL teams, which is funny and sad at the same time. “Embarrassing” is the term Dabo used in response to my question on Tuesday.

Kiffin’s most important portal acquisition, obviously, was QB Sam Leavitt from Arizona State, who led the Sun Devils to the playoff two years ago. Leavitt has a ton of experience and very talented. He is very improvisational and knows how to win games. However, the last game that he played was last October due to injury, so it will be interesting to see if he picks up right where he left off. Also, don’t forget that he had RB Cam Skattebo, who was fifth in the Heisman vote two years ago and now with the Giants. He would make a lot of quarterbacks look good.

LSU does not have a Skattebo in the backfield—at least on paper. Projected starter Dillin Jones is a transfer from Wisconsin who only averaged 4 yards per carry last season with 2 touchdowns. The talented freshman who played against the Tigers last season transferred out, and I’m surprised that LSU did not find a better replacement. But who knows, maybe Jones is a diamond in the rough and his coming out party will be on Saturday night.

In the passing game, however, Clemson will have its hands full. As if it’s not enough that they will have to face an NFL tight end, LSU already had a matchup nightmare in Tre’Dez Green. At 6’7 and 240 pounds, he had the game-winning catch in Death Valley last season with Avieon Terrell in coverage. Green was wearing #14 last season but is now wearing the coveted #7 worn by so many great LSU players.

On the defensive side, I expect LSU to be even more formidable under Blake Baker. It’s going to be a treat to watch the linebacker position with Whit Weeks for LSU opposite Sammy Brown for Clemson. Both are expected to be All-Americans. Weeks will be wearing No.7, which is usually only adorned by special players for LSU. Incidentally, Weeks was dating Lane Kiffin’s daughter, who was my Godson’s classmate at Ole Miss last year. I don’t know if they’re still dating or if she transferred to LSU, but who knows what kind of impact that had on his interest in the LSU job.

 

CLEMSON STATUS

The Tigers are in good shape from a health standpoint. The only significant injury from camp was suffered by true freshman safety Polo Anderson, who tore his ACL. That was very disappointing because he is uber talented and Dabo expected him to contribute this season, but at least he wasn’t a guy they were relying on to play heavily in the opener. Unfortunately, Clemson will also not have the services of starting DT Vic Burley. He was suspended just 2 weeks ago after being arrested for disorderly conduct. With Peter Woods off to the NFL, Burley had more experience than anyone at defensive tackle, so his loss stings. However, Dabo and Tom Allen believe that it is their deepest position group in terms of guys they feel comfortable playing. There just isn’t any “star power” there currently like  we’re use to from the likes of Peter Woods, Dex Lawrence, Christian Wilkins, Grady Jarrett, etc. Yet, that is. The good news is that I have been hearing good things about JuCo transfer Andy Burburija. He is reportedly big, strong, powerful and relentless. Amare Adams has a high ceiling but just hasn’t had the experience and production yet, and Markus Strong is a solid transfer from Oklahoma and Brent Venables. At end, the Tigers are solid with Will Heldt on one side and Jaheim Lawson on the other with good depth behind them. Lawson has come a long way since he arrived on campus from Daniel High much skinnier than his brother, Shaq. Even when he was a freshman, though, I was one of the first to comment how impressed I was with him as a pass rusher. Since then, he has worked hard in the weight room and is now a complete player. Dabo told me he can set the edge against the run just like his big bro now.

 

The Tigers have a potential NFL first-rounder at each level of the back seven in LB Sammy Brown and CB Ashton Hampton. Sammy won’t have to do it all in the middle. Kobe McCloud and Jeremiah Alexander have emerged as solid starters beside him.

 

The biggest weakness for the Tigers last season was their pass defense, and I expect the secondary to be vastly improved, beginning with Hampton, who will now wear #2 rather than his familiar #23. Hampton shows up at every practice like it’s the Super Bowl, and one can only hope that his mentality is contagious. As I mentioned, Dabo brought in 4 good defensive backs from the portal. CB Elliot Washington, from Penn State, won the takeaway record during camp. He knows Tom Allen’s defense like the back of his hand and is strong with good speed. Donovan Starr, from Auburn, has impressed in camp, as have safety transfers Cory Myrick and Jerome Carter. Corian Gipson has settled in at starting nickel, or the “Tiger” position, and can absolutely fly. From what I have heard, the fastest player on the team is a coin toss between transfer RB Chris Johnson and Gipson.

Offensively, it all obviously starts with Christopher Vizzina (CV) winning the August quarterback race, as Dabo told us on Tuesday. I could not have been less surprised by the announcement. True freshman Tait Reynolds really pushed him in the spring and in August camp, making it a tight race, but in the end, Vizzina's experience and consistency won out. For some reason, the majority of Clemson fans aren't super excited about CV taking over for three-year starter Cade Klubnik, who is now in the NFL with the Jets. In fact, many wanted the dynamic athlete Chris Denson to overtake CV for the job in the spring, but Denson was passed by the true freshman, Reynolds, and is now going to be playing another position, most likely receiver. When that happened, it seems like most Clemson fans were rooting for the exciting newcomer rather than CV. I guess being the backup to Cade over the last three years has attached a stigma to him, and many fans just think of him as a backup. They forget that he was one of the most prized quarterbacks coming out of high school, and if he had followed the trend and transferred somewhere else to be a starter, he would have been one of the most coveted prospects in the portal. Personally, I am rooting for CV to make the most of this opportunity that he has so patiently and loyally waited for. He is a Clemson man, through and through, which is why he committed to being a backup until it was his time, and that time has finally come. However, he knows how much pressure he is under and that he has to produce when it counts and win games. He also knows that Tait is nipping at his heels, so he's got to earn the starting spot each and every week.

Dabo did say that there was a point in camp when Tait almost caught CV, and he fully expects Tait to play at some point this season. Perhaps it will even be in the opener at some point. We'll just have to wait and see, but we are going to find out what CV is made of right out of the gate, that's for sure. He played great in his lone career start last season, passing for over 300 yards with 3 touchdowns and no interceptions against SMU, but that was in Death Valley. He gets to make his first career road start in Baton Rouge, one of the toughest places to play, at night on national television. CV is, by all accounts, a consummate competitor, so we'll see how that manifests on Saturday night.

CV will have talented sophomore Gideon Davidson, who is still looking for his first career rush TD, and CJ Johnson, who I mentioned in the opening. Incidentally, I love the fact that we have another CJ in the offensive backfield! That has to be a good omen, right? Just like CJ Spiller, Johnson is explosive in the open field and a threat to score on any given play. Gideon has a good combination of speed and power. Dabo told me that he has been very impressed with CJ’s toughness, even though he’s not the biggest guy in stature. The Tigers have good depth behind them with Easy E, Jay Haynes and Jarvis Green.

The backs will have a good offensive line to run behind. Harris Sewell, Colin Stadler, Elijah Thurman and Brayden Jacobs are all outstanding and versatile. Sewell will be taking over at starting center.

The biggest strength of this team, though, has to be at receiver. The starting trio of Bryant Wesco, TJ Moore and Tyler Brown are as good as any in the country. They also have a tall jump ball target in Tristan Smith at 6’5, and rising stars in freshmen Blivens, Sellars and Burroughs. With Wesco and Moore out in the spring, those freshman got a ton of valuable reps and showed what they can do in the Orange and White Game. Unfortunately, Cole Turner has stepped away from football for personal reasons. I was really hoping this would finally be his breakout season. It’s been one blow after another for him since his coming out party in the ACC Championship against UNC as a true freshman. He is still with the program but not practicing. I hope he can sort everything out and make a comeback at some point down the road! Cole’s brother, Nolan, of course, is the new Safeties Coach.

Finally, I love the Tigers’ duo at tight end in Olsen Patt-Henry (OPH) and Christian Bentancurr, who scored two TD’s at UNC last season as a freshman. They are both great receivers, but a big emphasis for them in the offseason has been run blocking, and they have fully embraced that.

The Tigers are solid on special teams with Nolan Hauser at kicker and Jack Smith at punter. Huaser had some inconsistent days in camp, but I am fully confident in him when the lights are on, and he drilled some long kicks in camp. Dabo has said that Jack Smith was the Tigers’ MVP last season. Punter was a big question mark going into the season, and Smith was consistently outstanding all season. The Tigers do have two new long snappers after losing longtime, reliable starters Florenzo and Casperson, but Dabo said that their replacements have been good in camp. Let’s hope we don’t learn their names for a long time!

 

PREDICTION

It’s always hard to predict openers because of all the unknowns, the lack of a preseason and the sloppiness we often see in openers. It’s harder than ever to predict now when 12 of LSU’s 21 starters are transfers! You have new personnel with a totally different offensive system. Clemson is a 10-point underdog, which I think is a little high. Make no mistake, Clemson has enough talent and quality coaching to beat LSU—even in Baton Rouge at night—but it’s all going to come down to the quarterback position and which team makes the fewest mistakes. If Clemson is going to pull off the upset, it’s going to have to win or at least tie the turnover battle and avoid any costly penalties, disastrous turnovers and coverage busts on defense. They gave up way too many big plays defensively last season because one or two players out of eleven were out of position. Communication on defense will be imperative to prevent that. Fortunately, Tiger Stadium will not be loud while the Clemson defense is on the field.

If the Tigers play a clean game and avoid mistakes, that just leaves CV. He was outstanding in his lone career start, with over 300 yards, 3 touchdowns and no interceptions against SMU last season, but that was at home in the original Death Valley. You could not script a worse way to make your first career road start than Baton Rouge at night with College Gameday in town and a nationally televised game. That being said, CV is very evenly keeled, not allowing himself to get too high or too low. That bodes well for him in an pressure-packed environment like this. He will also have Tajh Boyd on the sideline to help him. You can’t ask for a better resource than that. Tajh played QB for Chad Morris and in every environment imaginable, and he had a legendary performance in the last-second win over LSU in the 2012 season Peach Bowl. CV told me that he has watched Tajh’s 4th and 13 completion to Nuk Hopkins a hundred times!

In addition to all of the on-the-field unknowns, you have all of the off-the-field distractions and circus revolving around the Dae’Quan Wright controversy. Who knows how that will manifest on the field or how much the distractions have taken a toll.

With the number of unknowns in this game added to the biggest unknown—how CV will perform in his first career road start with a new OC—I have to give the benefit of the doubt to the home team with the 100,000 fans behind them. However, it will not surprise me in the least if Dabo and Clemson shock everyone. Nobody nationally is giving Clemson a chance in this game, and I think they are underestimating Clemson. If LSU has been as well, that could be trouble for the Bayou Bengals.

 

CLEMSON    23        Bayou Bengals 24

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