2 observations on Alabama - Clemson game
1) Clemson wins despite being -2 in turnovers and having a seriously inferior punting game - thus losing the field position battle in a major way for most of the game. Even those things up and Clemson might have won by 3 touchdowns.
2) It took an incredible (2nd half) performance by a very very good team to beat an Alabama team that fought with one arm tied behind its back. Damn they're good.
Will be interesting to see how Alabama's loss of its aura of invincibility plays out during the final 3 weeks of 2017 recruiting. (No, I don't expect commits to defect, but just maybe it influences a certain 5-star DL's assessment of the schools he is considering).
January 10th, 2017 at 10:58 AM ^
Their passing game isn't the greatest but you don't know who Ridley is? Pretty well-known WR in college football.
January 10th, 2017 at 11:03 AM ^
Their D was on the field for the last 2 minutes of that game with a chance to prove they were worth all the hype. With no offensive turnovers, and 31 points, that should've been enough to win the game if their defense was so great.
January 10th, 2017 at 12:05 PM ^
I believe Clemson ran 99 offensive plays last night - that is a heckuva lot of snaps for a defense to be on the field for.
January 10th, 2017 at 2:03 PM ^
January 10th, 2017 at 11:41 AM ^
How did Alabama of all programs end up starting a true freshman at QB? Hurts seems pretty raw as a passer. I'm amazed they didn't have a more polished option.
January 10th, 2017 at 12:39 PM ^
For whatever reason, Alabama doesn't seem to be able to produce those superstart quarterbacks that other teams are able to produce. It can't be recruiting so is it development? Do the best QB prospects not want to go there because of the heavy run oriented offense.
By the way, the NCAA should start enforcing the rules and kill the RPO. Lineman blocking 5 yards downfield gives the offense too much of an advantage.
January 10th, 2017 at 1:08 PM ^
Alabama has always seems to be LSU+ in that regard. LSU would always have talent all over the field but their QBs were rarely anything special. Same with Bama now. They're just littered with talent but they never have a game changing QB it seems. Just a slow procession of game manager types
January 10th, 2017 at 1:28 PM ^
To start the year, Alabama had the following QBs on the depth chart beside Hurts:
Cooper Bateman: class of 2013 4* 80th player overall according to 247
David Cornwell: class of 2014 4* 79th player overall according to 247
Blake Barnett: class of 2015 5* 21st player overall according to 247
All three of these guys are pro-style QBs.
I think what is happening on the college level is pretty simple: Mobile QBs are a quick fix. Unless you're a guy whose going to complete 70% of his passes, its more valuable to be able to scramble and take designed runs.
January 10th, 2017 at 3:03 PM ^
Interesting that they had that kind of depth and went with Hurts anyway.
I can see how a dual-threat QB can be a quick fix, but for a program like Bama that has a punishing ground game anyway and a loaded WR corps, I'd think you'd want whomever is the best downfield passer, whether or not he can run. The two playoff games showed some of the limitations of an offense that (aside from one busted coverage) couldn't stretch the field vertically.
January 10th, 2017 at 7:53 PM ^
I had forgotten that Barnett actually started the USC game for Alabama. Its kind of funny that Saban pulled him after two drives where Alabama went 4 and out and then 3 and out...and then Jalen Hurts proceeded to go 3 and out twice, but Saban kept him in the rest of the year.
January 10th, 2017 at 12:01 PM ^
I found it weird that Alabama really only moved the ball on big chunk plays. They had seven plays of 20 or more yards, and if you exclude those, they only achieved 8 other non-penalty first downs the whole game. Their only drives that lasted more than two minutes were 3:56 (two first downs and a punt) and 2:31 (final drive).
Obviously, chunk plays count and are instrumental in scoring points, but ultimately, the box score totals obsucre the fact that offensively, Alabama wasn't very good.
January 10th, 2017 at 1:06 PM ^
Alabama is strong though and will back again next year
Ya think?
January 10th, 2017 at 10:56 AM ^
I think the biggest "hot take" of this game is that Alabama's vaunted coaching staff got flat out outcoached by Clemson's coaching staff in all phases of the game. Including the punting game (sorry, OP, but you're wrong) - that was a very smart gameplan to give up distance on the punt itself to prevent any chance of return.
This game was a classic difference of an immensely talented group of players playing against a talented team.
January 10th, 2017 at 11:01 AM ^
Disagree. Giving a good team great field position every time is usually a recipe for disaster. Can't argue too much with the ultimate result with Clemson winning the game however.
January 10th, 2017 at 11:22 AM ^
Question is, though, whether the punt without the return actually did give Alabama better field position than they would have with a better punt with a return. Clemson went with a strategy where they knew what they were giving up and eliminated the chance of that yardage swing being any larger than they wanted to give up.
January 10th, 2017 at 12:06 PM ^
Maybe it's fairer to say that Clemson played at a special teams induced feild position deficit the whole game, and ignore the question of whether the coaching helped or hurt them.
And it wasn't just punts. The short pop-up kickoffs also sacraficed a few potential yards to prevent a big return.
January 10th, 2017 at 12:30 PM ^
The kickoffs were atrocious. They only made to the 35 sometimes. Kicking it through the end zone puts Alabama at a much more reasonable starting position if you're Clemson. I also think it can be argued that Clemson was lucky a few of those punts went in the right direction once they hit the ground because sometimes punts like that can flip the other way instead of flipping end over end for an additional 15 or 20 yards. Playing with fire on those.
January 10th, 2017 at 11:32 AM ^
January 10th, 2017 at 12:00 PM ^
averaged 44.2 yds per punt last night. For comparison's sake Kenny Allen averaged 43.3 yds per punt on the season.
Clemson's punter for the season averaged 38 yds per punt. So you're saying the Clemson punter and punt game which averaged 6 more yds per punt against Bama than they did on the season did a poor job?
January 10th, 2017 at 12:33 PM ^
It's not that it was a poor job. It was a good job. But it was a big risk because almost half of the distance was on the ground rolling or flipping and the bounce usually doesn't always go in the punter's favor. Either way, all's well that ends well. Glad it did.
January 10th, 2017 at 2:13 PM ^
The "big risk" was that it would roll the other direction or out of bounds, which could sacrifice (maybe) 10 yards. It's clear that their approach was to weigh that risk versus the risk of return yardage. That was a pretty smart weighing of the risk.
January 10th, 2017 at 11:13 AM ^
Bama is an equally if not more talented team. The most talented team doesn't always win. And they played together and as a team just like Clemson if that's what you meant (they just didn't have the added motivation only Clemson could've had last night). They went undefeated and lost on the 2nd to last play of the game against a team that could match them and just played a touch better last night.
I don't see how anyone could knock Bama's players or coaches unless you were going to say they weren't a team or only a talented group of individuals even after a win. Of course you can knock them for plenty of other things though!
I don't think OSU was anymore talented or well-coached than we are. It was basically the same game...we lead a close game for most of the game, they came back and barely beat us on the final play (I know, refs, but you know what I mean).
I would just hate for someone to be like Michigan was out coached and they're just a talented group of players after we were 1 play away from the B1G Championship game and our ticket to the CFB Playoff.
It's not basketball - I don't know how you get to a national championship game without being a great team. There's a big difference between Alabama and Ole Miss - I feel like you described Ole Miss.
January 10th, 2017 at 11:18 AM ^
"unless you were going to say they weren't a team or only a talented group of individuals even after a win."
I would say that, yes. I actually didn't really mean that as a knock on their players, but rather on their coaching. That felt like a crystal clear example of "we have superior talent, we can vanilla it up, and we'll be fine" by the Alabama staff.
The fact that they were one play away despite their huge talent advantage, the turnover margin, and their field position advantage says a lot. I'd also say Clemson didn't just play "a touch better". Just looking at yardage, time of possession, and third down conversion, three metrics that anyone would agree are key predictors, Clemson played A LOT better.
January 10th, 2017 at 11:45 AM ^
So are you saying Saban isn't a great coach or does this just apply to his assistants?
And I'm not arguing, it's your opinion...as I said "unless you would've said..." which you say you would have. Can't knock that.
I've just never heard anyone say Saban isn't a great coach.
January 10th, 2017 at 2:18 PM ^
Hmmm... I'm not saying he's not a great coach, just not as great as his recruiting ability and ability to hire top quality assistants (I'd argue up until this season, and perhaps last, despite the national championship last year) would make him seem. That's fine, though, because what it really means is that he's a great chief executive and recruiter of talent. I do think a fair question to raise is, with that talent he brings in, does it actually take a "great" coach to excel with it, or whether that line is somewhere lower.
January 10th, 2017 at 11:54 AM ^
And again...you're not saying this (or at least you haven't yet).
But the number of hot takes this morning calling Dabo a great coach and people knocking Saban is laughable, IMO.
Especially on this board because I've been calling Dabo a top 5 QB in the country for awhile now and people will fight it to the death. Chris Petersen came into the spotlight this year and he was head and shoulders better (even though I personally think you have the big 3 then Petersen and Dabo right there at 4 and 5 then another drop off).
I just don't think you've had the success Nick Saban has had without being a great coach. I've also had a chance to listen to him breakdown the game and he's unreal.
I HATE Coach K too, but the man knows the game of basketball like only few who've ever walked this earth do, IMO.
Just a random thought cause, while many of us dislike Saban - I don't knock his coaching ability. Clearly he and his staff are doing more than just getting great players.
Auburn, Georgia, Ole Miss, LSU, Notre Dame...they all get top recruiting classes too --- they ain't Bama. Hell, toss Michigan in that before Harbaugh. Hoke recruited his ass off...we couldn't come close to Bama.
January 10th, 2017 at 12:37 PM ^
Saban deserves criticism as much as the next coach when making decisions that do not work out. If anyone else switched their OC a week before the national championship game they would be getting absolutely hammered by everyone. And so should he. That was an ego move and they lost the game. That has nothing to do with whether he a great coach or not, but it does speak to whether he might be buying into his own hype a bit much.
January 10th, 2017 at 10:58 AM ^
I was most surprised by the "trickery" in the 4th quarter by both offenses. Alabama had a WR pass to a TE go for 30 yards, and Clemson did a WR screen lateral thing go for 5 yards.
Also, having a QB that can gash a team on the ground seems to work pretty well. It also helps when you give them huge WR/TE downfield who can continually win jump-balls.
January 10th, 2017 at 11:00 AM ^
I thought Bama got away with alot of cheap shots thorughout the game. Especially the 3rd down Watcson scramble in the 4th that came up short. Was clearly helmet to helmet.
January 10th, 2017 at 11:04 AM ^
Reuben Foster got away with 5 plays that should have been called penalties for hits that were either clearly targeting or late hits after the whistle. That guy is a beast though. He can hit.
January 10th, 2017 at 11:00 AM ^
Let's be 100% honest, nobody really knew how good or bad Alabama was going into this game. They destroyed USC but, that was a different SC team that finished the season. Other than that, they played a bunch of .500 teams. I was never convinced Alabama was by far the best team in the country like ESPN had been feeding us all year.
January 10th, 2017 at 11:11 AM ^
Not at all...but they're not overrated or trash because they lost either.
Clemson is a solid team that had one goal in mind. It's sports, you knew Clemson was going to have a let down during the year and you knew they were going to ride emotion into a slugfest once it was Bama.
I agree that Bama isn't some juggernaut unbeatable team. But they're not a fraud either.
They play again, maybe Bama wins.
SEC folks will lead you to believe they'd go 10-0 if they played each top 10 team 10 times. We all knew that wasn't the case. Hell, I think if we were healthy WE could beat them. Maybe 3 or 4 out of 10, but they weren't the effing Cowboys. And really they never have been most of the years - but they've been just good enough to get that championship...until last night.
January 10th, 2017 at 1:31 PM ^
Clem's Son dodged the proverbial 2-loss bullet vs NC State by pure luck - missed ~30yd FG on the final play of regulation. Not saying they didnt deserve to win last night or didn't have a solid team, but they were almost out of the whole thing.
January 10th, 2017 at 11:19 AM ^
Look at the QBs of Alabama's chief conference competition since their run over the past eight years. You don't see a lot of NFL talent there. LSU, UT and UF have been average at best at the QB position. It's easy to be a top defense with their talent when you face teams that are one-dimensional with crappy QB play.
When UF had Tebow, Bama couldn't beat them. When Auburn had Cam, Bama couldn't beat them. When Chad Kelly was healthy, Ole Miss gave Bama fits.
FSU is going to give them fits next year just because of the QB. Won't say FSU will win, but Bama will likely not be among the nations statistical leaders after Week 1.
January 10th, 2017 at 12:12 PM ^
I agree. It was clear all season long that they were a deserved playoff contender. They went undefeated and won a big conference. But the "so much better than everyone else" was always built on the SEC myth. In reality, the SEC was simply down this year, and cruising to that conference's championship did not signal clear superiority over every other team. It's worth noting that you have to dip down to 13 and 14 to find the next highest ranked SEC teams, and both of them (LSU and Florida) lost their out of conference matchups with similarly ranked opponents.
January 10th, 2017 at 11:06 AM ^
That quick kick was huge. Dabo learned not to risk it too early, flipped the field position and Clemson bascically got the ball back in the same spot.
January 10th, 2017 at 11:09 AM ^
Often times people will claim that the best team didn't win it all. Not the case this season. Clemson was the better football team last night. And I am convinced they are the best football team in the country. Great offense, great defense and their ST rarely got them into trouble. Hats off to Clemson. DeShaun Watson was incredible.
January 10th, 2017 at 11:10 AM ^
Because, well, this is the shitty world we live in.
http://whnt.com/2017/01/10/emergency-situation-reported-at-credit-union…
Hope this all ends peacefully. It rarely does, of course.
January 10th, 2017 at 11:11 AM ^
January 10th, 2017 at 11:28 AM ^
1. As a Chicago Bears fan, I DO WANT them to draft Watson with their first pick (3d or 4th overall). Dude is a Miss. State-certified BALLER. He wont' be a 5K/year passer, but I like his moxie. Hope he likes the cold.
2. Clem[p]son's 3 wide outs -- Williams, Renfro, Leggett -- were freaking awesome, they made the difference.
3. Bama suffered the same problem the Buckeyes did -- no downfield passing attack. Once your O is one-dimensional, a good D will bottle you up. That oh-fer-last-12 on 3d down plays was caused by their lack of a legit passing attack, and when they couldn't sustain a drive in the 2d half, their D got gassed.
4. Still put USC/Texas game ahead of this one -- b/c the magnitude of that game was larger. USC was going for an unprecedented 3-peat, and there were 2 Heisman players on USC's team, and it was a bit more of an upset.
January 10th, 2017 at 11:44 AM ^
USC was NOT going for a 3-peat. The recognized/accepted National Champtionship at the time was the BCS, not the AP. USC won 1 title in the BCS era and later had to vacate it due to Reggie Bush.
That whole "Going for 3 Straight Titles" was nothing more than a marketing play by the Talking Heads to generate more interest in the game (suprisingly mostly from ESPN which as usual was talking about of both sides since they always hyped the BCS and disregarded the AP). I thought it was total BS at the time and still do about USC going for 3. They won 1 recognized title, the BCS.
I agree that the Texas/USC game was potentially the best National Championship game in my lifetime but this year's is right up there with it.
January 10th, 2017 at 11:56 AM ^
Clemson had the best quarterback and the best receiver in the country. That's a pretty deadly combination. Once they started throwing the ball down field they were better team than Bama. It makes me look forward to DP-J in maize and blue.
January 10th, 2017 at 11:38 AM ^
January 10th, 2017 at 11:53 AM ^
My two observations are:
1) Quarterback is such a big deal (duh). We need Wilton to play at an elite level in pressure situations this coming year.
2) I'm so glad Harbaugh is recruiting more athletic linebackers. Playing on the edge in space is so vital against these offenses.
I'm going to be over on the Clemson campus this afternoon (my son is a freshman there). Should be fun.
January 10th, 2017 at 1:03 PM ^
January 10th, 2017 at 11:56 AM ^
This game, and infact all 4 Playoff Teams, showed that you need a versitle and somewhat "mobile" QB to win. Long gone are the days of the statue QB's.
If we had Jake Rudock this year, I believe we are undefeated and playing for the Title. Yes, he obviously had much more experience that WIlton, but Jake had enough "mobility" to take off when the time called for it.
Wilton is just so slow and lumbering, while he showed some decent "escapability" at times, when the opportunities presente themselves, he never really just took off and ran for the 5-7 yards that were available (yes, his 17 yard run in the 4th quarter not withstanding..)
I am not saying we need a true dual threat QB, but having an athletic/Mobile QB completely changes what the defense can due. Even if the QB only pulls it down and runs 3-4 times a game, it makes a difference. Look at Aaron Rodgers...Yes, he is a stud QB (and I am a diehard Bears fan so I despise Green Bay) but part of what makes him so good is is mobility and ability to pull it down and take off when the opportunity presents itself...
January 10th, 2017 at 11:58 AM ^
Since you mention Aaron Rodgers, that final TD pass against the Lions reminded me an awful lot of Wilton, with his escapability in the pocket.
January 10th, 2017 at 12:04 PM ^
January 10th, 2017 at 12:18 PM ^
I have always hoped for more personal observations from you.
January 10th, 2017 at 12:27 PM ^
Here are my takes from that amazing game:
1. At least 42.5434% of Herbstreit's talking is complete b.s.
2. An elite quarterback really does win big games. He was a man among boys out there.
3. Alabama's offense wasn't all that good, which was quite a surprise, but Clemson's defense had a lot to do with that. Which brings me to...
4. OLB #10 Ben Boulware shows what an experienced and supremely game-intelligent linebacker can do. And he hits like an SOB who's girlfriend just dumped him for a quarterback.