Ex-Clemson QB: 2016 team couldn't beat his 1981 champions

While most Clemson alumni were basking in the glory of the Tigers' first national championship in 35 years on Tuesday, the quarterback of its 1981 title-winning team was busy reliving his glory days.

Homer Jordan - the starting pivot on the last Clemson team to claim the national championship - was adamant that this year's Tigers team, while impressive, would lose to his squad from the early '80s.

"I believe we would have won," Jordan told Josh Peter of USA Today by phone on Tuesday. "I believe in us and our team. It would be a heckuva battle, I'll tell you that. Their defense is something else, but so was ours."

Everybody likes to relive their heyday, believing they were better in their youth than they actually were, but the 56-year-old wasn't done, and doubled down on his comments just seconds later.

"They play finesse football and we just kind of played real physical," Jordan said. "That was the era we were in. Just smashmouth. Guys back then got their heads knocked off. We could play that way."

With that in mind, let's take a quick look back at Clemson's "finesse" team from last night, starting with wide receiver Mike Williams.

Meanwhile, the offensive star of the night, quarterback Deshaun Watson, was hammered throughout the affair, but looked anything like a "finesse" player on this incredible second-half collision.

On the other hand, here's the starting offensive line from Jordan's "smashmouth" unit, with not one player weighing over 250 lbs.:

And here's the starting defensive line for Clemson from last night's title game, with not one player weighing less than 250 lbs., and two players weighing over 300 lbs.:

Good luck with that "smashmouth" brand of football, considering the discrepancy in the size of each line.

For his part, Jordan stood just 6-feet and weighed 174 lbs. in his playing days, which is three inches shorter and 41 pounds lighter than Watson, who plays the same position 35 years later.