The Clemson football team will take on LSU Monday night in the National Championship, but the SEC Tigers think it’s already won.
Not only are LSU fans completely sold on the belief that their team will beat Clemson Monday night in New Orleans, it seems that the players have gotten a dose of that arrogance, as well.
During the National Championship media day Saturday, LSU TE Thaddeus Moss was asked about the pedigree of Clemson’s defense and what he saw on film. His response came as a little bit of a shock.
Thaddeus Moss coming in hot today. On on what makes Clemson good on D: “They play hard, I guess. They don’t have anybody on film that really stands out. Maybe 1 player, *maybe* 2 players that catch your eye.”
— Anna Adams (@AnnaH247) January 11, 2020
In addition to his comments, Moss took to Twitter to double-down on what he said at media days.
https://twitter.com/allclemsoncfb/status/1216049789261033472?s=20
He later deleted that tweet and said the words were taken out of context. That being said, Moss was still confident in his statement and believes that the LSU offense has prepared for every situation and are fully prepared for the Clemson defense.
I'm not. But also look at the question and look at the whole answer. If people really looking for bulletin board material all you gotta do is clip out part of answers to questions
— Thaddeus Moss (@Thaddeusmoss) January 11, 2020
Thoughts:
There’s a difference between confidence and arrogance, and it really seems LSU is toeing that line.
Do you think Moss would’ve offered the same kind of candid review- even if he truly believed it- if the Tigers were playing Alabama, Georgia, Auburn or even Ohio State? No.
It’s a lack of respect and a false sense of security.
When you look at film of the Clemson defense, it’s clear to see that there is plenty of NFL talent across the field, especially one guy named Isaiah Simmons who is going to be a top-10 pick in this coming year’s NFL Draft.
The main takeaway from these comments, in my opinion, is the lack-of-championship-pedigree that LSU has coming in.
There’s a reason we don’t hear Clemson players make comments like that to the media. It’s because the Tigers respect their opponents and want their talking to be done on the field. They aren’t going to make an semblance of a comment that could misconstrued coming into a match-up.
LSU, on the other hand, is showing a bit of arrogance coming in. The Tigers don’t believe they’re beatable and all I can say about that is you better come ready to play. You better back up your belief and you better hope you’re right.
Clemson isn’t going to lay down and Brent Venables certainly isn’t going to let anybody run roughshod over his unit. LSU will score some points, no doubt, but the closer we get to this game, the more I’m thinking championship pedigree and experience is going to come into play and that, without a doubt, favors Clemson.