The college football season opens with a few huge matchups, including No. 4 Clemson hosting No. 9 LSU on Saturday night.
This battle of the Tigers is big for both teams, as each has College Football Playoff hopes in 2025. For LSU specifically, though, the game is an opportunity to start fast for the first time in a long time.
Brian Kelly is entering his fourth season as LSU's head coach, but he has been unable to stop the Tigers' slow-starting problems. In fact, LSU has a surprisingly long active Week 1 losing streak for a team that is considered one of the powerhouses in college football.
As LSU looks to start the season with a win, here's a look back at the Tigers' struggles in season-opening games recently.
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What is Brian Kelly's record in season openers as LSU's head coach?
Brian Kelly is 0-3 in season openers as LSU's head coach.
The former Notre Dame head coach has not been shy to schedule tough matchups to begin the season, but he has yet to get off to a good start. LSU has started 0-1 in each season under Kelly, getting off to bad starts despite wanting to compete for SEC dominance.
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When was the last time LSU won it's season opener?
LSU hasn't won a season-opening game since 2019, when the Tigers defeated Georgia Southern 55-3 en route to a 15-0 season and national championship. That year, Joe Burrow broke out for LSU and led the Tigers to their best season ever, winning 15 games for the first time and going undefeated for the fourth time and first since 1958.
In four of LSU's opening-week losses, the Tigers were ranked in the AP preseason top 25, which included two top-10 rankings.
Inside LSU Week 1 losing streak
LSU enters this season on a five-game losing streak to open the season:
| Year | Week 1 opponent | Week 1 location | Week 1 result | AP Preseason rank | Season record |
| 2020 | vs. Mississippi State | Baton Rouge, LA | L, 44-34 | No. 6 | 5-5 |
| 2021 | @ UCLA | Pasadena, CA | L, 38-27 | No. 16 | 6-7 |
| 2022 | vs. Florida State | New Orleans, LA | L, 24-23 | N/A | 10-4 |
| 2023 | vs. Florida State | Orlando, FL | L, 45-23 | No. 5 | 10-3 |
| 2024 | vs. USC | Las Vegas, NV | L, 27-20 | No. 13 | 9-4 |
LSU's losing streak began in 2020, when the Tigers lost to Mississippi State as the defending national champions. That year, the Tigers played just SEC teams in a COVID-altered season, as they hosted the Bulldogs to open the season and lost in a shoot-out.
The following season, LSU traveled across the country to Pasadena to play a true road game against UCLA in Week 1. In what ended up being Ed Orgeron's final season opener with LSU, the Tigers' defense struggled against a Bruins team that had one of the better offenses in the country that season.
In 2022, LSU hired Brian Kelly away from Notre Dame in a major coaching shakeup. LSU hosted Florida State in the Superdome while debuting new quarterback Jayden Daniels. The Tigers were down 14 points in the fourth quarter, and while they came back to score two touchdowns, LSU lost on a PAT block to end the game.
The following season, No. 5 LSU sought revenge on No. 8 Florida State in the second of a home-and-home series against the Seminoles in Orlando. However, Florida State dominated the game, scoring 45 points, but it turned out to be one of just three LSU losses during the season. The 2023 year ended up as LSU's best team in the 2020s.
Finally, the Tigers once again traveled west to open the season in 2024, this time to Las Vegas to play USC. A close game throughout, the Trojans scored a late fourth-quarter touchdown to upset the Tigers, stretching LSU's Week 1 losing streak to five games.
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