BY: Tony LiebertThis is Alabama and Clemson's fourth consecutive year meeting in the College Football Playoff. The first time was the 2015 National Championship where a Derrick Henry led Alabama rushing attack defeated an inexperienced Deshaun Watson and Clemson 45-40. Both teams met next year in the following National Championship where a veteran Deshaun Watson Clemson team defeated a young inexperienced Jalen Hurts led Alabama squad with a gaming winning touchdown to Hunter Renfrow 35-31. The following year a Jalen Hurts led Alabama team handily beat Kelly Bryant and the Clemson Tigers 24-6. Monday, January 7th - 7:00 P.M #1 Alabama Crimson Tide (14-0) V.S. #2 Clemson Tigers (14-0) Alabama's Offense Then there was this year... Alabama comes in with arguably their best offense in Nick Saban era. The Crimson Tide offense is led by true sophomore Tua Tagovailoa, who is the most talented quarterback that Nick Saban has had at his time with Alabama. What makes Alabama's offensive so dynamic this year is their weapons. Alabama has a three headed monster at running back, led by senior Damien Harris who has 1000+ yards from scrimmage to go along with 9 touchdowns. In the second half of the season the Tide have led more heavily on junior Josh Jacobs who has 800+ yards from scrimmage to go along with 13 total touchdowns. Lastly Alabama utilizes talented sophomore Najee Harris who has 724 rushing yards to go along with 4 touchdowns. This shows how Nick Saban develops talent perfectly, they have a senior with 1000 yards, a junior with 800, and a sophomore with 750. To go along with their monster running backs Alabama may have their best receiving core in the Nick Saban era. The receivers are led by Biletnikoff award winner (Nation's best Wide Receiver) sophomore Jerry Jeudy who has 63 receptions for 1176 yards and 13 touchdowns. They also have sophomore Henry Ruggs III, who has 45 catches for 738 yards and 11 touchdowns, they lastly have talented sophomore tight end Irv Smith Jr, who has 40 catches 667 yards and 7 touchdowns. To go along with their insane weapons they have arguably one of the best offensive lines in the country led by future top 10 pick in the 2019 NFL draft, tackle Jonah Williams. Alabama's Defense To go with their insane offense, Alabama still roles out one of the best defenses in the country. The strength of their defense is the interior of their defensive line. The best player on their whole team in junior defensive tackle Quinnen Williams. The all-american Williams has been the most dominant player in college football this season. He was awarded the Outland Trophy (Best Lineman offense or defense in the country) while having 18 tackles for loss, and 8 sacks. The Tide also have another future first round pick junior defensive tackle Raekwon Davis, who is a massive 6'7" 317 lbs. The Alabama secondary is led by junior All-American safety Dionte Thompson who is also a future NFL first round pick. If anything Alabama only slight weakness is their ability to rush the passer, and Christian Miller who is second on their team in sacks with 7.5 will be out of the National Championship game with a hamstring injury. Alabama will then have to lean heavily on junior linebacker Anfernee Jennings. Alabama arguably has one of their most talented teams ever, and I don't think their dynasty will be ending anytime soon. Clemson's Offense Clemson will have something to say about Alabama defending their title. They may have one of their most talented teams ever as well. The Tigers are led by true freshman quarterback Trevor Lawrence who came into the season as the number two recruit in the country. I think the way that Lawrence handled the Kelly Bryant situation, tells you a lot about his character and shows you how special he truly is. Clemson has led heavily on sophomore running back Travis Etienne. Etienne has had 1600+ total yards from scrimmage to go along with 23 total touchdowns. Clemson very similar to Alabama, has a very young and talented group of wide receivers. They are led by sophomore Tee Higgins who has 56 catches for 855 yards and 11 touchdowns. They also have true freshman Justyn Ross who had two touchdowns in their semi-final verse Notre Dame, to go along with 40 catches 847 yards and 8 touchdowns. Lastly the Tigers have senior Hunter Renfrow who has played in all four of the matchups against Alabama, and caught the game winning touchdown the last time these two teams met the National Championship. The Clemson offensive line is led by senior All-American tackle Mitch Hyatt. These are arguably the two of most talented offenses in the country. Clemson's Defense The strength of Clemson's team is their defense and they may have the best in the entire country. They are led by possibly the most talented defensive line in recent history. The star of their line is senior tackle Christian Wilkins who has been a three year starter on Clemson line, and an All-American all of the past three seasons. Clemson also has one of the best pass rushers in the entire country senior Clelin Ferrell. Ferrell has 18.5 tackles for loss and 11.5 sacks this season. Ferrell has been an All-American the past two seasons. Both Ferrell and Wilkins are projected first round picks in the upcoming NFL draft. The Tigers also have senior defensive end Austin Bryant who has been a two year starter and has NFL asspirations as well. Clemson will obviously miss Junior, behemoth, future NFL defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence. Lawrence is out of this game due to testing positive for a banned substance. Lawrence is 6'4" 350 lbs and was the anchor of Clemson's interior defensive line, but they do have enough depth so I do not expect this to affect Clemson too dramatically as they showed against Notre Dame. Clemson's defense is rounded out by future defensive back NFL talent, sophomore safety Isaiah Simmons and junior cornerback Trayvon Mullen. Clemson has had statistically the best defense in the entire country this season, and I expect them to show up Monday night against Alabama. Prediction:
I believe that this year's national championship will live up to all of the hype. I expect this game to have a lot of points and a lot of big plays. I expect Clemson's star defensive line to be too much to handle for Alabama's offensive line. Clemson's D-Line will be clearly the best unit that Alabama's O-line has faced all year. I do expect Alabama's three headed monster at running back to be a lot to handle for Clemson's inexperienced linebackers as well. At the end of the day I think Trevor Lawrence and the Clemson Tigers will make one more big play Alabama, and Dabo Swinney will be hoisting up the National Championship trophy Monday night. Clemson: 31 Alabama: 28
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May 2020
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