The LSU Tigers trail the Clemson Tigers by a score of 10-3 at halftime of their massive showdown on Saturday night. The offense has been a cause of frustration so far, but the LSU defense has been solid.
Defense looks much-improved
LSU's new-look defense impressed early. The Tigers forced Clemson to a three-and-out on the opening drive, and then had to defend a short field following Bauer Sharp's fumble. But the defense stood tall, holding Clemson to a field goal. Clemson had just 36 total yards of offense in the first quarter.
Early on, Clemson QB Cade Klubnik didn't look all that comfortable and threw into double coverage on multiple occasions. He found his footing a bit in the second quarter, and even made some plays with his legs. Neutralizing his running ability in the second half will be key for LSU.
The Tiger defense will get a big boost in the second half with the return of safety AJ Haulcy. The Houston transfer was suspended for the first half of the game because of an incident in Houston's regular season finale last season.
Offense is out of sorts
The offensive side of the ball looked out of sorts in the first half. Miscommunication, pre-snap penalties, and needing to burn timeouts at the line of scrimmage led LSU to a slow start out of the gate. However, Clemson also struggled with getting organized at the line of scrimmage and burned multiple timeouts at the line of scrimmage as well. That is surprising to see given the fact that both teams are led by veteran quarterbacks.
LSU left some points on the board at the end of the second quarter by not electing to kick a short field goal that would've made it a 10-6 game.
Caden Durham stood out with six carries for 31 yards on the ground and two catches for 18 yards in the passing game. The offensive line gave him some decent running space and he took advantage. He also showed great toughness and durability breaking several tackles to extend runs.