Lightning Delays LSU-Clemson to Record-Late 8:40 Kickoff

Lightning in Baton Rouge pushed LSU's season opener against Clemson to an 8:40 p.m. kickoff, believed to be the latest in Tigers football history.

LSU announced Saturday that its season opener against Clemson would not kick off until 8:40 p.m., after lightning struck near Tiger Stadium around 5 p.m. — minutes before the Tigers were set to take the field for the first time in 2026. Officials reset the stadium's Countdown to Kickoff clock back 90 minutes as rain fell and menacing clouds moved overhead. Kickoff was originally set for 6:49 p.m. on ABC.

The delay also directly affected the broadcast: the opener was originally scheduled for 6:49 p.m. on ABC, so the move pushed Lane Kiffin's highly anticipated debut deep into Saturday night. Fans inside the stadium faced a roughly three-and-a-half-hour wait from the original kickoff slot.

While Tiger Stadium emptied out during the delay, the student section largely held its ground. According to The Shreveport-Bossier City Advocate, students waved towels in the air and sang along to rain-themed songs LSU played over the loudspeakers. By 7 p.m., players and staff from both teams began trickling back onto the field for warm-ups, with the sky clear but light rain still falling. LSU's 90-minute warm-up window began at 7:10 p.m., with kickoff conditioned on no new lightning strike.

The delayed game doubles as the start of the Lane Kiffin era at LSU and Dabo Swinney's 19th season at Clemson, with Swinney hoping to improve on last year's 7-6 mark. 1-ranked passer in the portal — was set to debut behind an offensive line anchored by five-star tackle Jordan Seaton. Clemson counters with first-time starter:quarterback Vizzina, who has one career start.

With the 90-minute warm-up window opening at 7:10 p.m., the 8:40 p.m. kickoff depended on no additional lightning being detected. The storm's arrival hours before a marquee ABC window game meant both Kiffin's LSU debut and Clemson's road opener shifted into prime time, and both teams' pregame routines were compressed by the reset clock. The Advocate noted the story would be updated as conditions and the new timeline developed in Baton Rouge.