Clemson had a Week 1 to forget.
The Tigers went to Baton Rouge to face Lane Kiffin and the LSU Tigers in the marquee matchup of the weekend. It was a marquee matchup for about 5 minutes before LSU completely took over, cruising to a lopsided 51-10 victory.
Social media was not kind to Clemson coach Dabo Swinney in the aftermath of the humiliating loss, and now Clemson has a ton of work to do to salvage its 2026 season.
Here’s a sampling of what Swinney had to say about LSU and his own team’s performance following the beatdown (via The State):
On moving on following the blowout
“This one is over. I know everybody’s focus will be on the score. We’ve got to put our focus on what we can control. This one is over.”
“It’s a tough opener, and it was kind of a worst-case scenario for us. … We can’t let it define us or destroy us. We’re going to get better. We are going to get better.”
“They’re a really good football team, and we’re a lot better than we played. … I was proud of them. They did not quit. But nowhere near good enough in what we needed to do.”
On new OC Chad Morris’s first game
“Obviously not good, right? We didn’t do anything good. I thought we had great preparation. We put so much into it. … He’ll get them better. Tonight was not what we hoped for or worked for or expected.”
On the play of QBs Christopher Vizzina and Tait Reynolds
“We’ll study the film. The pick-six (by Vizzina) hurt. … That was a killer. I think CV made some nice throws. … And Tait, it was good to be able to get him in there, let him get hit a little bit.”
“Both of those guys, we’ll evalute them and keep moving forward.”
Clemson hosts Georgia Southern next weekend, looking to regroup before ACC play starts. We’ll see if Swinney and company can right the ship moving forward.
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Adam is a daily fantasy sports (DFS) and sports betting expert. A 2012 graduate of the University of Missouri, Adam now covers all 16 SEC football teams. He is the director of DFS, evergreen and newsletter content across all Saturday Football brands.
