Clemson football’s 51-10 loss at LSU has brought plenty of criticism Dabo Swinney’s way, but FOX Sports analyst Joel Klatt offered one of the strongest assessments yet.
Klatt came away from Saturday night believing the two programs provided a clear contrast in how they are approaching modern college football. LSU has aggressively attacked the transfer portal and other changing areas of the sport under Lane Kiffin, while Clemson continues to take a much more selective approach.
“This was the clearest picture of a team and a coach that fully embraces the ever-evolving nature of college football, and not only embraces it, but is actively pushing hard against the boundaries in every direction. And that’s LSU,” Klatt said this week. “And then you have
a program that is actively pushing to not anywhere near the boundaries. Now, yes, Clemson brought in some transfers, and they’re slowly trying to evolve with the times, but you can see that Clemson, I hate to say this, but they look almost like a dead program on Saturday night. And that’s tough to say, because Dabo Swinney built a juggernaut at Clemson, but that was not – that was not a team that was close to competing at the top-end of college football. Not even close…”
Klatt did not believe Clemson’s entire performance was as hopeless as the final score suggested. He thought the defense showed some encouraging signs early before the game completely got away from the Tigers.
“Now a lot of people are going to write off Clemson, and I know I just did to a certain extent,” Klatt said. “It wasn’t quite as bad defensively in the first half as you would imagine from Clemson. They were hanging in there, at times. Obviously the pick-six killed them…Their defense was taking some stuff away from LSU. They were playing fast. They were playing physical.”
For Klatt, the biggest difference was quarterback play.
LSU had experienced Arizona State transfer Sam Leavitt, while Clemson turned to Christopher Vizzina for just the second start of his college career.
Dabo Swinney opens up about Clemson’s current quarterback situation
— Clemson Wire (@Clemson_Wire) September 8, 2026
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“The thing that separated these teams, and the thing that separated LSU in the first half was Sam Leavitt,” Klatt said. “And it wasn’t his ability to throw the ball, although he did make a couple of really nice throws in the first half. It was his ability to run. Sam Leavitt’s legs were the difference in this game early…Clemson didn’t have that. They had an inexperienced guy that goes out there – Christopher Vizzina goes out there, and he’s a deer in headlights. He doesn’t have the experience. He’s facing a talented roster on the road, and that doesn’t work in college football…
“The most important thing you can have is a quarterback, but you’ve got to have an experienced quarterback, because at least he’s seen it. He’s felt it. He understands what different coverages look like. He understands what a simulated pressure looks like. He understands when a safety adjusts post-snap, and he can read that and process that information, because he’s done it before. And then the really good ones can evaluate when you as a defense are doing something well and taking away their primary or their intended target and they can elevate their team above that…Leavitt was the great equalizer.”
Clemson now has to prove Klatt’s assessment was an overreaction to one disastrous night. But after a 41-point loss in which the Tigers never looked capable of matching LSU for long, questions about the direction of Swinney’s program are only getting louder.
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This article originally appeared on Clemson Wire: Joel Klatt on if Clemson is a ‘dead’ college football program in 2026
