by David Hood -- Senior Writer - Monday, December 17, 2012 10:58 AM

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CLEMSON -- Chad MorrisChad Morris
Offensive Coordinator / QBs
View Full Profile knows his offense has a definite challenge in playing LSU and the Bayou Tigers’ tough, physical defense, and he said Saturday that Clemson’s Tigers will have to be as physical as or more physical than their Louisiana brethren if they want to win the Chick-fil-A Bowl later this month.

Clemson faced a similar defense in South Carolina at the end of last month, and LSU’s defense is not only more talented than the Gamecocks’ defense, but faster at more spots.

Morris said Saturday that he feels like his offense – which performed reasonably well in the first half of the loss to the Gamecocks – would have put up points had it had more opportunities in the game’s second half, and said a three-and-out on the opening series of the second half was a game-changer.

"When you go three-and-out, the offense doesn't work," Morris said. "In the first half against South Carolina, we had the ball 44 snaps and did a great job of mixing the run and the pass. In the third quarter we had the ball six snaps and then 10 in the fourth quarter, with four or five of those on the last drive of the game. Your options were limited. We needed to be perfect. But we went three-and-out on the opening drive and never got it back."

Morris touted the strength of LSU’s front seven, and said he doesn’t worry about LSU defensive coordinator John Chavis changing anything he does because he will be facing an up-tempo offense.

"They're not going to change what they do because they're playing us," Morris said. "They're going to be who they are. When you look at them, one of the things that keeps coming back with those guys is that their defensive front and linebackers are really sound. Essentially, this is a team that's one fourth-down conversion away from playing for the national championship.”

He said that LSU is not only talented, but deep and physical.

"They've got eight or 10 defensive linemen that they'll roll in there on us,” Morris said. “It's a solid starting group, and then they have four more they just roll right in there behind them. It's going to be a physical match-up for us up front."

As a result, Morris said his offensive line will have to turn in its most physical performance of the season.

"We have to play physical up front - that's where it will start and that's where it will end," Morris said. "We have to go out and execute. That's the key for us - execution. When you have 15 days to practice, you go back and try to get good at what we do. We're going to play physical football."

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David Hood can be reached at davidhood@tigernet.com

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