Tiger Stadium was built for a spectacle on Saturday night, and Lane Kiffin treated it like one once LSU had Clemson buried.
The sideline already had the kind of extras that made the whole scene feel over the top: a hoop with a Clemson paw on the backboard, players dunking after scores, a nephew spraying a fire extinguisher, and lasers cutting across the turf at halftime. By the time the game turned fully out of reach, Kiffin picked up a basketball and started shooting jump shots on the sideline.
Hater Report posted the clip Sunday night, along with the line, “Lane Kiffin is WILD. LSU was blowing Clemson out so bad he started shooting jumpshots on the sideline.” The 16-second video showed Kiffin in the middle of a game that had already stopped feeling like one.
LSU had already taken control by halftime, leading 31-3, and the margin only grew from there. The Tigers finished with a 51-10 win while Clemson was held to 145 yards. LSU rolled up 644 yards and set a school record with 38 first downs.
Kiffin’s first night in Baton Rouge had plenty of other moments that matched the score. He walked Victory Hill with cameras stacked six deep.
At halftime, he told Holly Rowe it took everything not to say, “Imagine if we had pro players.” He also went for two while up 44-3, fist-pumped the final touchdown, and after a two-minute timeout with LSU ahead 51-10, the offense still launched a 33-yard bomb.
The basketball was just the last bit of theater in a night that already had plenty. Kiffin, who left Ole Miss on a $91 million deal and spent the summer gathering transfers, also packed Victory Hill with Livvy Dunne and a comedy circus before kickoff. After a weather delay pushed the start to 7:56, Dabo Swinney’s team never really settled in.
Jordan Ross picked a pass, scored, and dunked on the Clemson-branded hoop. Sam Leavitt ran and the line moved people. Kiffin stayed right in the middle of it all, pumping fists and slapping hands with his quarterback while the game turned into a runaway.
Even with Dae’Quan Wright and Zxavian Harris kept off the gameday roster by the SEC, LSU still hung 51 on Clemson. The halftime comment was already one of the quotes of the night. The jump shot just gave everybody the image to go with it.
Kiffin has made a career out of leaning into the role people love to hate, from Knoxville to Oxford. He told Pat McAfee that doing great things means getting hated. A jumper at 51-10 was exactly the kind of thing that will light up the accounts waiting for him to slip.
The football result is what matters most: LSU ran Clemson out of Death Valley in Kiffin’s first game. But the quote, and now the clip, are going with him. Ole Miss already has its own feelings about him, and this video will be waiting for the rematch in two weeks.
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Travis Etienne Jr. and Bryan Bresee came back to decorated lockers, with LSU-themed items waiting for them courtesy of Saints teammates Barion Brown, Davon Godchaux and Will Clapp. Brown and Godchaux are still active players, while Clapp has moved into a coaching role on the Saints offensive line, and the whole thing added a little extra local flavor to a win LSU fans were already enjoying. [Read more 🡒]