Sammy Brown didn’t spend much time trying to dress up Clemson’s 51-10 loss to LSU.
After the Tigers got blown out Saturday night in Baton Rouge, the Clemson linebacker called the opener “really, really embarrassing” and shifted straight to the part that matters now: what Clemson does next after one of the program’s roughest nights in recent memory.
Brown’s reaction carried extra weight because he had already raised questions about Clemson’s mental toughness at points last season. At ACC Kickoff, he pointed to how one setback could hang around and snowball as the year went on. That’s the danger Clemson has been trying to address all offseason.
Now the Tigers have been handed an immediate test.
“The work that we put in this offseason, you know, physically and also mentally, has put us in a position to not let this loss develop or define us like it did last year,” Brown said. “Because, you know, you let one loss roll into two, three, and four losses.”
That message matters even more after a 41-point defeat that left Clemson with almost nothing positive to build on from the opener. Brown said part of his job is making sure the frustration from a game like this doesn’t turn into something worse inside the locker room.
“You can’t let a loss define who you are as a man. You can’t let it defeat you. You’ve got to let it develop you,” Brown said.
Clemson has now dropped four straight season openers, but Brown made it clear the real issue is not the loss itself. It’s the response.
The Tigers spent the offseason talking about being better equipped to handle adversity, and Saturday gave them no time to wait on that theory. The challenge is here now.
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