CLEMSON, S.C. (FOX Carolina) – The Tigers take on Texas in the first round of the College Football Playoff Saturday, and they have a new phrase for motivation during their preparation.
Despite being a conference champion, Clemson football is the lowest-seeded team in the playoff; seeded 12th out of 12 teams. The Tigers are also the biggest first-round betting underdog of any of the playoff games for their matchup at fifth-seed Texas.
But that doubt has triggered a new motto for the team. All-American senior linebacker Barrett Carter shared the phrase during the ACC Championship celebration.
“After Nolan (Hauser) hit the field goal, I just grabbed the sign and I was like, ‘what am I going to write this time?’ And it just came to my head that Coach Swinney said that so I just went with, ‘us against the world,’” Carter said. “We truly believe that’s our mindset within the team. Everyone likes to hate on Clemson for some reason and we don’t get it, but it truly is us against the world. But that’s how we like it.”
Clemson Head Coach Dabo Swinney likes that mindset too. After sharing it during a team meeting before the conference championship, he’s carrying it over into the playoff.
“We’re the 12th seed, so we’re just happy to have a chance. We’re in there, anything can happen,” Swinney said. “They know that there’s probably not many people who are going to be giving us an opportunity to win, so that’s their mentality. They believe in themselves and that’s all that matters.”
It will be the first College Football Playoff for almost every player on the current Clemson team and the first playoff with a 12-team format for everyone. Clemson is undefeated in true road games this season, but Swinney said this one at Texas is a lot different.
“It’s going to be like a normal road game times a million. Because this is a playoff game. You’re gone fishin’ if you lose this one as Charles Barkley likes to say,” Swinney said. “You win you keep going, you lose you’re done. You don’t have a game next week. Everybody knows what’s at stake and everybody knows the opportunity you have and it is an opportunity.”
It’s an opportunity Clemson has in its first trip to the College Football Playoff in four seasons.
The matchup will also be a homecoming for Clemson junior quarterback Cade Klubnik who will playing in his hometown of Austin, Texas. The Tigers start their first-round playoff game against the Longhorns at 4 p.m. Saturday.
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