National Championship Preview
It’s the rematch every college football fan has been waiting for. Last year’s national championship between Alabama and Clemson ended in a 45-40 Alabama win. Both teams were simply dominant in the playoff semifinals, Alabama beating Washington 24-7 and Clemson beating Ohio State 31-0. While Alabama comes in as the top team and undefeated at 14-0, against a 13-1 Clemson team, a lot of fans feel Clemson is the team that has what it takes to knock Alabama off their throne.
Let’s rewind to last year’s national championship. Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson absolutely shredded Alabama’s defense. Watson put up 40 points behind 405 passing yards and 4 TD’s along with an additional 73 rushing yards. Clemson led last year 24-21 going into the 4th quarter, but their defense wore down and gave up 24 points in the 4th quarter. Clemson coach Dabo Swinney promised Alabama coach Nick Saban they’d be back to meet again in this year’s national championship, and both followed through.
Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Clemson’s keys to success tonight rest on two major things: Deshaun Watson has to be equally as impressive as last year’s national championship, and the Clemson defense has to play as well as they did vs Ohio State in the playoff semifinal. This does not mean Watson needs almost 500 yards of offense or to put up 40 points again, because that is extremely unlikely. What Watson absolutely must do is protect the ball. Clemson cannot afford to turn the ball over against this Alabama team. If Watson can take care of the ball, sustain drives, and put some points on the board, Clemson will stay close. Look for the Clemson offense to try to spread it out and not allow Alabama's dominant front 7 to control the game. This will allow Watson more room to operate both with his arm and with his legs. Star wide receiver Mike Williams needs to have a big game tonight against Alabama's secondary. Most importantly, the defense must play the entire game this time around. Last year the defense collapsed in the 4th quarter. If they want to win this year they will have to play all 4 quarters. If Alabama scores 45 points again, Clemson has no chance to win.
Alabama’s keys to success also rest on two major things: contain Deshaun Watson and Jalen Hurts and new offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian must be on the same page. Watson is the only quarterback to have success against Alabama recently, and a lot of that has to do with the threat to run. Alabama must be able to contain Watson and not allow him to beat them with his legs. If there is one weakness on this Alabama defense, it is a mobile quarterback. Look for Alabama’s star linebacker Rueben Foster’s name to be called a lot tonight in trying to stop Watson. Offensively, Alabama has to get better play than they did against Washington in the semifinal. Steve Sarkisian takes over at offensive coordinator for Lane Kiffin, and he must be on the same page as Alabama quarterback Jalen Hurts. Clemson’s defense must be able to contain Hurts and make him beat them by throwing the ball. They needed a similar game plan last week against Ohio State and JT Barrett, and they held Barrett to -2 rushing yards. If they have similar success against Hurts, they’ll have a great chance at holding Alabama’s score down. Look for Alabama to keep things simple for Hurts early to get him into a rhythm. They'll want to control the pace of the game and wont want to get into a shootout with Clemson. Alabama will likely try to play ball control offense and let their defense dominate the game. They want a lower score this time around.
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Prediction: Watson has some success against Alabama’s defense but not to the level of last year’s game. Clemson’s defense plays all 4 quarters and contains Hurts for the most part but not to the level their defense played last week. Clemson keeps it close for all 4 quarters, but a crucial 4th quarter turnover tips the scale in Alabama’s favor. Final score Alabama 28 Clemson 24
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