College football’s jam-packed weekend will have an excellent nightcap when the No. 9-ranked LSU Tigers head north, taking on the No. 4-ranked Clemson Tigers in Death Valley at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.
LSU is a dark horse to win the SEC title this season. The Tigers have Heisman contender Garrett Nussmeier returning this season, and he’ll have plenty of weapons to choose from on this star-studded LSU offense.
Clemson looks like the teams the Tigers fielded nearly a decade ago. These ACC title contenders have a Heisman hopeful in the backfield in senior Cade Klubnik.
Which set of Tigers will win this top-10 showdown? We’ll cover that and provide you with the top three player prop bets for this primetime LSU-Clemson matchup.
Clemson coach Dabo Swinney has an old-school approach to building a college football team in the current landscape. These Tigers attempt to build up their current athletes, keeping them on the roster for several years to develop and mature.
There’s no better example of that than Klubnik. The two-year starter flourished at the end of the season, helping Clemson reach the initial 12-team playoff. While Clemson lost 38-24 to Texas, the 6-foot-2 senior finished with 336 yards passing and three touchdowns against the Longhorns.
Expect Klubnik to pick up where he left off last season. LSU’s defense has struggled against the pass during Brian Kelly’s tenure in Baton Rouge, and Clemson will take advantage of this weakness. Take Klubnik to cover this player prop bet.
There’s a guy at Texas that bettors might have heard of named Manning. Beyond him, no player in college football has better odds to win the Heisman than LSU’s Nussmeier. Last season, he finished with 4,052 passing yards, 29 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions in his first year as a starter.
Can he replicate those stats while leading the Tigers to the college football playoffs? There’s reason to believe he will. Bettors should expect Nussmeier to get in plenty of opportunities against the Clemson defense to throw the ball, and he’ll barely squeak out the yardage needed to cover this player prop wager.
LSU could contend for the title of “Wide Receiver U” after this season. Their best is the talented junior Aaron Anderson. Last year, he finished with 61 receptions for 884 yards and five touchdowns for the Tigers.
This year, Nussmeier will look to Anderson early and often. Their chemistry from last season will help both players pursue end-of-the-year awards. Bettors should take Anderson to cover this player prop bet on Saturday against Clemson as both he and his quarterback get off to fast starts.
This is a two-for-one special on the best bet. Much of the talk entering this game has been on how powerful these two offenses will be this season. But little discussion has focused on how stout Clemson’s defense should be in 2025.
Expect this to be a not-so-close matchup where Clemson dominates from start to finish. Take that version of the Tigers to hold LSU to less than 20 points on the evening, covering both their spread and keeping the final score of Saturday’s game under 57.5 points.