Colin Cowherd said Monday that Louisiana State and new coach Lane Kiffin were made for each other after the Tigers opened the season with a 51-10 demolition of Clemson.
“LSU cares about one things: winning football games… Lane Kiffin is a mercenary but so is LSU. They are perfect for each other,” Cowherd said on “The Herd,” reacting to the blowout in Baton Rouge.
The comments captured a week of noise that finally gave way to a lopsided result. No. 11 LSU piled up 644 yards to Clemson’s 145, recorded a school-record 38 first downs to eight, and rushed for 309 yards while holding the visitors to 40.
Quarterback Sam Leavitt, a transfer from Arizona State, passed for 230 yards and a touchdown and ran for 113 yards and two scores. Dilin Jones, a Wisconsin transfer, also rushed for 113 yards and two touchdowns. Edge rusher Jordan Ross returned an interception 30 yards for a score as LSU built a 31-3 halftime lead.
The victory was the most lopsided of Dabo Swinney’s tenure at Clemson and the Tigers’ worst loss since 2000. A sellout crowd of 102,321 waited through a roughly two-hour lightning delay before kickoff, which was pushed to 8:40 p.m. local time.
Kiffin later said he declined an offer to shorten the warmup period after the storms passed. He wanted Clemson to sit longer in the visiting locker room.
The debut completed a turbulent year for both coach and program. LSU fired Brian Kelly last fall and paid a massive buyout, then lured Kiffin from playoff-bound Ole Miss on a seven-year contract worth about $91 million. Critics called the move ruthless. Cowherd, who had previously questioned whether Kiffin should take the job, now framed the pairing as a match of similar appetites.
Controversy followed Kiffin to Baton Rouge. LSU pursued players who had signed NFL contracts and later sought to return to college after court rulings on eligibility. The Southeastern Conference objected. LSU ultimately did not roster those players for the opener.
Kiffin still could not resist a jab. Leading 31-3 at halftime, he told ESPN’s Holly Rowe, “Imagine if we had pro players.”
Asked about the line afterward, Kiffin said, “What’s the difference? Everybody hates you. They can’t hate you that much more. So there you go. You got another line.”
Cowherd’s mercenary label fit a program that has spent heavily on coaches, roster construction and facilities even as it cycled through recent regimes. LSU has shown it will pay buyouts, chase portal talent and test rules if it believes winning is at stake. Kiffin has changed jobs whenever a bigger stage appeared, from Tennessee and USC to Florida Atlantic, Ole Miss and now LSU.
The on-field product Saturday suggested the marriage can work in the short term. LSU’s defense limited Clemson to 3.0 yards per play and one first down in the first half. The offense never eased off after the early weather interruption.
Clemson looked a long way from its championship peak. New starting quarterback Christopher Vizzina was pulled in the first half. The Tigers managed only a first-quarter field goal before a late consolation touchdown against LSU reserves.
LSU next hosts another home game this Saturday. The Tigers will try to prove the Clemson result was a statement rather than a one-night explosion against a fading opponent.
Cowherd’s point was simpler. In a sport defined by portals, revenue sharing, coaching raids and legal fights over who can play, LSU and Kiffin are not pretending to be anything else. They want wins. They will spend and scheme to get them.
Whether that approach produces a championship remains unanswered after one Saturday night. The first answer, delivered after a weather delay and a 41-point margin, was loud enough for Cowherd to call the pairing perfect.
