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In a relatively underwhelming slate of games for Week 1, Saturday night's showdown between the No. 11 LSU Tigers and Clemson was expected to make up for the overall lackluster day of games. To amp up the anticipation, the game was delayed over two hours thanks to lightning and storms in the area that pushed kickoff to 9:40 p.m. ET.
LSU entered as 10-point favorites but ended up winning by 41, winning by a final score of 51-10. If the final score wasn't indication enough, LSU completely dominated Clemson in virtually every statistical facet of this game.
Let's take a deeper look at the numbers to show just how dominant LSU was.
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Blowout of Clemson by the numbers
This game started out feeling like Dabo Swinney and Clemson could make things interesting. A throw behind his receiver from LSU quarterback Sam Leavitt gave Clemson an early interception. Clemson was able to capitalize and score a field goal to take a 3-0 lead.
But from there, LSU scored 51 points, and truly never let its foot off the gas.
8 — Number of LSU scoring drives and Clemson had first downs
Clemson had just eight first downs the entire night, with most of them coming late in the game. One of Clemson's first downs came on a penalty. Swinney's team finished with just four rushing first downs and three passing. Clemson's three longest plays of the night came on passing plays of 22 and 25 yards, as well as an 11-yard rushing play late in the fourth Clemson.
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1-for-13 — Clemson's third-down conversion rate against LSU defense
LSU, meanwhile, went 11-for-16. That's a 68.8% third-down conversion attempt rate, compared to Clemson's 7.7%.
644 — LSU total yards
LSU's offense, led by quarterback Sam Leavitt, put on a spectacular performance, as it finished with 51 total points and 644 yards of offense. Clemson, meanwhile, had 145 total yards of offense, and averaged just three yards per play vs. LSU's 6.9.
41 and 40 -- Clemson had more penalty yards (41) and rushing yards (40)
A look at where Clemson finished on the ground:
- 26 rushing attempts
- 40 net yards
- Two Clemson players finished with negative rushing yards in Bryant Westco Jr. and Tait Reynolds
- 1.5 average yards per rush
Most of that yardage was gained on Clemson's late-touchdown drive inside the game's last five minutes. With 10:41 left in the fourth quarter, Clemson had zero net rushing yards. By comparison, LSU finished with 309 yards on the ground.
1 — Number of red zone trips for Clemson
Clemson finally got on the board Of course, this should come as no surprise given how abysmal Clemson's offense was. But the longest drive for Swinney's offense went four plays for 29 yards in the first quarter, resulting in a punt. I mean just look at Clemson's drive chart alone:
83 — Clemson QB Chris Vizzina passing yard total
It wasn't the best debut for the new Clemson quarterback. On the night, he had 10 completions for just 83 yards.
346 — Total yards for LSU QB Sam Leavitt
Leavitt had the better debut compared to Vizzina. He finished with 230 yards passing with one touchdown. His lone interception early in the game wasn't great, but he made up for it.
Clemson's defense had no answers for Leavitt, and he finished as LSU's leading rusher, tied with running back Dilin Jones, who had 113 yards.
4 — Number of different LSU receivers that averaged 14 yards or better per catch
Leavitt had plenty of weapons to throw to, as Winston Watkins Jr. was his favorite target, getting seven receptions for 110 yards and a touchdown. He had several guys get big chunk plays, as well
- Winston Watkins (15.7 YPC)
- Trey'Dez Green (14.5 YPC)
- Phillip Wright III (23.3 YPC)
Clemson, meanwhile, didn't have a receiver eclipse more than 31 yards on the night.
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