Clemson entered its game against N.C. State Saturday as a 9.5-point favorite, so it wasn’t necessarily crazy for former NFL wide receiver Steve Smith Sr. to predict the Tigers would come away with a win.
However, Smith made a rather bold statement about the game on ESPN’s “College GameDay,” slighting the Wolfpack and calling N.C. State a basketball school.
“Clemson has been struggling. They’re not the Clemson that we’ve loved over the years. But N.C. State, unfortunately, they’re waiting for basketball to start,” Smith said.
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Smith wound up eating his words after N.C. State pulled off an upset with a 24-17 win.
It became apparent right after the game N.C. State head coach Dave Doeren heard what the former Carolina Panther had said.
“Tell Steve Smith in the studio this ain’t a basketball school,” Doeren said. “He can kiss my a–.”
Doeren doubled down in his postgame press conference.
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“For a guy who lives in Charlotte, he clearly has got his head faced west all the time. No disrespect to him, but he disrespected our program, and I’m not gonna let people do that. These kids have worked their butt off. We’ve won a lot of football games here. … He can take that and put it where it belongs,” Doeren said.
“This is not a basketball school. This is a great, great school that has great sports, and football’s one of them. He wants to come see me, we can talk about that. But do your homework before you start talking s—.”
Smith isn’t afraid to speak his mind on the air. Before a recent Denver Broncos game, he said he would advise general managers not to trade for wide receiver Jerry Jeudy because he is “mentally unable to handle constructive criticism.”
The Wolfpack host Miami next weekend.
