Desmond Howard isn’t buying the idea that Clemson is walking into Baton Rouge just to take its lumps.
Yes, LSU enters Saturday night’s showdown with the edge on paper. The SEC Tigers are a double-digit favorite, and ESPN’s FPI gives LSU a 75.3% chance to start 1-0 as Lane Kiffin makes his debut. But Howard, the former Michigan star and current ESPN analyst, pushed back on any assumption that Clemson is simply showing up to play the role of backdrop.
On Friday, as ESPN broke down the matchup before College GameDay arrives in Baton Rouge, Howard made it clear he expects Dabo Swinney’s team to come in with purpose.
“Dabo and those guys, they’re not getting on the plane and just going to roll their helmets out there and let LSU roll over them (Saturday night),” Howard said. “They’re coming in here to make a statement.”
The game itself already has the feel of a Week 1 centerpiece. LSU and Clemson will open under the lights at Tiger Stadium around 7:30 p.m. ET on ABC, with two major programs, two high-profile head coaches and a national audience all tuning in to see how things unfold amid the NFL-to-college players controversy hanging over the sport.
Howard also leaned into the familiar “Death Valley” bragging rights between the two schools, since both Clemson and LSU use the nickname for their home stadiums.
“(Clemson) thinks they have the best Death Valley and they’re the real Tigers,” Howard said.
Still, the numbers point to LSU as the team expected to have the upper hand in Saturday night’s clash. The Kalshi market also indicates Clemson faces a tough road in that other Death Valley when the SEC and ACC powers meet in Baton Rouge.
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LSU Fans Will Be Watching This Baton Rouge QB Family Showdown
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Knox Kiffin, the three-star quarterback and son of LSU head coach Lane Kiffin, will be on one sideline, while Colton Nussmeier, a four-star Georgia commit and younger brother of NFL quarterback Garrett Nussmeier, will be on the other. For LSU followers, it is a familiar kind of early-season intrigue, with two local family storylines intersecting before the high school calendar even gets rolling. [Read more 🡒]