I won’t personally be there, but over 102,000 other voices will be.

And I speak for many around the state of Louisiana: Make it loud again.

Not 2022 against Bama loud.

We’re talking 1988 against Auburn loud. 2003 Georgia loud. 2007 Florida. 2007 Virginia Tech.

Shake the earth loud.

And don’t leave at halftime loud.

Before the developments of this week, I expected Tiger Stadium to be electric at kickoff, sure, with the crowd’s staying power dependent upon how LSU played and what the score would be at halftime. This offseason and the villain persona created by others across the nation about the program has been enough to believe at least that much. That’s ordinarily how these games work anyway, with the traffic around campus and all. Death Valley remains a killer as long as there is still hope and intrigue on the field.

But that changed this week. This won’t be an ordinary night tomorrow. And let’s just hope the weather doesn’t do anything to douse the fire awaiting the boys from Clemson.

Regardless of the weather, though, the anger will be there. And it won’t be aimed at disgruntled Ole Miss fans or bought-and-paid-for talking heads opining on the miscellaneous treacheries of Lane Kiffin and the athletic program since last December. It’ll be directed toward the SEC, the NCAA, the national media, and an entire college-football clown-world that spent the week acting as though its hands were clean in all of this and Baton Rouge and Louisiana as a whole were the capital of college athletics corruption.

As though The Waterboy was a documentary, I saw in one post.

Clemson didn’t create a stadium full of fed-up fans salivating to take out their anger on someone or something, but Clemson will have to play inside it.

Questions and Answers

Saturday won’t provide all the answers about Kiffin just yet, and the same pause can be applied to even the best of his new players. So one thing LSU fans should not do is take out their frustrations with friendly fire if things happen to go a little sideways early.

But Saturday night in Tiger Stadium should answer at least three immediate questions, if not four. And yes, so much of it will involve the expected comparison to the last few years under the prior regime.

Can LSU avoid the self-inflicted mistakes enough to allow Kiffin’s playbook to shine? Dropped passes can do that.

Can the repackaged line protect Sam Leavitt without making his legs the default play? Leavitt’s return from injury and the line’s first-game jitters can create many a holding or false-start call, not to mention the eagle eyes of officials undoubtedly arriving with their instructions from the NCAA.

And can Baker’s defense turn pressure and disruption into third and fourth down stops? We all know about 3rd and Chavis and the jokes about 3rd and Baker.

These are not questions we alone have. Everyone has them.

While we don’t expect a perfect night, and while we absolutely do not expect a fair shake when it comes to officiating, we do expect LSU to answer yes often enough to those three questions. Leavitt has more meaningful experience than Clemson’s quarterbacks, Baker’s scheme and LSU’s talent give the Tigers a clear advantage on that side of the ball, and Tiger Stadium provides a friendly setting for Kiffin and the offense’s first test.

Still, with their own chips on their shoulders, don’t forget, Clemson will make it uncomfortable. LSU drives will be stopped, the Clemson offense will make enough plays to prevent the game from getting out of hand early, and at least one of Kiffin’s new toys will look as new as it really is.

Still, there is the fourth question to consider here, and that one I hope is a resounding yes as well.

Will Death Valley be Death Valley again?

The Tigers from out east will be a good team this year, and they’ll be good tomorrow night, but my guess is that they are simply the visitors on the wrong Saturday.

LSU has more than just a football roster taking the field tomorrow night.

It has an entire state.

Final Words

Prediction: LSU 30, Clemson 22. A close game early with the Tigers pulling away to secure victory, before Clemson adds a late score to cover the spread.

I’ve never been good at predicting scores, but we’ll see how this one goes. One thing I will predict with 100% assurance…

When those orange hats take the field Saturday night, they’ll find an angry Death Valley salivating.

Thank you for reading The Hayride!