Clemson is poised to bounce back this season and should give 11th-ranked LSU a fight tonight, Kirk Herbstreit says.

The ESPN analyst believes Clemson lost its way over the past few seasons, specifically pointing to a marriage with former offensive coordinator Garrett Riley that “just didn’t work out.”

However, Herbstreit thinks Clemson coach Dabo Swinney’s re-hiring of Chad Morris as offensive coordinator has the Tigers pointed back in the right direction.

Herbstreit was asked if he expects a bounce-back from Clemson in 2026 now that Morris is back calling the offense.

“I think so, and it’s just maybe the respect I have for Dabo Swinney,” Herbstreit said. “He’s made the changes. You made a good point about Chad Morris – I think that’s a massive hire. Of all the hires in the offseason from a coordinator standpoint, I’d put that one right near the top. Because I really think Clemson lost their way over the last few years with Garrett Riley. Brought in the air raid. It just wasn’t a fit, just didn’t work out over three years.”

Herbstreit added that coming off a 7–6 season in 2025, an angry and motivated Clemson squad is fully capable of giving LSU a fight in tonight’s Week 1 showdown at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, La.

“And here’s the situation – Clemson has an angry football team that’s coming off a 7-6 year, an angry head coach and a staff. What better way to try to show that you’re a different team than having an opportunity where nobody thinks you can go to Death Valley and win a football game,” Herbstreit said.

“This was a 17-10 game a year ago. A lot of new faces on both sides. But I expect Clemson to have a good year. I know that, in talking to Dabo this week, that they have a lot of confidence in the team that they’re going to be able to put out on the field.”

Herbstreit continued, noting that “the question and the mystery is the quarterback position” for Clemson.

While Swinney officially named senior Christopher Vizzina the Week 1 starter, Swinney made it clear that true freshman Tait Reynolds is “likely” to see snaps under center in Baton Rouge, though Swinney stopped short of guaranteeing that Reynolds will play against LSU.

“They’ve got a young man in Christopher Vizzina who comes in, who hasn’t played a lot of football,” Herbstreit said. “He had one start last year, coming in for Cade Klubnik against SMU. But for the most part, he’s been a backup. He’s paid his dues. He’s one of the few guys – think about this – he sat around at the same school for three years, waited for his opportunity to become the guy.

“Now he’s the guy, and now, don’t look now, he’s got Tait Reynolds over his shoulder. A highly touted true freshman out of Arizona, who he’s a dual-sport guy, baseball, football guy. And talking to Dabo and the Clemson people, this guy is a freak. So I don’t know if we’re going to see him sprinkled in or if it’s gonna be Vizzina’s role the entire night. I’m sure he would love to see that after all the time that he’s waited to have a chance to go out there and play.”

Clemson heads into the matchup against LSU (7:30 p.m., ABC) as a 10.5-point underdog, but Herbstreit doesn’t see the Bayou Bengals running away with the game.

“So I think it’s going to be game on,” he said. “I think it’s much closer than the experts think. I think it’s going to be a competitive game.”