Clemson planning to ‘handle’ Death Valley debate in opener vs. LSU

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — LSU and Clemson both play in stadiums nicknamed Death Valley, so naturally a back-and-forth has ensued over the name as they prepare to open the season at Clemson in South Carolina.

Earlier this week, LSU coach Brian Kelly referred to Clemson as “Death Valley Jr.” during remarks at an event in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

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“You want great habits when they’re needed, when you’re on the road and you’re playing in Death Valley Jr., not the Death Valley … that’s what you need. You need those traits on a day-to-day basis,” Kelly said.

Clemson players were asked to respond during their turn at the ACC Kickoff media event Thursday.

“They can have their opinion,” Clemson defensive end T.J. Parker said. “We’re going to handle all that on Aug. 30.”

During a separate interview with ESPN, Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said the debate over the moniker is settled. Clemson began using “Death Valley” in 1948. LSU started using it in 1959 — after a win vs. Clemson.

“We don’t have to prove that,” Swinney said. “That’s a fact. You can Google that.”

When asked about the issue last week, LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier responded, “I’m just no-commenting that. There’s no correct answer. It’s a headline either way.”

Kelly has made it a point to direct his players’ focus this offseason to the season opener, considering the lack of success LSU has had in Week 1 in recent years. LSU has not won an opener since 2019 and lost all three under Kelly.

Clemson, meanwhile, has not hosted a season opener since 2019 and has lost three of its past four openers.

“It’s an awesome opportunity for us. It’s a huge matchup,” Swinney said. “You’ve got to play four quarters in games like this, and we didn’t do that last year in our opener. You do a better job with that, then we’ll have a good opportunity to win.”

Clemson returns a veteran team this season, starting with quarterback Cade Klubnik, his top receivers and one of the best offensive lines in the ACC. Swinney said this team has “the intangibles that my best teams have had” and needed the playoff appearance last season to see what it took to make it into the postseason.

But that playoff appearance has also spurred an increased sense of urgency to win a national title for the first time since 2018.

“You look at everything we’ve been through,” receiver Antonio Williams said. “We’ve got so many people that returned for one reason. We all share the same goal. We’re all focused on the same thing. To me, this is all or nothing this year.”

ESPN’s David Hale contributed to this report.