Cody Slovensky
Writer
The Fighting Tigers of LSU travel to Clemson, South Carolina, to take on the Clemson Tigers in a battle of top ten opponents. Both teams have their eyes set on a College Football Playoff berth, and the road begins Saturday night.
Brian Kelly enters his fourth season as the head coach of the LSU Tigers. The biggest obstacle for him has been the fact that he is currently 0-3 in opening games during his time in Baton Rouge. Kelly enters the season with arguably the deepest roster he has ever coached from top to bottom. Recently, Kelly announced that LSU will spend around $18 million on their roster.
Dabo Swinney finally used the transfer portal. Previously, Swinney has welcomed in (2) transfer quarterbacks in the entire existence of the portal, and now entering 2025, they welcome in 4 newcomers. Swinney deserves praise, as he is the only coach who thrives on what he has built versus utilizing the transfer portal.
Offense: Quarterback Garrett Nussmeier enters his second season as the starting quarterback. Joining him in the backfield is elite speedy running back Caden Durham as well as power back Kaleb Jackson. With arguably the most underrated wide receiver room in the country, Nussmeier will have returning receivers Aaron Anderson, Zavion Thomas and deep threat Chris Hilton Jr. Joining them will be newcomers Barion Brown (Kentucky) and Nic Anderson (Oklahoma). Redzone weapon Trey’Dez Green and newcomer Bauer Sharp (Oklahoma) will be heavily utilized tight ends this season.
Defense: Harold Perkins Jr. and Whit Weeks are the leaders of the defense. Perkins Jr. returns after a season-ending knee injury suffered against UCLA. Weeks returns from an ankle injury that he suffered against Baylor in the Texas Bowl. Both athletes are key pieces to a defense that has not lived up to LSU’s standard over the last few seasons. Now in 2025, the depth and system are in place, and they are ready to run through a wall for defensive coordinator Blake Baker.
Offense: Senior quarterback Cade Klubnik returns to continue what Clemson was building in 2024. Joining Klubnik in the backfield is wide receiver turned running back, Adam Randall. The returning trio of T.J. Moore, Bryant Wesco Jr., and Antonio Williams put together an extremely deep wide receiver room. The trio combined for 161 receptions for 2,263 yards and 21 touchdowns.
Defense: TJ Parker, aka the man who had 11 sacks and 6 forced fumbles in 2024, returns in 2025. Lining up next to Parker is defensive tackle Peter Woods, both men are projected to be top 10 overall draft picks in the 2026 NFL Draft. At the next level, you get the duo of Sammy Brown and Wade Woodaz, with both coming off great 2024 seasons. 2024 breakout star and projected first-round draft pick Aevion Terrell leads the defensive back room.
Clemson is projected to win the ACC this year, and some even have them picked to win a national championship. LSU is also looked at very favorably in the SEC, with many media members projecting the Bayou Bengals to win the SEC and make a deep run in the College Football Playoff.
On paper, this has all the makings of an instant classic. Does the LSU defense finally take that leap and shut down the Clemson offense? Does Clemson test the new LSU offensive line, putting pressure on quarterback Nussmeier?
Be sure to tune in Saturday night for what could be the first of two meetings between these two teams this season.
Cody Slovensky
Writer
A windy day in College Station, Texas, made for a challenging game for both teams. Today was the first time that the first half was scoreless since the College Football Playoff began in 2014. The first half was very eventful, but resulted in zero points scored. In the first quarter, Texas A&M outgained Miami 76 […]
TJ Chapman
Editor
When the No. 10 Miami Hurricanes (10-2) face the No. 7 Texas A&M Aggies (11-1) Saturday, many believe this game will be a defensive battle from start to finish. That mentality is fueled by the statistics for both teams’ defenses. In scoring defense, Miami gives up 13.83 points per game, good for 6th in the […]
Chris Kuehnhold
Writer
For several decades, one of the most viewed post season awards is the National Coach of the Year Award. There are currently approximately twelve such awards. Often, these have a different set of criteria on which they judge the nominees. In many seasons, you end up with multiple coaches being named as Coach of the […]
