Clemson Coach Dabo Swinney Compares National Championship to 'Rocky IV'

Monday night, the Clemson Tigers and the LSU Tigers will face off in the National Championship. [...]

By John Newby

Monday night, the Clemson Tigers and the LSU Tigers will face off in the National Championship. This is the biggest college football game of the season, and Clemson coach Dabo Swinney is trying to get his players fired up. To achieve this goal, he is comparing the battle with LSU to Rocky IV.

Speaking with ESPN, offensive tackle Tremayne Anchrum said that his head coach is using the Rocky films to get his team prepared for the National Championship. In Swinney's eyes, the Clemson Tigers are playing the role made famous by Sylvester Stallone. The LSU Tigers, on the other hand, are the villains depicted by Dolph Lundgren.

"Coach Swinney loves to compare us to Rocky movies, I guess, he's just the biggest Rocky fan," Anchrum said. "He said that going to Louisiana is like going to Russia, and we're playing Drago."

In the aforementioned film, Rocky Balboa heads to Russia to face off with Drago during a Christmas day bout. This is brought on by the in-ring death of Balboa's friend, Apollo Creed, at the hands of Drago. In order to honor his friend's memory, the titular boxer agrees to the fight in Russia.

Despite entering the ring in front of a hostile crowd, Balboa ultimately knocks out Drago during the bout and achieves victory. He also wins over the Russian crowd.

The Clemson Tigers won't be heading overseas while recreating Rocky IV, but they will be entering enemy territory. The National Championship will take place at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, which is the home of the New Orleans Saints. This is also prime LSU Tigers territory, and the crowd is expected to be packed with the SEC faithful.

Swinney's team has found success in front of the home crowd, but the crowd will be decidedly anti-Clemson on Monday night. This will be a similar situation to that faced by Balboa in 1985, and Swinney will hope that his players will react in a similar manner while delivering the knockout punch in the form of touchdowns and turnovers.

The National Championship battle between LSU and Clemson will take place on Monday, Jan. 13, at 8 p.m. ET. The game will be played at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome and will be broadcast on ESPN.

Photo Credit: Norm Hall/Getty

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