CLEMSON – Clemson’s longtime head coach Dabo Swinney, now in his 17th season at the Tigers’ helm, holds a winning record against every ACC team, every historic rival, and a 17-10 record against SEC teams.

Swinney also holds a 180-47 overall record, making him the winningest ACC coach of all time.

Still, Swinney and his Tigers are currently 3-7 in their last ten games against SEC schools. The three most recent losses came in the 2024 season with a season-opening loss to the University of Georgia, a last-minute loss to rival South Carolina, and an elimination loss to Texas in the College Football Playoff in December.

On Saturday, Clemson will have a chance to cut into the recent deficit with a season-opening game against SEC foe LSU. If the Tigers are to break the current three-game losing streak against SEC competition, there are some things Swinney insists his team must do better.

“I would say turnovers, not doing some of the little things,” the head coach said during his first weekly press conference of the season on Tuesday. “Not finishing in some opportunities, if you really break it down. There were probably some critical mistakes and critical errors in games like that, and it’s usually what it comes down to.”

The last time that Clemson matched up with LSU was in the 2019 National Championship game in New Orleans, where the Bayou Bengals ultimately claimed the prize in a 42-25 shootout to claim its first National Championship since 2007.

Swinney also believes that in some of the recent SEC losses, credit must be given to the other team.

“You’ve got to give credit to the opponent, good teams,” Swinney said. “I think Texas was pretty good, Georgia was pretty good. South Carolina finished as a ranked team last year.”

“You can pick and choose those stats however you want,” he added. “In totality, I think we’ve done pretty well. Look at our National Championships that we lost, got to give credit to the opponent, sometimes they’re just better than you, and sometimes you make some really critical errors that cost you.”

This season, Clemson will play South Carolina to bookend the season and try to reclaim bragging rights over the Gamecocks and the SEC, but for now, Swinney is focused on “winning the one.”

“A lot of coaches say that and don’t mean it,” he said. “But I do.”

Clemson and LSU will kick off at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Memorial Stadium.