Underdog Clemson can play the disrespect card one final time
Clemson has felt disrespected for much of the season, believing it doesn’t get the credit it deserves for being the top-ranked and only remaining unbeaten team.
The Tigers can play the disrespect card one final time this year as Clemson is a 6 1/2-point underdog to Alabama in the national championship game.
Despite beating Oklahoma 40-6 without Deshaun Watson to close out the 2014 season, Clemson was also an underdog to Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl before trouncing the Sooners 37-17. Most national pundits picked Oklahoma to beat Clemson, and that, along with being a 4-point underdog, motivated the Tigers, according to coach Dabo Swinney.
“It’s amazing to me that, you know, I told them, you ain’t favored to win the (dang) game, but we ain’t no underdog,” Swinney said after his team defeated the Sooners. “Everybody out there, nobody believes in this team except these guys, and they just got a great heart, and it showed tonight.”
Swinney is not surprised his team has reached this point and will play for its first national title since the 1981 season Jan. 11 in Glendale, Ariz. He felt before the year that Clemson had as good a shot as anybody to reach the title game.
“As coaches, we were very confident that we had a chance to have a really good football team,” he said. “I felt like we were one of the 10 or 12 teams that had a chance to be here, and you’ve got to get a little lucky along the way.”
While Clemson did lose star wide receiver Mike Williams to a neck injury in the first game of the year, the Tigers haven’t had any other long-term injuries to key players.
“We’ve been able to stay relatively healthy, and that’s always a key part of a season like this,” Swinney said. “So it’s been a lot of fun to be a part of it, and again, the staff and these players deserve the credit.”
Clemson set five goals before the year started – win the opener, beat South Carolina, win the division, win the ACC and win the bowl game. The Tigers believed that if they could achieve all five goals, they could have a special year. It can become a lot more special with one more win.
“Day one, Aug. 3, when we started the season, I gave them shirts that said, ‘Dream the dream,’” Swinney said. “I said ‘15 for 15,’ with the message being let’s make them print 15 tickets this year, somehow, some way… My gosh, they got to print a 15th ticket to see the Tigers now.”
National Championship
Who: Clemson (14-0) vs.
Alabama (13-1)
When: Jan. 11, 8:30 p.m.
Where: Glendale, Ariz.
TV: ESPN
Line: Alabama by 6 1/2
Of note: Clemson is the 6th team to start 14-0 since major classifications began in 1937. No team has been 15-0 since Penn in 1897.
Best matchups
Alabama RB Derrick Henry vs. Clemson LB Ben Boulware
Henry, the Heisman winner, is tough to handle at 6-3, 240 pounds. Boulware, an All-ACC selection, had a key interception late in the Orange Bowl against Oklahoma.
Dabo Swinney vs. Nick Saban
Saban is going for his fifth national title, while Swinney, who won a national title at Alabama as a player in 1992, is moving up the charts as one of the game’s best coaches.
This story was originally published January 2, 2016 at 10:24 PM with the headline "Underdog Clemson can play the disrespect card one final time."