BATON ROUGE, La. — Kirk Herbstreit said Thursday that the national conversation has written Clemson off ahead of tonight’s opener at LSU. He expects coach Dabo Swinney to have his team playing with something to prove.
Herbstreit answered during a press session at Raising Cane’s “The Mothership,” where he had spent part of the morning working with owner and founder Todd Graves. He calls the game tonight for ABC.
Kirk Herbstreit On Clemson’s National Perception
Herbstreit said the ACC runs deeper than Miami and Florida State this year, that SMU is good, and that Clemson is coming in with something to prove.
“I think the ACC has some better teams this year than the obvious, which would be Miami and Florida State. I think SMU is good. Clemson will find out how good they are. I’m excited to see Clemson,” Herbstreit said. “It’s almost nationally as if people are kind of pushing Clemson off. They’re coming off a 7-6 year. Dabo Swinney seems to be getting, in his mind, I think he feels a little disrespected. His program does. So I think they’re going to come in with a chip on their shoulder. I don’t know if it’s going to be good enough to win, but I wouldn’t sleep on the Tigers. They play good football, and I think it’ll be a good game.”
Clemson’s 2025 Season And What Changed
Clemson finished 7-6 in 2025. That was its worst record since Swinney’s second full season in 2010. The Tigers had opened that year ranked fourth in the preseason AP poll and sixth in the coaches poll.
The slide started in Week 1. LSU won 17-10 at Memorial Stadium in the first leg of the home-and-home. Clemson closed the season with a 22-10 loss to Penn State in the Pinstripe Bowl.
Swinney has deliberately emphasized his team’s anonymity. During ACC Media Days in July, he stated that nobody would select his team. At a press conference in August, he described the roster as a group of nobodies.
Clemson opens outside the AP Top 25 for the first time since 2011 and 23rd in the coaches poll.
Swinney named Christopher Vizzina the starting quarterback on Tuesday. The fourth-year junior spent three seasons behind Cade Klubnik, who left for the NFL and won the New York Jets’ backup job. Vizzina has appeared in 14 games and made one start, last season against SMU, when he completed 29 of 42 passes for 317 yards, 3 touchdowns, and 0 interceptions. Swinney said freshman Tait Reynolds will likely see time in Baton Rouge.
Chad Morris takes over as offensive coordinator after Swinney fired Garrett Riley following the 7-6 season. It is Morris’ second stint with the program after running the offense from 2011 to 2014. Gideon Davidson takes over as the lead running back. Four offensive line starters are gone.
Swinney is 187-53 at Clemson since 2009. He has won two national championships, the most recent in 2018, and signed a 10-year extension worth roughly $115 million in September 2022.
Tonight In Tiger Stadium
Tonight is Clemson’s first trip to Baton Rouge. It is also the program’s first season opener inside an SEC stadium in a decade. The last one came at Auburn in 2016, a 19-13 win by a second-ranked Clemson team that went on to win the national title.
This is the sixth time in seven years Clemson has opened away from Memorial Stadium. After LSU, the Tigers play Georgia Southern, North Carolina, and Miami, then travel to California.
Tiger Stadium seats 102,321 and the game is sold out. LSU and Clemson kick off at 6:30 p.m. CT tonight on ABC, with Herbstreit calling the game alongside Chris Fowler, Holly Rowe, and Laura Rutledge. College GameDay aired from campus Saturday morning.
