BOX SCORE | GAME NOTES
BATON ROUGE, La. — After a two-hour pregame lightning delay, Clemson fell to No. 11/13 LSU, 51-10, on Saturday night in Baton Rouge.
Junior running back David Eziomume scored his first career touchdown and junior cornerback Ashton Hampton registered his fourth career interception. Safeties Jerome Carter III and Corey Myrick paced Clemson in tackles with 11 and 10, respectively.
After Clemson won the coin toss and deferred, Hampton intercepted Sam Leavitt on the contest’s second play from scrimmage, giving Clemson possession at the LSU 33-yard line. Junior placekicker Nolan Hauser put Clemson in front, 3-0, with a 49-yard field goal with 13:28 remaining in the opening stanza.
LSU began the ensuing possession from its own 10-yard line and finished a 10-play, 59-yard drive with an equalizing 49-yard field goal by Scott Starzyk with 10:16 remaining in the first quarter. On its next drive, LSU capped an 11-play, 89-yard march with a one-yard rushing touchdown by Dilin Jones, giving LSU a 10-3 lead with 3:36 remaining in the first quarter.
On the third play of Clemson’s ensuing drive, Jordan Ross intercepted Vizzina and returned it 30 yards for a touchdown, giving LSU a 17-3 lead with 2:03 remaining in the first quarter.
LSU extended its lead to 24-3 with 7:54 remaining in the first half on an eight-yard rushing touchdown by Leavitt. Leavitt added his second rushing touchdown of the game later in the quarter, a 13-yard scamper to give LSU a 31-3 lead.
Quarterback Tait Reynolds made his collegiate debut on Clemson’s final possession of the first half, completing a seven-yard pass to Tyler Brown on his first attempt.
LSU’s Winston Watkins Jr. and Jones added third-quarters scores to extend the LSU advantage to 44-3 entering the final frame.
Phillip Wright III scored in the fourth quarter, pushing LSU’s lead to 51-3. Clemson responded with an eight-play, 71-yard drive capped by Eziomume’s first career touchdown, an 11-yard score that brought the final score to 51-10.
Clemson will make its Memorial Stadium debut next Saturday when the Tigers host Georgia Southern on Sept. 12. Kickoff for that contest is slated for 7:30 p.m. ET. In addition to being Football Reunion Day and Hall of Fame Day, Clemson has designated the contest as its Stripe the Valley game, and fans are encouraged to click here to learn which color corresponds to their respective seats.