CLEMSON — Since he has been the head coach at Clemson, Dabo Swinney has opened a college football season against the likes of Auburn, Georgia and LSU.

He has played one of those three SEC opponents seven times in openers in his now 17 seasons as the Tigers’ head coach.

Swinney’s record in those seven games is 3-4, including last Saturday’s 17-10 loss to now No. 3 LSU. The Tigers, who dropped to No. 8 in the latest Associated Press Poll, have lost its last four openers against SEC foes – three to Georgia and one to LSU.

Besides just playing SEC competition, Clemson has also opened a season against ACC rivals Duke, Georgia Tech and Wake Forest in recent years, with all three coming on the road since 2020.

While some teams like to open a new season playing a directional school from a Group of 5 Conference or an FCS team, Swinney prefers to open a new year against good teams, even if it leads to a loss.

“I love it,” he said. “Like I said, I know more about my team right now because now I have confirmation,” he said. “I don’t have any doubt. I have confirmation. I know what I am looking at… This is what I do for a living.”

However, the Tigers have lost three straight season openers and four of their last five. Regardless, Swinney prefers to play the kind of game the Tigers played on Saturday than winning a game 50-3 or something like that against a lesser opponent.

“I have confirmation on what this football team is going to be,” Swinney said.

What are the Tigers going to be?

Swinney said he was proud of his defense because they played physical and played tough. He particularly liked how the defensive line and the linebackers played.

He said they now know the things they must work on, like cleaning up penalties and understanding why they did not execute better in certain situations in the red zone on both sides of the ball.

“It is disappointing because sometimes you can try to do too much, and it is an opener, especially if you are not playing well or whatever, but there is just more confirmation than doubt,” Swinney said.

Swinney will get to evaluate next year’s team against LSU, as well, as Clemson returns the favor and visits Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, La., to kick off the 2026 season.

The Tigers will try to correct the mistakes they made against LSU in Game 2 when they host Troy at Memorial Stadium on Saturday. The game is set to kick off at 3:30 p.m.