In a recent episode of ACC Network’s ACC PM show, co-host Mark Packer looked back on Clemson’s 2018 national title team, which became the first major college football team in the modern era (and the first since Penn in 1897) to finish a season with a 15-0 record.

The Tigers capped that season with two blowout wins in the College Football Playoff, first beating Notre Dame by 27 points in the CFP semifinal at the Cotton Bowl before routing Alabama by 28 points in the CFP National Championship Game.

Packer reflected on those two dominant victories and called out the SEC talking heads who thought Trevor Lawrence and the Tigers would be overmatched by the Crimson Tide.

“First time in a gazillion years that somebody went 15-0 in college football and then when they got to the College Football Playoff, they saw Notre Dame and went yawn, that’s real cute, we know you guys haven’t won one since 1988 and we have and we’re getting ready to blow your doors off, and they did,” Packer said.

“So, they shoved it down Notre Dame’s throat, and then all of a sudden for two weeks it seemed like we heard Paul Finebaum and all the SEC Slurpees talk about how great Alabama is and poor Trevor Lawrence has never seen a defense like this, yada yada yada yada, Nick Saban this, Nick Saban that, and Clemson had to take a knee not to put half a hundred and beat Alabama by five touchdowns. That’s what they did to them. That was a respect factor of Dabo to Nick Saban because they could have just gone ahead and said no, we’re just going to make it 51-16.”

Packer added that many SEC media members are “still hurt” by Clemson’s 44-16 annihilation of Alabama.

“That was such a beatdown that a lot of the SEC media, even to this day, are still hurt and come up with excuses or reasons to try to put down Dabo and the Clemson program,” Packer said. “That was one of the all-timers that night.”

Dear Old Clemson has added the Tiger Sack Pack to our online store.  Save by getting the Two Pack of signed cards from two of the nation’s top defensive ends, Myles Murphy and Xavier Thomas.

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