LSU Football: Tigers linebacker admits one of the team’s biggest problems in 2020

Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit

LSU football‘s 2020 season went a lot different than the Tigers’ historic 2019 season.

In 2019, LSU dominated college football — going 15-0 and cruising through the College Football Playoff to a national championship.

The 2020 season, however, brought the Tigers back to reality.

LSU went 5-5 last year, including surprising losses to Mississippi State and Missouri.

The Tigers dealt with plenty of obstacles last season — losing 14 players to the NFL is tough to overcome. Plus there were numerous opt-outs from key players last season (Ja’Marr Chase, Terrace Marshall, and Arik Gilbert, among others).

Despite those obstacles, LSU still managed to finish the season on a high note, beating Ole Miss and Florida to finish with a .500 record.

The strong finish to the season proved that LSU has what it takes to be a force in the SEC again.

So what was the major problem last season if the talent was there all along?

LSU Football was feeling itself a bit too much

Championship hangovers are a real thing.

And that’s exactly what happened to the Tigers last season.

LSU senior linebacker Damone Clark spoke to 247Sports this week and he admitted that the Tigers had a “big head” entering last season.

“Last year going into spring we were just coming off a championship — I can say it, we had a big head,” said Clark. “We didn’t think it would be the way it was. Going through the season the way we had, and then most of our guys came back this year, we all have that chip on our shoulder.”

“Going out with the season we had last year, it wasn’t the LSU standard,” added Clark. “We know. We identified the problem. We want to be that achieving team that we know we can be.”

The Tigers didn’t do a good job of putting 2019 in the rearview mirror. And that’s understandable.

Next. The definitive list of top 25 coaches in college football. dark

But now LSU has identified the problem and they’re ready to take the SEC by storm once again.