The LSU Tigers open the 2025 season with one of the most anticipated games of the entire season against the Clemson Tigers. Both teams are expected to be ranked inside the top-10 to start the year, giving the Tigers yet another ranked matchup in a season opener. Under Kelly's guidance, LSU is 0-3 in season openers.
Brian Kelly Says One of LSU's Goals is Starting the Season With a Win Against Clemson originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
The LSU Tigers open the 2025 season with one of the most anticipated games of the entire season against the Clemson Tigers. Both teams are expected to be ranked inside the top-10 to start the year, giving the Tigers yet another ranked matchup in a season opener.
Under Kelly's guidance, LSU is 0-3 in season openers. In 2022, Kelly's first season, they lost to Florida State on a blocked PAT in the closing seconds. In 2023, they once again matched up with Florida State, but were run out of the building, losing 45-24. In 2024, they went to Vegas to play USC. They were in it the whole way, but some poor execution late cost them the win.
Despite all that, this year's opener might be their toughest yet. They have to travel to Clemson for a true road game to face a top-10 team led by one of the best quarterbacks in the nation. Clemson will come to LSU to open the year in 2026, but I sure bet Brian Kelly and Co. wished they'd come to the real Death Valley this year in Nussmeier's final season.
Brian Kelly took the podium to kick off SEC Media Days on Monday, and he spoke about the importance of winning this game.
"We open up with a great program in Clemson. I know Dabo (Swinney) very well and respect him and his program and the accomplishments that they've had. We've played against each other several times when I was at Notre Dame, and I just have a ton of respect.
"But we've also been 0-3 in openers at LSU under my watch. We needed to do some things different this year. That is embrace this opener. Embracing it in a manner that this is a big game. It is a tangible goal for our football team to be 1-0. It's not let's warm up into the season, we want to be ready for this football game, so we're doing everything in our power to give our players the opportunity for success."
This opener might be the most important one of Kelly's LSU career. In 2022 and 2023, they were still very much rebuilding this program, despite the fact that they had one of the best offense the sport has seen in recent memory under Jayden Daniels.
Last year was the first year of the 12-team playoff, and it came with the expectation that LSU would make it. However, they were still rebuilding the defense and had a new quarterback under center. They made some mistakes in the middle of the season, which ultimately took them out of contention.
This year, though, there are no excuses. Kelly has the quarterback, the coaching staff and the roster to make it to the CFP. Starting off with a big road win over Clemson would go a long ways towards building a CFP resume. If they were to lose the opener, it would not only leave a bad taste in LSU fan's mouths, but it would put them on the back foot for the CFP and force them to have a near-flawless season the rest of the way.
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This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 14, 2025, where it first appeared.
Category: General Sports