Tigers Not Worried About the Home Game for LSU
This year’s College Football National Championship game will be played in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Louisiana State University Tigers will have a little over one hour commute to the city from campus, while the Clemson Tigers will have to board a flight to make their travel time a little over five hours.
It’s expected that the LSU Tiger fan base will largely outnumber the Clemson Tiger fan base Monday night. Both teams understand what it is like playing in a neutral site game that is largely dominated by the opposing team. The Tigers from Baton Rouge traveled to Atlanta, Georgia to play in the SEC Championship game against the hometown favorite, Georgia Bulldogs. While the Pickens County Tigers traveled across the country to Phoenix, Arizona to play in a stadium dominated by Ohio State Buckeye fans for the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl.
The Tigers in orange have come to accept the fact that elite teams are expected to play and win in the toughest of environments. The location, fan support, bettors and Vegas odds are not in Clemson’s favor for the biggest game of the season and Coach Dabo Swinney’s team leaders are perfectly fine with that.
Chad Smith, Outside Linebacker and PlayStation Fiesta Bowl Defensive MVP:
“I mean, I guess you could say we're pretty comfortable with it. We don't really look too much to like the outside noise, whether we're an underdog or whether we're the team to beat in a particular game. I mean, we just focus on what we can control, focus on our preparation, and LSU is a great team. They're here for a reason. They've got a great offense, great defense, all-around team and program, so it's going to take a lot from us in our preparation to be able to have an opportunity to beat LSU in the championship. But it's definitely going to be a challenge.”
“So I mean, it just goes back to our preparation. We can hear all the outside noise or we can really focus on what we can do, have a narrow focus, put those blinders on, get ready to go back to work here soon in the next few days, and prepare ourselves to the best of our ability to have that chance to be national champions again.”
Trevor Lawrence, Quarterback and PlayStation Fiesta Bowl Offensive MVP:
“Yeah, just to add on to what he said, being here two years now and playing in a few games, you just see how much it doesn't really matter who's the favorite, and I think we as a team really understand that. Not necessarily that we take offense to it, it's just like it really doesn't matter who the favorite is. You've got to go play the game. The game is going to be won on January 13th. It's not won before when all the odds come out. You've got to play it. So I think, like Chad said, you have to prepare, and whoever prepares the best and plays the best on Monday is going to win the game.”
