K'Von Wallace: Media Is Giving Tigers an Edge

CLEMSON — The Clemson defense has spent the last week-and-a-half hearing about how they are going to manage to hold the reigning Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrow and his high-powered LSU offense.

But instead of getting upset with the constant barrage of questions being asked of the defense, safety K'Von Wallace is loving the talk of the LSU offense.

"Definitely not. I mean, would you be tired of somebody talking to you about playing the next game," Wallace said. "We're playing in a national championship. I would love for you to keep talking about them, because that means we're playing. We ain't watching. We ain't crying. We ain't sitting back home, watching this game coming up. We not doing none of that. We preparing for our opponent.

"Everything that the media says is giving us a chip and an edge to what we know about LSU already. Go ask them. Tell me something that we don't know. Tell me something about the players that ain't playing or something like that. I would love to be asked about LSU, because I know that we playing again and now it's for the national championship."

The Tigers are used to answering those questions.

It was only one year ago that the Tigers were preparing to take on the Alabama Crimson Tide—a team that was pegged by some of the national media as the best team ever with the most dynamic offense ever.

All the Tigers did was hold that offense to a season-low 16 points.

"That is this is the best offense we're facing. Alabama, last year, was the best offense we faced," Wallace said. "This year, LSU is going to be the best offense we face. You just go with the numbers. Look at the stats. Look who they play and the numbers they put against, defenses that were number five, number six in the country. But we just go out there and compete, man, with everything that we got. Last game of the season emptied the tank, but rally to the ball, all that you can get, and all your competitive nature, all that pain and hunger that you been through, to get you here, trying use emotions and using it on the game field. We know what they're capable of. They know what we're capable of ... It's going to be the better team that's going to win it."

The LSU Tigers faced little adversity in their semifinal game, as they dismantled the Oklahoma Sooners by a final score of 62-28. The Clemson Tigers faced the most adversity they had faced all season in their 29-23 win over Ohio State, as the Tigers faced a 16-0 deficit.

While many people may see that as a reason for concern, the Tigers see it as proof of what they are made of.

"The thing about this team and their leadership, that we can fight and fight and fight," Wallace said. "We always just trying to find a way to get it done. We find a way to get a win. We find a way to go out there and give the offense a better challenge. They give our offense a better challenge. It's about a team. It's about togetherness.

"We just wanted it more. We was hungrier. That's what it comes down to. This LSU game. I thought about who wants it more. It's all about who's going to be hungrier to fight for that ball, who's going to be hungrier to chase down the man that's running into the end zone, touchdown. It just comes with this program. This program is built off of never-quit attitude and relentless effort."

For Wallace, the idea of competing against the best of the best is not only what drives the Clemson defense, it is what drives him because he wants an opportunity to show the world that he is the best defender in America.

"You can tell they take it (the LSU offense) seriously. They take pride in it. They love what they do," Wallace said. "I cannot wait to compete. I cannot wait to go against whoever they got. I cannot wait to be one-on-one, whatever the case may be, I can't even wait to just go out there and compete and show the world that K'Von Wallace is some person to reckon with, for sure."

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