The No. 11 LSU Tigers take on the Clemson Tigers in a Death Valley battle between SEC and ACC foes.
It's perfect timing, considering LSU has been the talk of the offseason (and beginning of the season).
The Bayou Bengals made headlines when they hired head coach Lane Kiffin away from Ole Miss in the middle of the Rebels' College Football Playoff run. They've become the talk of the town again in recent days, with their intentions of adding players who went through NFL training camps.
But this game isn't about ongoing legal battles. It's about football.
LSU brings a new offense led by Kiffin and Arizona State transfer quarterback Sam Leavitt, and it's expected to be one of the best units in the country.
On the other side, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney hired new offensive coordinator Chad Morris and elevated quarterback Christopher Vizzina to the starting role. However, those moves have been met with much less fanfare.
LSU enters this matchup as a -10.5 favorite with the over/under sitting at 50.5. So, where does the value lie? We polled 11 members of our college football staff to get their take on the spread and total.
Let's dive into our LSU vs. Clemson picks and college football predictions for this prime-time matchup on Saturday, September 5.
LSU vs. Clemson Spread Pick
Our Staff's Pick: LSU -10.5
By Road to CFB
Our staff at Action Network is pretty clearly decided on the spread for Clemson at LSU. Eight of our 11 voters side with the home favorite LSU Tigers, while three dissent.
This number fluctuated throughout the preseason, reaching as high as LSU -12.5 and as low as Clemson +9.5; anything under LSU -10 appears to be the buy point.
Late Thursday night, another local judge issued another injunction to allow all players who tried out in the NFL to join rosters, opposing the SEC’s rule that bans such a practice.
LSU, of course, is at the forefront and gets an injection of players like tight end Dae’Quan Wright and defensive tackle Zxavian Harris. Granted, these are fringe NFL players, but they add depth to the roster. How that shakes out remains to be seen.
On the flip side, there’s not a ton of confidence in Clemson.
Quarterback Christopher Vizzina couldn’t separate himself from backup Tait Reynolds, and his preseason appraisals haven’t been excellent. But he has a talented cast of receivers to throw to. It's a unit that should stress LSU’s secondary.
The front seven, including All-American linebacker Whit Weeks and All-SEC defensive end Princewill Umanmielen, has an advantage over a Clemson offensive line that replaces three starters and had issues to begin with.
LSU’s defense should cause major disruption to an inexperienced quarterback behind a rather inexperienced line.
On the LSU side, Sam Leavitt comes to Baton Rouge with a downright stacked cast of skill players, upgraded offensive line, and one of the best offensive minds in college football.
Production seems inevitable, especially against a Clemson defense that hasn’t ventured to the same heights it did under Brent Venables.
Jordan Seaton transfers over from Colorado to anchor the left tackle position and will have his hands full with All-ACC caliber defensive end Will Heldt.
Playing at home with a massive boost to the coaching staff and offensive roster gives our staff the necessary confidence to overwhelmingly back LSU.
LSU vs. Clemson Over/Under Pick
Over 50.5 | 0 Picks |
Pass | 0 Picks |
Under 50.5 | 11 Picks |
Our Staff's Pick: Under 50.5
By Road to CFB
The Action Network staff is in total lockstep with a clean sweep vote to under 50.5 points.
Even with the aforementioned upgrades to the LSU offense, confidence in the Clemson offense is low.
Vizzina turned in a pretty good performance last year against SMU in a 35-24 loss, throwing for over 300 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions.
The concern comes on the offensive line, which both struggled with injuries last year and was below average to begin with. It allowed 156 pressures (bottom-20 in the country) and, in that SMU game, 21 on Vizzina, who also took five sacks.
There’s no obvious upgrade to that unit, and LSU defensive coordinator Blake Baker will likely turn up the pressure.
We’ve seen these early Week 1 “blockbuster” matchups turn into slow-paced, sloppy slogs multiple times. Just last year, LSU and Clemson dueled to a 17-10 final; LSU and USC finished at 27-20 in 2024.
Teams play conservatively, and defenses can stagnate opposing run games, leading to punt-fests with some pretty jarring gaffes (like FSU’s blocked extra point against LSU in 2022).
New Clemson offensive coordinator Chad Morris also hasn’t turned in a plus-offense since 2014, so the hire was met with underwhelming indifference. He’s not an upgrade in tempo over Garrett Riley, and Clemson will likely slow its pace down.
Ground control and an inefficient run game — just what this staff looks for in an under bet.
LSU vs. Clemson 1H Pick
1H Under 25.5
By Alex Hinton
In the first matchup in this home-and-home, 27 points were scored over the entire game. At the time, that was a surprise given the high expectations for both teams offensively and the fact that LSU was coming off an uneven 2024 season defensively.
The Tigers became elite on the defensive side of the ball last season, but it wasn't enough to save Brian Kelly’s job.
Given the hire of Lane Kiffin, LSU should be much better offensively between his offensive acumen and the transfer portal class he brought in.
However, that may not happen in the early going given the lack of continuity with the new roster. Additionally, given all the “noise” surrounding the LSU program, are we sure it won't be distracted?
On the other side, Clemson had expectations of winning Dabo Swinney’s third national title last season with the return of Cade Klubnik and a talented group of skill players. That didn't materialize, and Klubnik moved on to the NFL.
Christopher Vizzina will replace Klubnik after backing him up the last two seasons. The redshirt junior was a highly-touted recruit himself, but despite his years in the system, he'll be making just his second career start.
He won't be walking into an ideal environment for an inexperienced quarterback given both the raucous crowd in Baton Rouge and LSU’s defense.
LSU finished 12th in defensive SP+ last season and enters this season projected to finish second.
Defensive coordinator Blake Baker has led a top-15 unit in two of the last three seasons, and this year, he adds transfers Princewill Umanmielen, Jordan Ross, Ty Dottery and Ty Benefield to deploy.
LSU’s defense could make Saturday a very long night for Vizzina and Co. While I lean toward under 50.5 as well, I prefer the first-half under given the potential slow starts for each team.
LSU vs. Clemson Odds
| LSU Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
-10.5 -110 | 50.5 -110o / -110u | -425 |
| Clemson Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
+10.5 -110 | 50.5 -110o / -110u | +320 |
