CLEMSON — Clemson is not going to like this, but the truth hurts.
Clemson is not the real Death Valley, at least not right now it isn’t.
The moniker, which Clemson has owned since the mid-1940’s, officially belongs to LSU after the Bayou Tigers came into Clemson’s Death Valley Saturday night and beat up Cade Klubnik and the Clemson offense.
It was a pitiful display of offense by the guys in orange, as LSU’s defense dominated them from the start. Clemson managed just 261 total yards all night and 4.5 yards per play.
The ACC’s Tigers ran for 31 yards on 20 carries – the worst rushing performance by a Clemson team at Memorial Stadium in 18 years – and that is what sucks the most for Clemson in the defeat. They got their butts whopped by LSU.
It came to the very same school that stole your nickname and made it theirs. This was Clemson’s chance to show the college football world who was the real Death Valley.
Instead, they allowed those thieves from Baton Rouge, La., to take it completely away from them. And because of this, the college football world will continue to make fun of Clemson.
Former LSU players, who are sprinkled throughout ESPN, will continue to mock Clemson, and they have every right to do it. They came into Clemson’s Death Valley and they physically spanked the Clemson Tigers, at least when Clemson had the ball they did.
It kind of makes me mad because for years I have flown the flag for Clemson as the real Death Valley. I have written stories, columns and have even defended Clemson on my podcast, as well as other podcasts and other radio shows.
Clemson let me down, and it let its fans down.
We all know the history. We all know the story.
We all know Clemson called Memorial Stadium “Death Valley” long before LSU tried to correct the Cajuns.
But this past Saturday night, Clemson had an opportunity to reclaim the moniker. They had a chance for the first time in a long while to take back what rightfully belongs to them.
They had a sellout crowd – 81,500 officially. The place was orange wall-to-wall, as LSU only had its allotted 5,000 fans in the stands and nothing more.
The place was loud, at times deafening. So much so, LSU was called for several procedure penalties and burned two timeouts in the first quarter due to communication issues that proved to be costly later in the half.
Clemson fans brought it. They represented Clemson very well and did all they could to hold on to their Death Valley nickname.
It’s too bad their Tigers did not.
Instead, they had to watch, as LSU fans, and the team’s mascot, danced all over the Clemson Tiger Paw at middle field after the game.
As LSU and its fans marched out of Memorial Stadium on Saturday night, they claimed what is now rightfully theirs. They own the Real Death Valley, because they came in and took it from Clemson and they did it emphatically.
