Mind Games: How Clemson built an undefeated mindset

“I’m excited to see what they do with it”. The Clemson cats was not on the radar of most of the the pigskin prognosticators to be in the championship game.

Both teams made short work of their semifinal opponents. But once the ball is kicked off, Dabo has a job to do and the ultimate goal is to win the game. But the Tide weren’t settled on a quarterback and turned the ball over five times, including throwing three interceptions. “Michigan State didn’t average that many”. The Spartans were completely dominated in this game. “You’re probably not going to overtake Alabama in recruiting in an eight-year period”. “We had Jeff Bryant, who is as good a defensive lineman as Clemson has ever had”. It’s been noted ad-nauseam this week, but it remains true: Alabama sometimes struggles against mobile quarterbacks. We all know how that turned out. After an unexpected loss at home against Ole Miss in week 3 of the season, Alabama faced an uphill battle to stay in contention. “As Coach Swinney pointed out, this was not going to be a big difference maker in our team’s schedule, but it’s great they’ve reached a solution that prioritizes the well-being of our student-athletes while allowing them to adequately prepare for the national championship”. It was that good. “If they beat us, it’s not going to be because they had two extra meetings or an extra walk-through on Wednesday and Thursday, it’s going to be because they just beat us”. They single-handedly doomed his Heisman Campaign.

For all the time spent talking about Watson and how important he’s been to Clemson (and he’s been very important), there hasn’t been much talk about leading rusher Wayne Gallman. Alabama’s secondary is the weakest part of their team, but it is still in the top quarter of all college teams. Leave a comment and let me know. Some places have it at 7, but it wont go higher.

I’ve got a newsflash for all you out there: Clemson football will win the game and it doesn’t have to be a perfect-out either.

The catchphrase uttered frequently by those associated with Clemson football rings as hollow as it did when repeated time and again by Arkansas basketball coach Nolan Richardson nearly 22 years ago. They weren’t a fastball team. Even Alabama can’t say that this year.

“He’s been able to take a program and build it to a level of consistency where over the last three, four years, every time you walk in that stadium you feel like you’ve got a fighting chance to win”, Phillips said.

“We’ll still be doubted, so I’m not really anxious about it”, Boulware concluded. I love everything he brings to the position.

“I was brain-washed. Are you kidding?”

In the offseason, players such as center Antoine Caldwell and safety Rashad Johnson moved into leadership roles, younger players such as linebacker Rolando McClain and defensive back Kareem Jackson developed into impact players and a star-studded freshman that included receiver Julio Jones and linebacker Dont’a Hightower came on board.