We’ve known the match-up since New Year’s Eve, we just had to wait to see it live. The No. 1-ranked Clemson Tigers (14-0) come in as a touchdown underdog against perennial contender No. 2 Alabama (13-1) in the NCAA Division I National Championship Game.
Scroll on down for the live blog. Keep reading for preview information.
Here’s some selections from my game preview.
Alabama Outlook
Alabama quarterback Jake Coker had the game of his life against the Spartans in the Cotton Bowl, completing 25 of 30 passes for 286 yards and two touchdowns. Coker was so effective he got people talking about offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin as a potential college head coach again. Kiffin’s gameplan and Coker’s arm put Calvin Ridley on the Heisman watch-list next season as the Tide rolled up 440 offensive yards on what was supposed to be a stingy Michigan State defense. Ridley contributed 138 of those yards and a couple of touchdowns.
While Kiffin put himself on a few coaching short lists, Alabama defensive coordinator Kirby Smart is already halfway out the door after agreeing to take over the Georgia Bulldogs’ football program next season. Watching Smart’s defense make the Spartans lay a goose egg probably has the Georgia alumni and regents feeling pretty good about themselves right now, but Smart has one more job to do and it’s the toughest one he’s had all year; stop the Clemson offense.
Clemson Outlook
The Tigers had a little bit tougher an opponent in their semifinal game in the Orange Bowl. Oklahoma actually went into the half with a 17-16 lead before Clemson’s defense shut them down and Deshaun Watson and Wayne Gallman rolled up nearly 300 yards on the ground between them.
Watson was effective, but not spectacular against the Sooners throwing the ball, but it was what he did with his legs that made the difference. Against Alabama he’ll have to find a way to work the ball downfield, because the inside run game especially seems to disappear against the Tide’s front seven. The Tigers need to look long and hard at the Ole Miss game for how to attack Smart’s defense. Artavis Scott and Charone Peake are going to have to take the lid off the Alabam defense and Gallman will have to be involved in the passing game, either with dump-offs or screen passes so he can get the ball with some room to move.
Against Oklahoma the Tigers’ defensive backs were locked in. T.J. Green had 10 tackles and Jayron Kearse had eight, but both picks came from the linebacker corps with Ben Boulware and B.J. Goodson capitalizing on mistakes from Baker Mayfield. Mayfield still threw for 311 yards and a touchdown, but Clemson was able to keep their scoresheet clean in the second half, giving up a few yards but not much else.
Match-up & Analysis
Analysis
The line on this one as of today is still a touchdown most places, with a Alabama – 6.5 at a few others. Everybody that’s putting up an over-under (and not everyone is) has it as 50.5. Clemson showed up on both sides of the ball and did exactly what they needed to do to run Oklahoma out of the stadium last week. Alabama, on the other hand, embarrassed everybody in the state of Michigan, their children and their children’s children. This is the game we all wanted when the playoff began and now we’ve got it.
Prediction
I see two facts when I look at this match-up. There’s no way Jake Coker can have the kind of performance he had in the Cotton Bowl again. He doesn’t have it in him. The second fact is Clemson, as good as they are, will probably not have any more success running the ball against Alabama than anyone else does. Looking at those two thoughts, I’m going dog and the under. My final pick is Alabama 23, Clemson 20
The game is on ESPN at 8:30 p.m. Let’s watch it.
