The ESPN “College GameDay” crew expects Lane Kiffin’s tenure at LSU to kick off Saturday not only successfully, but emphatically.
As the season-opening broadcast from Baton Rouge crescendoed shortly after 11 a.m., hosts Desmond Howard, Nick Saban and Pat McAfee and celebrity guest-picker Lainey Wilson all predicted the home Tigers to beat their visiting Clemson counterparts — and to do so handily.
“With all the controversy surrounding Lane Kiffin and LSU and the team, one thing that gets lost in this is that Lane Kiffin can coach his ass off, bro,” Howard began. “He came on the field, did an interview and he looked like he was confident. I asked him about his team, where are they mentally right now. He said they’re in a good space. There’s no way you’re gonna come in here with an inexperienced quarterback and go up against this defense that a scout told me has at least four first-rounders that Blake Baker has.
“I think that Clemson loses this game BIG to LSU tonight. Geaux Tigers.”
Saban said he expects Clemson to be a “much-improved team this year” that coach Dabo Swinney will have rebound from a disappointing season a year ago.
But just as fans surrounding the show set in LSU’s Quad began to groan in disapproval, Saban shared his forecast for the game and swiftly won back over a wave of cheers.
“But to me, LSU has too much firepower,” the former LSU and Alabama coach said. “They’ve got a good defensive team. Sam Leavitt‘s a good quarterback. Trey’Dez Green is a mismatch guy. If they can run the ball and create balance on offense, they’re gonna be one of the best teams in the country, so I’m taking LSU.”
Wilson, the country singer from Baskin decked out in purple and gold, joked that no one may know who’s going to be on the field come game time, but that she had no doubt which Tigers would be victorious as she continued to share her confidence in her home-state team as the eventual SEC and national champion.
And after she and McAfee led the fans into infamous “STTDB” chant, he toyed
“Everybody seemingly thinks that Lane Kiffin and his powerful roster are just gonna demolish the Clemson Tigers coming in here,” McAfee said. “Dabo Swinney has won a national champions before, I’ll have you know. Has Lane Kiffin done that as a head coach? No. No, he has not. Did Dabo Swinney find his team unranked for the first time in, like, forever this year? Did he use the transfer portal more than he ever has in the past? Did a name a veteran quarterback to be his starter? Does he have two weapons on the outside? Does the defense have a chance?
“I think NO! Give me LSU. Lane Kiffin with Sam Leavitt and Trey’Dez Green — Trey’Dez Green, 6-foot-7, 243. This guy’s unbelievable. I think he goes crazy. I think the defense goes crazy. And I think these fans, who have been drunk since 3 a.m. this morning, who have fought through a lightning storm to be out here and celebrate, I think they’re all gonna be in unison.”
