Alarming Numbers Show Just How Bad Clemson Was Against LSU in Blowout Loss
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The Clemson Tigers felt confident entering the opening game of the new college football season against the LSU Tigers.
There was a lot of hype around the team from the offseason, with head coach Dabo Swinney saying all the right things. Clemson even got off to a 3-0 lead on the road at Tiger Stadium, picking off quarterback Sam Leavitt to silence the rowdy fans.
But then, everything flipped in an instant. LSU ran off 51 unanswered points, sending Clemson to a brutal blowout loss to open the season.
Clemson lost control of the game before halftime even came to an end. But when looking deeper at the game, it's clear that Clemson has a lot of work to do moving forward.
The LSU defense was able to do pretty much whatever it wanted against Clemson, forcing them to punt on 10 of its first 12 drives. Clemson couldn't muster up anything, allowing the rabid fans at Tiger Stadium to take over the game, while the players dominated on the field.
Through three quarters, Clemson had just four first downs, with zero rushing yards on 20 attempts. The team also went 0-for-11 on 3rd down, showing a lack of ability to put together any sort of offense.
In addition, Clemson ran 48 total plays on the night. But LSU was able to run 47 plays just within Clemson territory.
Clemson finished the game with 145 total yards as a team, going 1-for-13 on third down.
Overall, this was a dismantling of historic proportions for Clemson. While this is just one game over the course of the long season, a loss like this is going to take a long time to get over.
Clemson looked overmatched against LSU after the first few minutes of the game. And this goes back to a more pressing issue, which is the program not being up to the new reality of college football.
Swinney has seen this program underperform for years, but his refusal to adapt has cost them. Quarterback Christopher Vizzina couldn't keep up with the LSU defense, and it's brought back comments from Swinney earlier in the offseason.
"We weren't going to go get a shiny object (transfer) at quarterback," Swinney said in July. "If it doesn't work out, we're going to be raked over the coals."
Calls for Swinney's job have started, bringing back all the rumors from a year ago. But for Clemson, something needs to change; otherwise this could end up being a very long season for the once proud program.
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