WEBVTT - LSU! Clemson! National Championship Preview! 0:00:02.040 --> 0:00:04.720 Welcome to the Solid Verbal. 0:00:04.880 --> 0:00:05.600 I'll that for me. 0:00:06.680 --> 0:00:09.680 I'm a man, I'm forty. I've heard so many players say, well, 0:00:09.720 --> 0:00:11.640 I want to be happy. You want to be happy 0:00:11.680 --> 0:00:16.040 for day Edith State is that? Whoo whoom? And Dan 0:00:16.360 --> 0:00:21.520 and Tye welcome back to the Solid Verbal. Boys and girls, 0:00:21.680 --> 0:00:24.960 my name is ty Hildebrand, joining me as always over 0:00:24.960 --> 0:00:29.120 there and beautiful NYC my man. The one and only 0:00:29.920 --> 0:00:32.760 Lieutenant Dan Rubensteiny's back, sir, how are you? 0:00:33.360 --> 0:00:35.800 I'm good. This was sort of a surprise twos cruise. 0:00:35.840 --> 0:00:38.600 We didn't plan on doing this specific episode as a 0:00:38.640 --> 0:00:42.520 twos cruise, but I gotta tell you with I don't 0:00:42.520 --> 0:00:45.839 know what we're comparing it to the Queen Mary, the Titanic. 0:00:46.120 --> 0:00:49.480 Hopefully hopefully not the Titanic, hopefully. 0:00:49.200 --> 0:00:51.240 Not the tell Well, maybe somebody may be the Titanic 0:00:51.440 --> 0:00:54.520 in this game, but I don't know what it is. 0:00:54.560 --> 0:00:59.320 Because today's show is dedicated to the National Championship matchup 0:00:59.360 --> 0:01:03.160 between LS you and Clemson, and I guess Matt Rule. 0:01:03.080 --> 0:01:04.480 Leaving for the Caroline. 0:01:04.840 --> 0:01:06.840 I don't know we're actually gonna spend time talking about that, 0:01:06.880 --> 0:01:09.080 but my heart is beating. 0:01:09.360 --> 0:01:13.240 My blood sugar feel super out of watch. You said 0:01:13.240 --> 0:01:15.280 when we connected up that you were feeling a little 0:01:15.319 --> 0:01:17.679 bit of a blood sugar spike. I don't know. 0:01:17.840 --> 0:01:21.160 I just I do feel a good amount of excitement 0:01:21.240 --> 0:01:23.800 about this matchup. That is that is honest to God, 0:01:23.840 --> 0:01:24.520 the truth you're. 0:01:24.360 --> 0:01:26.320 Getting the I am. 0:01:26.440 --> 0:01:30.000 I enjoyed watching both of these teams. I think probably 0:01:30.080 --> 0:01:32.720 LSU more so this season because of their the games 0:01:32.720 --> 0:01:35.120 they actually played and the opponents that they had. But 0:01:35.280 --> 0:01:37.440 it was a pleasure to watch both of these two 0:01:37.520 --> 0:01:41.280 teams in the UH in the semi finals. But I 0:01:41.480 --> 0:01:44.120 just I also, I don't know. I mentioned this on Twitter, 0:01:44.360 --> 0:01:47.600 but I got even more excited watching There's a YouTube channel. 0:01:48.080 --> 0:01:50.240 It's run by a guy named Murph Baldwin. 0:01:50.880 --> 0:01:53.240 I sent this to you. Yeah, yeah, I think it's 0:01:53.400 --> 0:01:57.280 top Billin. He's coming on in the offseason. He doesn't 0:01:57.280 --> 0:01:58.240 know it yet, but we're gonna invite. 0:01:58.320 --> 0:02:00.840 He doesn't know it yet, but he does a fantastic 0:02:00.960 --> 0:02:03.320 job doing x's and O stuff with college football. So 0:02:03.320 --> 0:02:05.280 if you like that sort of thing with video, top 0:02:05.320 --> 0:02:08.440 Billin is the move to make. But that got me 0:02:08.480 --> 0:02:11.400 even more excited about this matchup. So here we are tie, Here, 0:02:11.400 --> 0:02:13.960 we are are here, We are welcome. 0:02:14.000 --> 0:02:14.240 One. 0:02:14.600 --> 0:02:16.880 Welcome all now if you're just joining us for the 0:02:16.919 --> 0:02:21.120 first time. Yeah, I'm Ty, He's Dan. We did three 0:02:21.240 --> 0:02:26.359 episodes every week all throughout the season. We had Tuesday episode, 0:02:26.400 --> 0:02:28.799 the one that dropped on Tuesday, we called the Twoes Cruise. 0:02:28.840 --> 0:02:32.320 Normally we would do Sunday and Wednesday. Sunday we'd recap 0:02:32.840 --> 0:02:35.440 Wednesday or I guess Thursday we would drop the show. 0:02:35.440 --> 0:02:39.440 We would preview the coming week's games. But nestled in between, 0:02:39.880 --> 0:02:42.240 we had a little show we called The Twoes Cruise, 0:02:42.440 --> 0:02:45.320 which of course was cheesy in that it was very 0:02:45.400 --> 0:02:51.040 nautically themed, but we committed, we fully committed Marty Smith 0:02:51.240 --> 0:02:54.560 style to the bit right and alas we could think 0:02:54.600 --> 0:02:58.079 of no better time to do another Twos Cruise then 0:02:58.320 --> 0:03:02.480 on this very special occasion. It is the bull Barge, right, 0:03:02.520 --> 0:03:04.919 that's what we're calling this. It's sort of an abbreviated 0:03:04.960 --> 0:03:05.640 Two's Cruise. 0:03:06.639 --> 0:03:08.720 Yeah, it's an abbriev all. I don't know how long 0:03:08.760 --> 0:03:11.520 the show's gonna go, but yeah, we're still sticking with 0:03:11.560 --> 0:03:13.679 the bull Barge. And I suppose we have a sound 0:03:13.720 --> 0:03:15.200 that we do like if you want to play it now. 0:03:15.280 --> 0:03:18.600 Well, now, DOCR New Orleans for the National Championship. If 0:03:18.639 --> 0:03:21.840 you believe in the Bye Bengals, she's exit fur Side. 0:03:22.400 --> 0:03:25.679 If you believe in Domos Boys, he's exit Starbard. 0:03:28.120 --> 0:03:32.920 Here's the Dark Horn. There's the Dark Horn. So it 0:03:33.000 --> 0:03:36.000 is one of those fun matchups where both are the Tigers. 0:03:36.040 --> 0:03:38.520 If you want to be cheeky about it and pick 0:03:38.560 --> 0:03:41.480 the Tigers to win, mm hmm, by all means, go 0:03:41.640 --> 0:03:44.600 for it. We're gonna do our best here over the 0:03:44.640 --> 0:03:47.320 next forty five minutes or so to cover as many 0:03:47.400 --> 0:03:50.320 angles as we can. We're gonna do so in as 0:03:50.360 --> 0:03:53.760 fun a way as we can, in as nautically themed 0:03:53.760 --> 0:03:56.360 the way as we can, because the last we need 0:03:56.400 --> 0:03:58.720 to stick with our twos cruise theme. 0:03:59.440 --> 0:04:03.360 If for only one more episode, Yes, can we I 0:04:03.440 --> 0:04:06.080 think this is an old radio term, but can we reset? 0:04:06.680 --> 0:04:06.840 Yeah? 0:04:06.880 --> 0:04:10.440 I want I want to start from the beginning because 0:04:11.560 --> 0:04:15.160 these two teams have had very different paths to this point, 0:04:16.200 --> 0:04:19.120 neither better nor worse. But I want to start here. 0:04:19.360 --> 0:04:21.800 What was your opinion of each of these teams preseason 0:04:22.240 --> 0:04:25.520 and how much, if at all, did that opinion evolve? 0:04:26.600 --> 0:04:31.119 Well? The LSU one is is far easier because headed 0:04:31.160 --> 0:04:36.880 into the season I was very skeptical, very skeptical that 0:04:37.760 --> 0:04:41.320 all this rigamal role we heard about on the offensive 0:04:41.360 --> 0:04:45.600 side of the ball was going to prove legit. And 0:04:45.640 --> 0:04:48.760 I believe my point when we previewed the sec West 0:04:48.800 --> 0:04:52.159 back in like August whenever, it was was just that 0:04:52.520 --> 0:04:55.400 how many times have we heard this before that LSU 0:04:55.600 --> 0:04:58.040 is going to revamp its offense. We had heard time 0:04:58.040 --> 0:05:00.359 and again that they know they have the talent, they 0:05:00.400 --> 0:05:03.480 know they know that's the one missing piece they need 0:05:03.520 --> 0:05:07.440 to modernize, need to modernize, right, And certainly there was 0:05:07.480 --> 0:05:11.000 a fair amount of skepticism when at Orgeron took over 0:05:11.120 --> 0:05:13.039 that he would be the man to kind of lead 0:05:13.200 --> 0:05:15.919 LSU through that revolution on offense and get them to 0:05:15.920 --> 0:05:19.160 the promised Land. And well, here we are, Yeah, here 0:05:19.240 --> 0:05:21.800 we are. It's clear that they've found the right people 0:05:21.839 --> 0:05:24.159 to do that. They've clearly got the right quarterback to 0:05:24.200 --> 0:05:25.960 do that. Being so we won the highs bin, They've 0:05:25.960 --> 0:05:28.640 got a running back, they've got a good cast of receivers, 0:05:28.680 --> 0:05:30.960 a pretty good line, So it's all there. On the 0:05:31.000 --> 0:05:33.880 offensive side of the ball. I never had a doubt 0:05:33.920 --> 0:05:36.040 about their defense. Maybe that's something we'll get into a 0:05:36.040 --> 0:05:39.279 little bit more as we talk about the matchups. Specifically 0:05:39.400 --> 0:05:43.520 Clemson's offense against this defense, but the offensive component on 0:05:43.720 --> 0:05:48.440 LSU's side was specifically what I had the most skepticism about. 0:05:49.080 --> 0:05:50.960 Clearly that has been proven wrong, and good for them 0:05:50.960 --> 0:05:53.520 that it has. Yeah, I'm trying to figure out. 0:05:53.520 --> 0:05:56.000 I am right there with you and that you're like, Okay, 0:05:56.080 --> 0:05:59.200 we've heard this before, that they're modernizing, that they're trying 0:05:59.240 --> 0:06:02.000 to evolve their offense, and it probably took me until 0:06:02.040 --> 0:06:05.800 that Florida performance to fully come around. Not that I 0:06:05.839 --> 0:06:08.960 always pick them this year, because I probably should have. 0:06:09.000 --> 0:06:11.240 They went undefeated if I wanted to be one hundred percent, 0:06:11.640 --> 0:06:14.279 But the fact remains that you're just like, Okay, well, 0:06:14.320 --> 0:06:16.440 I get it. They did it against Vanderbilt, they did 0:06:16.440 --> 0:06:19.640 it against Texas, they did it against Utah State. But 0:06:19.720 --> 0:06:22.960 that Florida win the way they separated themselves later on 0:06:23.040 --> 0:06:25.200 in that game from the Gators. I think they dropped 0:06:25.200 --> 0:06:29.080 forty on a good Florida defense at home and then 0:06:29.240 --> 0:06:32.520 responded even with a pseudo clunker the next week at 0:06:32.560 --> 0:06:35.360 Mississippi State and a letdown spite you understand that they 0:06:35.400 --> 0:06:37.919 still won that game by I think twenty plus points. 0:06:38.600 --> 0:06:43.080 They won another uneven offensive performance against Auburn, but they 0:06:43.080 --> 0:06:45.320 won their clunkers and then the rest of the year, 0:06:45.320 --> 0:06:47.560 I think they scored what forty plus, Maybe they came 0:06:47.680 --> 0:06:51.680 just short of forty against Georgia, but separating themselves from 0:06:51.800 --> 0:06:54.840 both really good teams like Georgia and I think A 0:06:54.920 --> 0:06:58.160 and M is an okay team, but completely demolished them 0:06:58.720 --> 0:07:01.760 getting past Alabama the they did with Tuas still on 0:07:01.800 --> 0:07:05.120 the team, or to a still starting at quarterback, albeit hobbled, 0:07:05.920 --> 0:07:09.000 still able to slice and dice that LSU defense that game. 0:07:09.600 --> 0:07:13.560 I just I came away so impressed and wanted to 0:07:13.640 --> 0:07:15.480 think that there was just going to be a down 0:07:15.520 --> 0:07:18.320 week where the new offense just didn't click, And you know, 0:07:18.360 --> 0:07:21.720 maybe there were those weeks, but the fact remains, I'm 0:07:21.760 --> 0:07:24.840 still much more impressed with what they did before the 0:07:24.880 --> 0:07:30.160 Oklahoma game, right because I don't think both with what 0:07:30.240 --> 0:07:33.560 the Oklahoma defense was or really was not this year, 0:07:34.080 --> 0:07:37.720 how they played against LSU. I don't think that is 0:07:37.760 --> 0:07:42.960 the most important takeaway game from the Tigers, but just 0:07:43.280 --> 0:07:46.280 for them to be at this point, to be led 0:07:46.320 --> 0:07:50.400 by this offense, to be talking about the overshadowed LSU defense, 0:07:50.840 --> 0:07:53.720 it's such a new way of talking about this program. 0:07:53.840 --> 0:07:58.360 That I'm thrilled to have underestimated this team going into 0:07:58.400 --> 0:07:58.720 the year. 0:08:00.120 --> 0:08:03.000 Yeah, I am as well. I'm looking back on my 0:08:03.120 --> 0:08:07.080 notes when we did our SEC preview, and this was 0:08:07.120 --> 0:08:10.200 in late August. The question I had for you on 0:08:10.400 --> 0:08:13.640 LSU was just that they went nine to three, won 0:08:13.640 --> 0:08:17.200 the Fiesta Bowl over UCF, and they had a really 0:08:17.240 --> 0:08:22.760 good year last season despite an offensive line that drastically underperformed. Yeah, 0:08:23.320 --> 0:08:26.040 they basically had to remix their offense on the fly 0:08:26.160 --> 0:08:29.600 to account for it last year. As we entered the 0:08:29.640 --> 0:08:33.880 twenty nineteen season, how confident were you that the position group, 0:08:34.120 --> 0:08:38.679 specifically again offensive line would be able to improve. It 0:08:38.720 --> 0:08:41.400 has improved, no doubt about it. The offense as a 0:08:41.400 --> 0:08:43.800 whole has drastically improved. 0:08:43.800 --> 0:08:43.920 Now. 0:08:43.960 --> 0:08:46.160 I know we have a question later on where we're 0:08:46.160 --> 0:08:48.439 going to talk more specifically about about that line. So 0:08:48.480 --> 0:08:50.160 I don't want to go too deep down that rabbit le, 0:08:50.240 --> 0:08:53.559 but let's shift gears if we could, to the Clemson 0:08:53.600 --> 0:08:58.040 side of things. Now, sure, Clemson clearly came at this 0:08:58.200 --> 0:09:01.160 from a much different standpoint, being so they haven't lost 0:09:01.160 --> 0:09:03.120 the game in two years? Yeah, well I guess now 0:09:03.200 --> 0:09:05.400 they haven't. Now they haven't lost the game in two years, 0:09:05.400 --> 0:09:09.320 but prior to this season, they were defending national champions. Obviously, 0:09:09.360 --> 0:09:13.800 an incredible performance twenty eight point victory over Alabama in 0:09:13.800 --> 0:09:16.040 the Championship that was on the heels of a twenty 0:09:16.080 --> 0:09:19.560 seven point victory over Notre Dame in the College Football 0:09:19.559 --> 0:09:25.160 Playoff semifinal. Trevor Lawrence had burst onto the national stage, 0:09:25.200 --> 0:09:27.280 maybe in a way that he hadn't prior to either 0:09:27.320 --> 0:09:30.679 of those games. Being so, he was incredible and unstoppable 0:09:30.679 --> 0:09:35.400 in both of those playoff performances. Entering the season, Clemson 0:09:35.520 --> 0:09:39.240 was a prohibitive favorite, maybe not to win the national championship, 0:09:39.280 --> 0:09:40.320 but certainly to be in the game. 0:09:41.000 --> 0:09:41.160 Right. 0:09:41.200 --> 0:09:44.840 That was the conversation, Alabama Clemson, come and fight me. 0:09:44.880 --> 0:09:46.480 If you don't think it's one of those two teams. 0:09:46.280 --> 0:09:48.880 Yeah, it was Alabama Clemson. Everybody else? Have these two 0:09:48.920 --> 0:09:52.440 teams separated themselves with as well as Ohio State and 0:09:52.520 --> 0:09:56.199 Georgia have recruited in Oklahoma constantly in the playoff conversation, 0:09:56.800 --> 0:09:59.120 are we you know in the way that the NBA 0:09:59.240 --> 0:10:01.679 sort of became a evelnd Golden State for what was 0:10:01.720 --> 0:10:05.040 it four straight years? Like some it had become a 0:10:05.160 --> 0:10:08.439 bit of that where Okay, what are we talking about here? 0:10:08.559 --> 0:10:11.360 Is this a sport that is now whittled down to 0:10:11.400 --> 0:10:12.600 these two halves? 0:10:13.080 --> 0:10:17.240 The talking points on my side of the Clemson argument. Yeah, 0:10:17.440 --> 0:10:19.120 and it's not really an argument because we were both 0:10:19.120 --> 0:10:20.840 all in on Clemson. We didn't think they were going 0:10:20.920 --> 0:10:23.280 to lose during the regular season or in the ACC 0:10:23.360 --> 0:10:26.040 title game to whoever they played like. We knew this 0:10:26.160 --> 0:10:27.480 was going to be the cream of the crop in 0:10:27.520 --> 0:10:30.080 the ACC. But we also knew that they were going 0:10:30.160 --> 0:10:34.640 to be a smidge thinner than their twenty eighteen version, 0:10:34.960 --> 0:10:37.840 at least on defense, because they had to replace four 0:10:37.880 --> 0:10:41.679 incredible defensive linemen, their top three linebackers, five of their 0:10:41.679 --> 0:10:44.920 top six tacklers. They also had guys like Hunter Renfro 0:10:45.559 --> 0:10:50.320 and Mitch Hyatt gone from their offense. For most teams, 0:10:50.400 --> 0:10:53.960 that's a lot to replace. You can't recover from that 0:10:54.520 --> 0:10:57.960 in one season, but it's way easier when you've got 0:10:58.000 --> 0:11:02.160 Trevor Lawrence, Traves, c E. T. T. Higgins justin ross. 0:11:02.800 --> 0:11:05.360 The line has been pretty good for them, despite the 0:11:05.400 --> 0:11:09.320 fact they lost a key contributoring Mitch Hyatt. So it 0:11:09.360 --> 0:11:12.280 was just like, to what end is defense going to 0:11:12.320 --> 0:11:15.080 bring this team down? Knowing full well going into the 0:11:15.120 --> 0:11:17.640 season that the ACC isn't going to be the strongest 0:11:17.640 --> 0:11:19.280 of conferences, right, and. 0:11:19.559 --> 0:11:25.800 We had seen Clemson defenses of yr you know, lose eight, nine, ten, 0:11:25.880 --> 0:11:28.000 eleven starters whatever. I don't know if they lost eleven 0:11:28.040 --> 0:11:30.640 starters in a year, but a majority of starters and 0:11:30.840 --> 0:11:33.760 bounce back as if nothing had changed. And that's, you know, 0:11:33.800 --> 0:11:36.600 partially due to the fact that there's just crazy continuity 0:11:36.600 --> 0:11:39.440 on this coaching staff that Brent Venables has been around forever, 0:11:39.559 --> 0:11:42.000 the fact that they play their twos and threes so 0:11:42.080 --> 0:11:44.559 much in these blowouts that it's nothing new for a 0:11:44.600 --> 0:11:49.400 guy to start because he's getting thirty forty snaps a 0:11:49.440 --> 0:11:53.600 game as is. So it is quite impressive to see 0:11:53.640 --> 0:11:56.920 what Clemson on defense, losing what they lost and to 0:11:57.000 --> 0:12:00.520 not miss a step. Granted, the ACC was not having 0:12:00.520 --> 0:12:04.240 itself a year this season, no, so it was fully 0:12:04.920 --> 0:12:07.920 it was almost impossible to say, well, this Clemson defense 0:12:07.960 --> 0:12:11.440 hasn't missed a beat because outside of the North Carolina game, 0:12:11.520 --> 0:12:14.920 they didn't play a team that scored more than twenty 0:12:14.960 --> 0:12:19.480 against them. And it wasn't fully a surprise given where 0:12:19.559 --> 0:12:22.480 NC State fell to, given what Wake Forest looked like 0:12:22.520 --> 0:12:24.840 late in the season, Florida State, Louisville, these teams were 0:12:24.880 --> 0:12:29.200 not built to score with Clemson, so that wasn't fully 0:12:29.200 --> 0:12:31.720 a surprise. And then when we saw Ohio State score 0:12:31.760 --> 0:12:36.240 what twenty three, Yeah, that's when you're like, Okay, there's 0:12:36.280 --> 0:12:39.280 something going on with this defense, especially when they start 0:12:39.280 --> 0:12:42.680 out scoring fourteen to sixteen points whatever and not able 0:12:42.720 --> 0:12:45.000 to do much after so so after that, so I 0:12:45.160 --> 0:12:50.080 just man an incredible, incredible year for Clemson on both 0:12:50.120 --> 0:12:54.600 sides of the ball, even with some the slow start 0:12:54.640 --> 0:12:56.600 that I think Trevor Lawrence had. We saw it sort 0:12:56.640 --> 0:12:58.520 of culminate with what he looked like early on in 0:12:58.559 --> 0:13:02.040 the Louisville game, but he threw those you know, that 0:13:02.360 --> 0:13:06.640 grip of passes. It's been just lights out impossible from 0:13:06.640 --> 0:13:08.640 Clemson on both sides of the ball. 0:13:09.120 --> 0:13:13.640 So as we turn the corner now and steered directly 0:13:13.760 --> 0:13:16.640 for this game, we have on January the thirteenth, at 0:13:16.640 --> 0:13:21.360 eight pm on the ESPN Family of Networks between LSU 0:13:21.440 --> 0:13:23.559 at fourteen and oh and Clemson at fourteen and h 0:13:24.280 --> 0:13:28.000 let me steal a little bit of your thunder. I 0:13:28.040 --> 0:13:30.559 know you had this topic planned a little bit later 0:13:30.600 --> 0:13:34.080 on in the show but Clemson is actually the lower 0:13:34.120 --> 0:13:37.920 seeded of the two teams. They are the defending national champions. Yeah, 0:13:37.960 --> 0:13:41.199 we know that because of that playoff seating, and maybe 0:13:41.200 --> 0:13:44.920 because of Dabos Sweeney's comments along the course of the 0:13:44.960 --> 0:13:47.880 season here that he has tried to fashion them as 0:13:47.920 --> 0:13:50.760 a bit of an underdog. Yeah. 0:13:50.840 --> 0:13:53.120 I mean, that's always what he does, even when they're, 0:13:53.280 --> 0:13:56.400 you know, fourteen point favorites. Stil say, nobody believes we're 0:13:56.440 --> 0:13:58.920 really fourteen point favorites. That's just nonsense. 0:13:59.120 --> 0:14:02.080 But in this case, they are the legit underdog. They're 0:14:02.080 --> 0:14:04.000 a five and a half point dog headed into the 0:14:04.160 --> 0:14:07.800 football game. We know Clemson's a fun team to root for, 0:14:07.920 --> 0:14:12.559 it's never short on personality. But can you fully subscribe? 0:14:12.600 --> 0:14:15.280 Are you fully subscribed to the notion that Clemson is 0:14:15.720 --> 0:14:18.559 a real true underdog going into this game? Oh? 0:14:18.679 --> 0:14:22.400 Yeah, for sure, they are an underdog. Inasmuch as so 0:14:22.560 --> 0:14:25.640 much attention has been poured on LSU because it's a 0:14:25.680 --> 0:14:28.040 better story right now, it's a news story. There's something 0:14:28.080 --> 0:14:30.680 novel about this program that could never get it together. 0:14:30.720 --> 0:14:33.840 On offense, hiring a young dude to be paired and 0:14:33.960 --> 0:14:37.560 Joe Brady with Steve Bensminger, the older, more grizzled coordinator. 0:14:37.600 --> 0:14:38.080 So they have this. 0:14:38.200 --> 0:14:40.600 He's a passing game coordinator and he's there to sort 0:14:40.640 --> 0:14:44.000 of help out with everything. It clicks, it works. Joe 0:14:44.000 --> 0:14:48.760 Burrow is just an assassin. These receivers are out of control. 0:14:48.840 --> 0:14:52.240 Randy Moss's son is there at tight end. The line 0:14:52.280 --> 0:14:55.760 comes together. Clyde Edwards alaire when nothing is really fully 0:14:55.760 --> 0:14:58.240 working all the time with the passing game. There he 0:14:58.360 --> 0:15:00.480 is to hand the ball to and he's local to 0:15:01.360 --> 0:15:05.479 what Baton Rouge in Louisiana. I just there's the novelty 0:15:05.560 --> 0:15:10.640 to LSU has shined a spotlight on. I guess the 0:15:10.680 --> 0:15:14.880 Tigers in Baton Rouge that there's nothing. It's easy to 0:15:14.920 --> 0:15:17.960 overlook Clemson because they're not a new story. This is 0:15:17.960 --> 0:15:21.320 not an excited we've seen Clemson on this stage. So 0:15:22.400 --> 0:15:24.840 it's sort of like a forgot about us kind of 0:15:24.880 --> 0:15:28.840 situation where Dabo can say, well, I guess we're not 0:15:28.960 --> 0:15:32.280 the sexy new thing anymore. I guess everybody's forgotten about us. 0:15:32.680 --> 0:15:37.240 And while it is obviously cliche to say nobody believes 0:15:37.240 --> 0:15:39.960 in us, we're the underdog. That sort of thing can 0:15:40.040 --> 0:15:43.040 work in a brain escusually a nineteen year old brain. 0:15:43.280 --> 0:15:46.240 Well, it can work as a motivational device if you're Dabbosweeney, 0:15:47.120 --> 0:15:48.560 no doubt about it, if you're trying to get your 0:15:48.600 --> 0:15:50.520 team up for the game, as if there's going to 0:15:50.560 --> 0:15:52.720 be any trouble getting them up for the national championship. 0:15:52.760 --> 0:15:57.560 But I'm saying to you and I specifically, I can't 0:15:57.560 --> 0:16:00.200 convince myself that there're any kind of underdog here. H 0:16:00.960 --> 0:16:03.800 maybe five and a half points is what Vegas says, Right, 0:16:04.040 --> 0:16:05.720 they haven't lost a game in two years, but twenty 0:16:05.800 --> 0:16:09.200 nine and zero last two seasons. I went back in, Look, 0:16:09.200 --> 0:16:12.240 they've lost like three games in four years. That is 0:16:12.280 --> 0:16:14.560 not an underdog story. I don't care how you try 0:16:14.560 --> 0:16:18.000 to paint it. So I am excited for this game. 0:16:18.520 --> 0:16:21.360 I'm not necessarily looking at it in terms of underdog 0:16:21.440 --> 0:16:25.520 and favorites. In that storyline, it to me goes out 0:16:25.520 --> 0:16:29.160 the window because Clemson has been a powerhouse in college 0:16:29.160 --> 0:16:32.040 football for the last at least five years running. 0:16:32.760 --> 0:16:37.520 But this year's team specifically, do you feel like there 0:16:37.560 --> 0:16:41.040 is an underdog element to the fact that, yes, they 0:16:41.040 --> 0:16:44.280 have the struggle against North Carolina, but also we didn't 0:16:44.320 --> 0:16:47.040 really see them tested after that we didn't really see 0:16:47.040 --> 0:16:51.640 them against great competition until Ohio State, and there is 0:16:51.840 --> 0:16:55.640 just more data. It's on LSU maybe no matter how 0:16:55.680 --> 0:16:58.560 long it's been since they've lost. I mean it's been 0:16:58.560 --> 0:17:00.440 a while since Northdakota State too. 0:17:00.600 --> 0:17:05.920 There is a difference between undercovered and underdog. Sure, undercovered, 0:17:06.080 --> 0:17:09.960 you could certainly make a legit case for that, right 0:17:10.040 --> 0:17:13.120 being so they're in the acc being so, like you said, 0:17:13.160 --> 0:17:16.359 there were flashier stories around college football that maybe garnered 0:17:16.359 --> 0:17:20.080 a little bit more attention. But underdog, no underdog's a 0:17:20.119 --> 0:17:20.800 tough sell for me. 0:17:21.920 --> 0:17:25.320 Okay, I mean, I think the biggest killer in this 0:17:25.400 --> 0:17:27.680 game is still LSU's offense. 0:17:28.200 --> 0:17:30.439 I would agree with you. I would agree with you. 0:17:30.880 --> 0:17:34.359 That to me already means that, Okay, we're looking at 0:17:34.400 --> 0:17:37.359 the best single thing in this game being what Joe 0:17:37.359 --> 0:17:39.399 Burrow is able to do with the ball in his hands. 0:17:39.400 --> 0:17:42.119 The Heisman winner, the guy who won the Heisman pretty 0:17:42.200 --> 0:17:45.800 much out of nowhere over the presumed favorite or one 0:17:45.800 --> 0:17:49.159 of the presumed favorites, and Trevor Lawrence going into the season. 0:17:49.560 --> 0:17:53.680 So there is that idea of supplanting the obvious champion 0:17:53.960 --> 0:17:59.680 in Clemson, the idea that LSU has established itself because. 0:17:59.359 --> 0:18:00.000 Of this offense. 0:18:00.200 --> 0:18:02.439 As what again, I think we both believe to be 0:18:02.520 --> 0:18:04.600 the best single thing in this game that could change 0:18:04.600 --> 0:18:08.080 Clemson's defense, I have no doubt in my mind is remarkable. 0:18:08.200 --> 0:18:11.040 They are on all three levels. They are very very good, 0:18:11.119 --> 0:18:13.400 and they are stout, and they are deep, and they 0:18:13.400 --> 0:18:16.359 play with an insane amount of focus and care. So 0:18:18.040 --> 0:18:20.520 that to me is why Clemson is the underdog simply 0:18:20.560 --> 0:18:25.040 because Joe Burrow wears purple and gold. Let me Paris 0:18:25.160 --> 0:18:30.119 Marshall and Justin Jefferson and Jamar Chase of course, the 0:18:30.119 --> 0:18:32.399 blittnikof Award winner wear purple and gold. 0:18:32.760 --> 0:18:35.399 That is why. Let me let me round out this 0:18:35.480 --> 0:18:39.320 discussion and turn the corner and actually go into this 0:18:39.400 --> 0:18:44.120 game just by saying that, I think LSU is probably 0:18:44.160 --> 0:18:47.480 the easier team to root for, being so they are 0:18:47.680 --> 0:18:51.520 newer to this football game, Yeah than Clemson. Yeah, even 0:18:51.600 --> 0:18:54.399 though Clemson is technically the underdog by five and a 0:18:54.440 --> 0:18:55.320 half points. 0:18:55.760 --> 0:18:58.359 Yeah, I mean, I think people are always going to 0:18:58.520 --> 0:19:03.000 love the story more than they are the repeat. I mean, 0:19:03.520 --> 0:19:07.119 for as much success as Clemson has had, Clemson is 0:19:07.160 --> 0:19:12.720 not a decades long spotlight team like I think going 0:19:12.760 --> 0:19:15.320 back to when Nick Saban was at LS sort of 0:19:15.359 --> 0:19:18.120 the beginning of the modern era where I think there 0:19:18.200 --> 0:19:23.200 is a bigger and wider familiarity with LSU football, given 0:19:23.240 --> 0:19:25.840 the personality of less Miles, given all the NFL players 0:19:25.840 --> 0:19:28.880 that have come through there the last twenty years, as 0:19:28.880 --> 0:19:32.440 opposed to this latest five to seven year run from Clemson. 0:19:32.600 --> 0:19:37.959 So I think John Q public has an LSU story 0:19:38.000 --> 0:19:41.919 awareness more than Okay, I understand the Clemson has become 0:19:42.040 --> 0:19:46.080 this elite machine, So I think there's that element to it. 0:19:46.080 --> 0:19:49.840 It is the College Football Playoff National Championship presented by 0:19:49.920 --> 0:19:53.760 AT and T. They played in New Orleans. Yeah again, 0:19:53.920 --> 0:19:56.720 LSU fourteen to zero, a five and a half point 0:19:56.760 --> 0:20:00.720 favorite over the Clemson Tigers. So as we now look 0:20:01.200 --> 0:20:05.840 head on into this football game, the obvious question is 0:20:05.960 --> 0:20:12.320 whether an elite Clemson defense can slow an elite LSU offense, 0:20:13.480 --> 0:20:19.200 and conversely, can a really good LSU defense slow. I 0:20:19.240 --> 0:20:22.080 would still say an elite Clemson offense are very good. 0:20:22.400 --> 0:20:25.399 Sure all they're amazing. When you pop the hood on 0:20:25.560 --> 0:20:28.399 both of those scenarios and look at all the advanced stuff, 0:20:29.000 --> 0:20:30.840 you could zoom in on a few things that are 0:20:30.920 --> 0:20:35.080 very intriguing. To be honest, most of that stuff favors Clemson. 0:20:37.000 --> 0:20:39.000 So you can take that at phase value if you want, 0:20:39.040 --> 0:20:42.320 and that's perfectly reasonable, or you can add the extra 0:20:42.400 --> 0:20:45.600 layer to it and ask does it matter? 0:20:45.800 --> 0:20:47.199 Captain Toy wants to know. 0:20:53.000 --> 0:20:54.680 Does it matter? 0:20:54.840 --> 0:20:55.040 Dan? 0:20:56.480 --> 0:20:59.240 That was such a good transition. You're just such a pro. 0:20:59.440 --> 0:21:02.920 Does it freaking matter? Clemson has a good pass rush. 0:21:03.359 --> 0:21:07.000 It's different than it was last year, but statistically, very 0:21:07.000 --> 0:21:11.119 good pass rush, very good sacrate. LSU was just okay 0:21:11.160 --> 0:21:14.320 at protecting Joe Burrow, the Heisman Trophy winner. That would 0:21:14.359 --> 0:21:18.120 seem like a big advantage for Clemson. But will it matter? Dan, 0:21:18.200 --> 0:21:20.360 I'm yelling into my microphone. Why do you say they're 0:21:20.440 --> 0:21:23.360 just okay at protecting I'm looking at I'm looking at 0:21:23.359 --> 0:21:27.199 advanced stuff. I'm just looking at numbers. Okay, sacrate that 0:21:27.280 --> 0:21:32.159 sort of thing. Okay, Statistically they're kind of in the middle. Okay, 0:21:33.119 --> 0:21:35.439 that would seem like a big advantage for Clemson. But 0:21:35.520 --> 0:21:38.320 will it matter? We saw teams try to pressure Joe 0:21:38.320 --> 0:21:41.920 Burrow all year. Nothing seemed to face them. Will it matter? Yeah? 0:21:42.040 --> 0:21:48.040 I LSU took on Georgia and their incredible defense and 0:21:48.080 --> 0:21:50.840 it didn't seem to matter. You know, he flushed him 0:21:50.880 --> 0:21:54.359 out of the pocket. He made plays pretty impressive. 0:21:53.920 --> 0:21:57.840 Dan, Clemson is the best pass defense in America. Yeah, statistically, 0:21:57.920 --> 0:22:01.280