Greg McElroy figured heading into LSU‘s opener against Clemson that if the infamous season-opening game losing streak was going to end, it would probably be led by a big performance by Garrett Nussmeier.
However, it was the LSU defense that stood out during the 17-10 win, and McElroy had nothing but praise for that group on Always College Football.
“LSU’s defense, right? They were very, very stout,” McElroy said. “And this has been a group for the last few years that has had some legitimate questions, haven’t they? You’d heard all throughout camp that this Clemson or that LSU defensive line was really getting after Garrett Nussmeier and the entire LSU offense. Well, you kind of wanted to see it to believe it, right? But there was buzz that that was a significantly improved group.”
LSU has been one of the most explosive offensive attacks the last couple of seasons, and it has been the defense that was a step behind. While the talk during the off-season had been the defense had improved, it would be another thing to come in and compete against a national title contender like Clemson.
Cade Klubnik was one of the heavy favorites to win the Heisman Trophy. He brought back many of his top receiving targets, as well as an experienced offensive line.
McElroy said showing improvement was one thing, but to control the line of scrimmage the entire night was a different level.
“Not only were they improved, I mean, they ran right through Clemson,” McElroy said. “I feel like throughout most of the game, they were constantly putting pressure on Cade Klubnik. I also felt like kind of led to Clemson having to be a little more one-dimensional, couldn’t really run the ball.”
Where LSU really dominated was stopping the run, as Clemson rushed the ball 19 times for 32 yards.
It was a dominating performance by the LSU defense, and McElroy said it is a great start to the 2025 season.
“I didn’t think that there was much push in the run game whatsoever,” McElroy said. “And I also think the coverage on the back end for the most part was pretty dang solid. This LSU defense, very impressive start to the season with what they did in holding what was a very talented Clemson offense to just 10 points.”
While it was only Week 1, there wasn’t a team in college football that needed a win more than LSU. The Tigers had lost five consecutive season-opening games, and this was a streak that started before Brian Kelly arrived in Baton Rouge.
The Tigers will look to build off the win as they host Louisiana Tech next weekend.
