BATON ROUGE, La. – The Lane Kiffin era at LSU might have started with a hiccup by his team running out of the tunnel just a tad early on Saturday night, but they made up for it in front of a rabid crowd in “Death Valley” that reminded the head coach of Mardi Gras season.
If you thought a little rain was going to dampen the party in Baton Rouge, you were solely mistaken. If anything, the two-hour delay gave the raucous crowd a chance to catch their breath and reload after the pregame festivities looked more like something out of a Woodstock documentary.
Thousands of fans, six deep along the barricades, waited for this LSU team, led by Kiffin, to walk the streets just outside of Tiger Stadium. This was more of a revival, compared to a debut, and I know it’s only one game.
“I felt like I was back at Mardi Gras,” Lane Kiffin said following the 51-10 win over Clemson.
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Police officers hadn’t seen this type of crowd in years, with two people mentioning the 2019 season as the last time the streets were this packed before kickoff. And, forget about Clemson fans making the trip south to Louisiana.
While one team is obsessed with their new coach, Clemson seemed complacent. The visitors section was essentially empty compared to other teams who have sat in the same corner of Tiger Stadium.
Once the loudspeakers started playing Garth Brooks, you knew that this night in Death Valley was going to be different. It did not feel like the Brian Kelly era, though that’s probably not the best comparison.
Lane Kiffin walked the streets with his team in front of him, while Livvy Dunne and Theo Vonn trailed just behind the Tigers’ head coach.
The star-studded night in Baton Rouge was fitting for the new king of Louisiana, who strolled onto the field in his double-breasted suit while waving at the student section. Everything about this beating felt like a Hollywood Red Carpet event, with congressional leaders and celebrities lining the sidelines.
And, after a long week for college football fans who were following the non-stop headlines surrounding the Louisiana court case, you just knew Kiffin was going to have something to say while heading into the locker room at halftime with a 28-3 lead over Clemson.
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“Imagine if we had pro players,” the LSU head coach told ESPN.
Yeah, I don’t know if that would have actually mattered tonight.
Why? Because we were watching two programs headed in opposite directions.
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In what might end up being his last season at the helm if he doesn’t turn this thing around in quick fashion, the Clemson head coach can’t really talk his way out of this one.
Everything about what we witnessed with this Tigers football team looks like a program who has lost its luster. There is nothing appealing about Clemson any longer, besides the head coach coming up with different ways to describe his team.
Just last week, Dabo made it a point to say he did not have any starters, making light of the fact he would find out how good his team was after they went up against LSU.
For the fans who have invested in this program, hoping that they would find their way out of the woods, tonight’s performance shows just how far Clemson has fallen down the ladder. And, I don’t see how those within the athletic department can come out of Baton Rouge with hope of a turnaround season.
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Honestly, this brand will always have life thanks to what Swinney accomplished in the CFP’s early years.
But now? This football program feels as though they are just too far gone.
On one side, you had an LSU fanbase invigorated by a new head coach and life that was injected into the rabid group of fans. For Clemson, watching them play LSU on Saturday night, in Kiffin’s debut, felt like two different teams headed in two different directions.
Swinney spent the offseason complaining about Ole Miss tampering with one of his former players, and about how he wasn’t finished with the job at Clemson.
Now, that talk just looks cheap and underwhelming, with Swinney having to answer some very hard questions.
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What some forget about the entire ordeal around a Louisiana court over the past ten days is that Lane Kiffin loves to put on a show.
The problem was that the SEC wasn’t buying a ticket.
When LSU was deciding on whether to roster at least three former ‘professional players’ after a Baton Rouge judge granted them an injunction this week, they were doing so knowing the SEC was ready to pounce on the program.
But, we all knew what story you’d be reading right now if LSU would have lost to Clemson on Saturday night.
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“What’s the difference? Everyone already hates you, they can’t hate you that much more,” Kiffin said postgame about his halftime comments. “I’m just glad they played the way they did, so that wouldn’t have been the story. Even if we would have won close, it would’ve been how I screwed the team up doing this thing.
“I said this morning, you can not agree with it. I’ve been criticized heavily this past week, and I get that and understand, but my job is not to please you and worry about what you are going to write. My job is that I believe in what is right. And, I believed in fighting for those kids … That’s what I believe.”
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Some will call it a game of “chicken,” though it really came down to conference officials not wanting to be made a mockery of.
Is it fair? That’s up for you to decide. The SEC reacted when they continued to see local courts grant orders that allowed former athletes with pro-experience to be rostered by teams within the conference. In releasing their ‘new’ guidelines, they dug their foot into the ground.
Kiffin and LSU were deciding how far they could take this before Greg Sankey had enough. On Friday, they found out the SEC was ready to hit them with punishments that would cause further headaches, which was an added bonus to the federal lawsuit filed in Alabama on Thursday.
But, even though the school might have given in before the ball was kicked-off on Saturday night, it was clear that they really did not need the extra help.
In his debut, Kiffin put on a show for all the fans, just like Garth Brooks did in this same stadium a few years ago.
They were certainly “Callin’ Baton Rouge” inside a drenched Tiger Stadium.
Two teams, two different stories.
One just might have to make a decision about their coach before the 2026 season comes to an end.
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And no, it’s not going to be Kiffin having to worry about his job.