Clemson plans to settle 'Death Valley' tiff vs. LSU

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- LSU and Clemson some play successful stadiums nicknamed "Death Valley," truthful people a back-and-forth has ensued implicit the sanction arsenic they hole to unfastened the play astatine Clemson successful South Carolina.

Earlier this week, LSU manager Brian Kelly referred to Clemson arsenic "Death Valley Junior" during remarks astatine an lawsuit successful Baton Rouge, La.

"You privation large habits erstwhile they're needed, erstwhile you're connected the roadworthy and you're playing successful Death Valley Jr., not the Death Valley ... that's what you need. You request those traits connected a time to time basis," Kelly said.

Clemson players were asked to respond during their crook astatine ACC Kickoff connected Thursday.

"They tin person their opinion. We're gonna grip each that connected August 30," Clemson antiaircraft extremity T.J. Parker said.

During a abstracted interrogation with ESPN, Clemson manager Dabo Swinney was asked whether the crippled betwixt the schools successful Clemson would amusement wherever the existent Death Valley is.

"We don't person to beryllium that," Swinney said. "That's a fact. You tin Google that."

Kelly has made it a constituent to nonstop each his player's absorption this offseason connected the play opener, considering the deficiency of occurrence LSU has had successful Week 1. LSU has not won a play opener since 2019, and mislaid each 3 nether Kelly.

Clemson, meanwhile, has not hosted a play opener since 2019 and has mislaid 3 of its past 4 openers.

"It's an awesome accidental for us. It's a immense matchup," Swinney said. "You've got to play 4 quarters successful games similar this, and we didn't bash that past twelvemonth successful our opener. You bash a amended occupation with that, past we'll person a bully accidental to win."

Clemson returns a seasoned squad this season, starting with backmost Cade Klubnik, his apical receivers and 1 of the champion violative lines successful the ACC. Swinney said this squad has "the tangibles and the intangibles that my champion teams person had," and needed the playoff quality past play to amusement them what it took to marque it into the postseason.

But that playoff quality has besides spurred an accrued consciousness of urgency to triumph a nationalist rubric for the archetypal clip since 2018.

"You look astatine everything we've been through," receiver Antonio Williams said. "We've got truthful galore radical that returned for 1 reason. We each stock the aforesaid goal. We're each focused connected the aforesaid thing. To me, this is each oregon thing this year."