The Clemson Tigers have been hit with some brutal injury news following their Week 1 loss to LSU.
If it wasn't bad enough that the Clemson Tigers lost by 41 points at LSU to open their 2026 regular season, they also suffered some brutal injury news in the process.
Defensive tackle Markus Strong, who transferred over from Oklahoma and was expected to represent a significant part of Clemson's interior this season, sustained a lower-leg injury against LSU, and head coach Dabo Swinney has revealed a crushing update on the senior.
“Strong is gonna probably be done for the year unfortunately,” Swinney said. “He was our one big injury.”
Considering that the Tigers were already thin at defensive tackle to begin with, this is awful news for the squad.
Strong did not produce much at Oklahoma, finishing with 14 tackles and three sacks throughout his three-year tenure with the Sooners. However, Clemson liked his potential heading into 2026.
Unfortunately, it doesn't appear that we will get to see Strong realize it.
The Tigers lost Peter Woods and DeMonte Capehart to the NFL Draft and also watched as Stephiylan Green transferred to LSU.
Clemson went out and bagged both Strong and Andy Burburija in the transfer portal and had former five-star recruit Amare Adams returning for his sophomore season. There was also hope that Vic Burley would contribute.
But the Tigers ended up suspending Burley indefinitely after a recent arrest, which thinned Clemson in the trenches even further. Then, Strong got injured.
Defensive tackle was a major strength for the Tigers last season, but now, it's arguably the team's biggest weakness as it prepares to face Georgia Southern in Week 2.
Of course, it's pretty clear that Clemson has many weaknesses that were exposed in its 51-10 loss in Baton Rouge this past Saturday.
The Tigers were completely outclassed in all phases of the game at LSU, and there really weren't any positives to take away from the loss, which marked Clemson's worst defeat of the Swinney era and its worst loss overall since 2002.
Now, Clemson must find a way to patch up its already shaky interior defense with what it has on its roster, which isn't much.
Transfer Devarrick Woods and redshirt sophomore Champ Thompson will likely have to play a larger role for the Tigers this coming Saturday and beyond.
