To the mountaintop they go: Clemson and LSU, each without a trace of fear

Clemson knows a thing or two about getting over a hump.

Make that a mountain.

The Tigers did it in 2015 by knocking off Florida State, breaking the Seminoles’ chokehold on the rest of the ACC and clearing a path to the first of five straight appearances in the College Football Playoff.

They did it in 2016 by outlasting then-No. 3 Louisville — led by eventual Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson — and scoring a massive victory at FSU along the way to the playoff. The ultimate capper: upsetting defending champion Alabama for the title.

They did it again last season, this time in stunning fashion. In a never-before-seen clash of 14-0 teams, the Tigers laid waste to Alabama — one of the most-hyped teams ever — by a count of 44-16 to hoist the championship trophy again.

Sorry if this is getting boring, but what the Tigers did two weeks ago in a 29-23 playoff semifinal victory over Ohio State was more of the same — and then some. They rallied from a 16-0 deficit, their most daunting obstacle yet. Late in the fourth quarter, they drove almost the length of the field to grab the lead and then held firm against a Buckeyes offensive machine to ice it.

“We had to go 94 yards against the best defense in the country to get the lead,” coach Dabo Swinney said, “and then we had to stop the No. 1 offense in the country to keep it.”

All of which is a very long way of asking: Does anybody really think Clemson is afraid of No. 1 LSU?

Does anybody really think the underdog Tigers, going for their 30^th straight win, are incapable of outfighting the favored Tigers in Saturday’s championship game — once again, 14-0 vs. 14-0 — at the Superdome in New Orleans?

“It’s not like we just showed up for one year,” Swinney said. “At some point, you have to give a program the benefit of the doubt.”

And that’s what makes this such a fabulous matchup, maybe the best yet in the playoff era. In order to reach the mountaintop itself, LSU — which often has looked just plain unbeatable — must somehow beat an opponent that doesn’t know how to lose.

Then again, does anybody really think LSU has any doubt? Does anybody really think a team that won at Alabama during the regular season and destroyed Oklahoma 63-28 in a playoff semifinal can’t get the job done with everything on the line?

“It will be a very proud day for our players to represent LSU, and it will be a very proud day for the people of Louisiana,” coach Ed Orgeron said. “But they’ll only be proud if we win.”

The only way LSU quarterback Joe Burrow, the Heisman winner, could top himself is by outplaying Clemson counterpart Trevor Lawrence. It’s an even more intriguing matchup of QBs than Florida State’s Jameis Winston vs. Oregon’s Marcus Mariota was in the semifinals of the first-ever playoff.

Winston and Mariota were Heisman winners who would go 1 and 2 in the 2015 NFL draft. But Burrow and Lawrence — potentially the No. 1 picks in 2020 and 2021, respectively — seemingly loom even larger.

All Burrow has done this season is throw for 5,208 yards and 55 touchdowns — seven of them in one half against the Sooners — and complete an unheard-of 77.6% of his passes. Given how regularly Burrow pushes the ball downfield, he is as locked in as any college passer ever.

Yet it’s Lawrence who is widely believed to possess even greater physical tools. As a freshman, he was the best player on the field — by a mile — in that title-game romp over Alabama. And that was without using his legs at all. Two weeks ago, Lawrence’s 67-yard touchdown run against Ohio State sent jaws crashing to the ground.

LSU has the No. 1 scoring offense (48.9 points per game) in the country. Clemson has the No. 1 scoring defense (11.5). NFL talent will be all over the field.

Make that the mountain.

This is going to be fun.

NO. 3 CLEMSON VS. NO. 1 LSU

The facts: Monday, 7 p.m., ESPN, 1000-AM, New Orleans.

The records: Clemson 14-0, LSU 14-0.

The storyline: LSU’s Joe Burrow has had one of the greatest seasons ever by a quarterback. Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence has pro scouts whispering “best draft prospect since John Elway” type of praise. But you know about these guys already.

They are surrounded by enormously talented teammates. An easy place to start: LSU’s Ja’Marr Chase, the nation’s most decorated receiver. He and Justin Jefferson have 18 touchdown catches apiece, a staggeringly effective combo.

Clemson has Tee Higgins and his 19.9 yards per catch, with Justyn Ross — the receiving star of last year’s title game — demanding equal attention from LSU’s outstanding secondary.

Both running backs — LSU’s Clyde Edwards-Helaire and Clemson’s Travis Etienne — are prime-time ball carriers and elite receivers out of the backfield.

Statistically, Clemson’s defense is clearly better than LSU’s, but ask Georgia and Oklahoma how tough it was to mount drives against the Tigers in the SEC title game and playoff semifinals. Ed Orgeron’s team is peaking on both sides of the ball.

The line: LSU by 5½.

Greenberg’s pick: LSU, 31-24.