Kiffin’s first night in Death Valley ends Clemson 51-10

Tiger Stadium got the Lane Kiffin era the only way Baton Rouge accepts a debut: loud, rude, and finished early. No. 11 LSU beat Clemson 51-10 on Saturday night in the opener, per ESPN’s box . Quarters went Clemson 3-0-0-7, LSU 17-14-13-7. Home 1-0. Away 0-1. Program does what the program does.

Sam Leavitt made the first start of the purple-and-gold chapter look simple and mean. ESPN had him 16-of-28 for 230 yards, one touchdown pass, and one interception. FOX Sports’ box had the rest of the punch: 113 rushing yards and a share of the ground touchdowns. Three total scores on the night if you’re counting the way FOX did. Dual-threat is a press-conference word. What it looked like was Death Valley getting its quarterback back.

Dilin Jones matched him on the ground. FOX: 23 carries, 113 yards, two touchdowns. ESPN’s team rush line was the real sermon — 58 carries, 309 yards, four rushing touchdowns. Clemson’s whole offense ran for 40. That’s not a close game. That’s a statement about who owns Saturday night in Louisiana.

Winston Watkins Jr. led the receivers: seven catches, 110 yards, one touchdown (FOX, matching ESPN’s 7/110/1 team-high). Landen Clark checked in and went 5-of-7 for 72 yards and a touchdown. Husan Longstreet completed his only throw for 33. Team pass: 22-of-36, 335 yards, two scores, one pick. The offense that ranked last in the SEC a year ago just put up 644 total yards on FOX’s game stats. Clemson had 145.

Defense got a souvenir. Jordan Ross took an interception 30 yards to the house (ESPN). Christopher Vizzina and Tait Reynolds combined for 14-of-22, 105 yards, zero touchdown passes, and one interception for Clemson. Nolan Hauser’s 49-yard field goal was the visitors’ first-quarter pulse. They scored seven in the fourth when it was already a rout.

Last August in their place, LSU won 17-10 on the road. Different coach. Different quarterback. Same brand problem for Clemson: they walked into the real Death Valley and left with a double-digit loss that wasn’t close after the first quarter. Kiffin didn’t need a soft opener. He got a national window on ABC and a 41-point margin. Blake Baker’s defense buried the run. The backs and Leavitt buried the clock.