Clemson took a 10-3 lead into halftime of Saturday night’s highly anticipated matchup against LSU at Death Valley.

Unfortunately for No. 4 Clemson, a slew of second-half mistakes and miscues doomed the ACC’s Tigers in their eventual 17-10 loss to the SEC’s ninth-ranked Bayou Bengals.

First, on the opening possession of the second half, Clemson had a chance to take a two-score lead. But kicker Nolan Hauser missed a 48-yard field goal attempt, and LSU scored the tying touchdown on its ensuing possession – a 2-yard touchdown run by Caden Durham that made the score 10-10 with around nine minutes left in the third quarter.

Then, two plays from scrimmage later, Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik was intercepted by LSU’s Mansoor Delane at the LSU 46-yard line. LSU ended up missing a field goal attempt of its own on the next possession, but Clemson failed to take advantage, quickly going three-and-out.

LSU took over and marched down the field, ultimately taking a 17-10 lead on an 8-yard pass from quarterback Garrett Nussmeier to tight end Trey’Dez Green early in the fourth quarter. That came after two big penalties against Clemson late in the third quarter – a pass interference penalty on cornerback Ashton Hampton, and a roughing the passer penalty on defensive end T.J. Parker.

Even after all of that, Clemson had a number of opportunities to tie the game with a touchdown.

But down 17-10, on fourth-and-5 from the LSU 33-yard line, Clemson turned the ball over on downs with around nine minutes left in the game after an incomplete pass from Klubnik intended for wide receiver T.J. Moore.

Clemson’s defense continued to keep the team in the game, giving the offense the ball back on multiple occasions, still down by just seven.

With 1:46 left, Clemson got the ball back again and had one last shot to tie the game. The Tigers moved the ball from their own 43-yard line to the LSU 15, but with just over a minute left, LSU stopped Clemson on fourth down to preserve the 17-10 victory.

Clemson struggled to muster up much of anything on offense in the second half – its second half possessions resulted in a missed field goal, an interception, two turnovers on downs, and two punts.

In the end, LSU escaped Clemson’s Death Valley with its first season opening win since 2019. Clemson has now lost three season openers in a row and four of its last five season openers.

Clemson will return to Memorial Stadium next Saturday to host Troy (3:30 p.m., ACC Network).