Why Clemson will win the National Championship Game
The first rematch in BCS and College Football Playoff history is here. After the seasons that Alabama and Clemson have had plus the key figures from Alabama’s 45-40 win in 2016 who will play on Monday night, we can make a convincing case for each team to raise the national championship trophy. Here’s why we think Clemson will win along with insight from Larry Williams of Rivals site TigerIllustrated.com. For our case for Alabama, click here.
– The Tigers have the best offensive player in quarterback Deshaun Watson. If you followed college football closely in 2015, you knew about Watson’s greatness. But for those that didn’t and watched the 2016 title game, you got a crash course in what makes Watson special.
The Clemson QB made tough throws both from the pocket and on the run. He threw for 405 yards and four touchdowns and gave Clemson a much-needed threat on the ground with 73 rushing yards. It’s not a stretch to say he single-handedly kept Clemson in the game.
The Tigers can’t win without another great game from Watson. But there’s no doubting that he’s capable of another gem in what’s surely his final game as a Tiger before he heads to the NFL.
– Clemson also may have the best receivers Alabama has faced all season. Mike Williams matches up well with any of Alabama’s defensive backs and tight end Jordan Leggett is good at finding open space between the linebackers and safeties.
And we also aren’t forgetting about wide receivers Artavis Scott, Hunter Renfrow and Deon Cain. It’s a tough task for any defense to attempt to cover all of Clemson’s weapons at the same time, especially if Watson has time.
The Tigers have two new starting linemen on the offensive line in freshman Sean Pollard and redshirt sophomore Taylor Hearn. If the Clemson line — which held up well in 2016 — can give Watson time to throw in the pocket or, at the very least, avenues to scramble and improvise, Alabama’s passing defense can’t cover forever.
TigerIllustrated.com’s take: “[Clemson] has to pass protect. If you come up with three things to do: No. 1 pass protect, No. 2 pass protect, No. 3 pass protect. Because Alabama’s so fast and so disruptive. I think that might been the best defensive line I’ve ever seen. The combination of speed and power. Clemson has two first-year starters — Taylor Hearn at left guard and Sean Pollard at right tackle. So I’m guessing that [Alabama DL Jonathan Allen] will be matched up a lot on Hearn and [LB] Tim Williams will be on Pollard.
“If they can protect and create some rollout stuff, which they did last year — Deshaun got pressured last year against Alabama but he’s so great at tap-dancing around and navigating the pocket and firing downfield. That’s how you break a Nick Saban defense … No defense can account for a quarterback that can do what he does.”
– Clemson’s defense isn’t too far behind Alabama’s, and it’s facing a lesser offense. A lot of attention has been appropriately paid to Alabama’s defensive front. But Clemson has one of the best defensive lines in the country too, especially with the emergence of freshman DE Clelin Farrell.
And it’s facing an Alabama offense that, according to Nick Saban, had 25 negative plays in a 24-7 Peach Bowl win against Washington. Clemson’s defensive line tormented Ohio State in its 31-0 Fiesta Bowl win. If it can get the same kind of pressure to force Alabama’s offense into 2nd and 3rd and long situations, it has a significant upper hand.
Alabama’s offense excelled at the end of 2016 at taking advantage of big passing plays over the tops of defenses that had committed too much to stopping running back Derrick Henry. That threat is diminished with Jalen Hurts at quarterback. While Clemson may have to defend more horizontally against Alabama’s offense, it doesn’t have to worry about big passing plays as much as it did last year when it got burned by tight end O.J. Howard on busted coverages.
“We’re going to try to play a much more clean game,” linebacker Ben Boulware said. “All the guys have been focused this week, in their watching film this morning before we came here, so I’m expecting a lot more clean game. I’ll be upset if we give up 45 points again. Hopefully, our offense will score 46.”
– Confidence and focus. Clemson not only has the motivation to beat Alabama after last season’s loss, but it’s hard to overlook any added confidence that comes from the game.
The Tigers’ mantra this week has seemingly been “to be the best, you have to beat the best.” And it came pretty damn close last year. Alabama has a tendency to squeeze teams into submission like a boa constrictor, but it couldn’t do that to a slippery Clemson team a year ago.
And many Clemson defensive players say the team is much more focused than it was a year ago at this time when multiple players were weighing their NFL options as the draft deadline approached. Safety Jadar Johnson said linebacker Ben Boulware called a meeting before the season and demanded that the entire defense focus on the season before thinking about the NFL.
And there clearly was no looking ahead in the Tigers’ shutout of Ohio State. If Clemson wasn’t all-in a year ago and came pretty close to beating Alabama, what can it do with complete commitment?
“Last year, I don’t want to say — but last year, I think guys really weren’t as focused in as this team is now,” defensive tackle Carlos Watkins said. “I mean last year we had guys, you know, who I don’t think — I’m not going to call anybody out. But they started looking ahead, you know, trying to get ready for the NFL process and all. But this year, man, it’s only one goal and that’s to win the National Championship. And we’re not worrying about any of that until the game is over.”
TigerIllustrated.com’s take: “They were confident going into last year’s game because they drilled Oklahoma. But I still think there’s that aura there when you’re facing Alabama. You’re still not totally sure the first time you play them. So when you go toe-to-toe with them — the reason they lost that game was not the reason most people thought they would lose the game. People thought they wouldn’t hold up on the lines of scrimmage and Bama would just dominate them in the trenches. And they held up fine.”
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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
