All August, Dabo Swinney kept saying the same thing about his Clemson team, and he said it with that familiar grin: “Just a bunch of nobodies,”
Take that at face value, and LSU should feel pretty good about what’s coming into Death Valley.
But Clemson is not walking in empty-handed. The Tigers from South Carolina may not have last year’s collection of draft capital, but they still have enough talent to make LSU work for every yard in Lane Kiffin’s debut. This is not the kind of roster you dismiss because the coach is downplaying it.
Clemson’s defense is the first place to start. The line took hits with Peter Woods and T.J.
Parker gone as top-35 picks, but Tom Allen might actually have something better in his second season running the unit. Last year’s pass defense was a mess - 120th nationally, allowing 251 yards per game - and Clemson finally went shopping in the transfer portal to fix some of that damage.
Jerome Carter from Old Dominion and Corey Myrick from Southern Miss bring real production with them, combining for 166 tackles and eight interceptions last season. Carter even had 11 tackles in a season opener against eventual national champ Indiana.
Penn State transfer Elliot Washington is also in the mix at corner, and he reportedly runs a sub-4.3-second 40-yard dash. He’s expected to line up opposite Ashton Hampton, a 6-foot-2, 205-pound junior who has, by all accounts, turned into a star in Allen’s secondary.
There are still questions inside, especially at defensive tackle, and redshirt senior Vic Burley is likely suspended for the opener. But Clemson has edge speed that can wreck a game.
Will Heldt, a 6-6, 260-pound senior, led the team with 7.5 sacks and 15.5 tackles for loss last season. Jahiem Lawson, Shaq Lawson’s brother, is now a more seasoned redshirt senior.
Sammy Brown is already a load at linebacker, with 194 tackles and 25 for loss through two seasons after arriving as a multisport standout who wrestled and played running back in high school.
That middle of the defense is where the next question sits. Kobe McCloud or Jeremiah Alexander need to give Clemson something next to Brown after Luke Ferrelli’s late jump to Ole Miss in the middle of the tampering mess. That matters even more with LSU tight end Trey’Dez Green, who stands 6-7, in the picture.
If Clemson can avoid the coverage busts that haunted it last season, this defense has the length and speed to force turnovers. And if LSU can’t handle Heldt and Lawson off the edge, the night gets a lot more dangerous.
Clemson’s offense brings its own intrigue, starting with the quarterback spot. Freshman Tait Reynolds pushed redshirt junior Christopher Vizzina all the way to the wire, which says plenty about where that competition stands. Still, Vizzina won’t be short on targets.
T.J. Moore and Bryant Wesco enter their junior seasons as the headliners at receiver.
Moore broke out with 834 yards as a sophomore, while Wesco had 537 before a spinal injury cut his season short in Clemson’s seventh game. Both can stretch a defense vertically and separate with burst in and out of breaks.
Clemson’s staff has also been high on freshman Gordon Sellars, and Naeem Burroughs could carve out a role from the slot.
The tight end group may be deeper than LSU’s, with Olsen Patt-Henry, Christian Bentancur and Logan Brooking all in the mix.
Up front, Clemson still has work to do. The line returns Brayden Jacobs, Elyjah Thurmon, Harris Sewell and Collin Sadler, but there are plenty of moving parts.
Sewell has moved to center, Jacobs is sliding out to left tackle, Sadler is moving to right, and one guard spot could go to a youngster - Ronan O’Connell, Tucker Kattus or Easton Ware. It’s a more athletic group than Clemson has had, but it’s also a line with a lot to sort out after several players were banged up last season.
The backfield can help. Gideon Davidson and SMU transfer Chris Johnson give Clemson enough juice to create something on the ground, and that matters because the Tigers struggled to run it a year ago. Vizzina also has to stay upright against Princewill Umanmielen’s rush.
That’s the balancing act for Clemson: protect the quarterback, get the run game going, and let the playmakers do the rest. If that happens, Swinney’s “nobodies” can look a lot more like a real problem for LSU.
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