One of the most important games in the early part of the college football season has to be the one going on in Death Valley. What Death Valley? Exactly! It will be the Battle for Death Valley between the visiting LSU Tigers and the hometown Clemson Tigers. Both of these teams could not only be vying for College Football Playoff berths, but may see their starting quarterback go on to win the Heisman.
It will be one of the must-see games over Labor Day Weekend. Clemson is at this stage of the offseason my pick to win the ACC again and be a lock to make the playoff. I have the Tigers losing to Penn State in the national championship, but so much will change between now and then. As for LSU, I have the Bayou Bengals vying for one of possibly four or five playoff berths coming out of the SEC.
It will be billed as Brian Kelly vs. Dabo Swinney, but it may be all about Cade Klubnik vs. Garrett Nussmeier. It will be the first game of the season for all parties involved, but here is why the loser of this game could be really behind the eight ball. Again, a lot can change between now and then, but I am of the belief it will be the visiting SEC Tigers losing on the road to the hometown ACC Tigers.
If this is the case, it might cost Garrett Nussmeier his shot at winning LSU another Heisman Trophy.
An LSU loss to Clemson could cost Garrett Nussmeier his Heisman hope
Not going to lie, I was stunned to see Clemson's projected over/under win total coming in at 9.5. This is a team built to win 10 or more games, right? Well, they do have to play playoff contenders out of the SEC in LSU to start and then The Palmetto Bowl vs. arch rival South Carolina to end the regular season. All the while, they seem to have a tougher draw than most when it comes to ACC scheduling.
That being said, there are a handful of things potentially working against Nussmeier and LSU in this situation. The first is obvious in that it is a high-stakes road game in the non-conference. Clemson is just about as tough of a place to play on the road as any in college football, even down in Baton Rouge. The second is the state of the defenses. I trust Tom Allen way more than I do Blake Baker.
The last one is that Kelly often struggles to get his team ready to play to start the season. The USC loss in Las Vegas haunted him badly down the stretch. Thus, he may need to be bailed out by Nussmeier more so than ever. This should have Allen licking his chops. I would not be shocked if LSU ruined Clemson's night, but the ACC Tigers are the slightly better team heading into the season in my eyes.
Nussmeier may be the favorite to win the Heisman, but he could be out of the race after one week.