Clemson-Alabama

[HeelFan58]

1, terrible coverage on the one kick off return. (one whole side of the field was open)
2. Forgetting the TE is an eligible receiver(appeared that way , the guy was so wide open) for 200+ yards.
3. Leaving an easy target for an on sides in your kick line.
4. Giving up 335 yards passing to a QB who's season best was 286 and threw for under 200 six times.

all together spelled doom. Tough to win giving up 45 points. What was the over/under?

 

[BeezerHeel]

O/U ranged from 50 to 52' depending on when you took it throughout the week. Closed at 51 where I always look.

 

[TarHeelNation11]

2. Forgetting the TE is an eligible receiver(appeared that way , the guy was so wide open) for 200+ yards.
3. Leaving an easy target for an on sides in your kick line.

These two points, to me, illustrate Saban's pure genius rather than Clemson's shortcomings. Alabama has stud tight ends and just have not used them all year. Go back and watch some of their games from this season -- they rarely have used tight ends in the passing game. Well guess what? It's natty championship time, and Ol' Nick (and Lane too) decide now is the time to unleash the tight ends. I bet Clemson was caught completely off-guard. It would be like if we hadn't used Ebron all season and then suddenly unleashed him.

And the onside kick call was pure genius / massive stones. Beautiful execution too. Saban and his program is just a machine. It can't be stopped and it won't be stopped.

 

[Raising Heel]

^^^ I'm not sure I'd call Clemson letting the TE run free "pure genius." Those were blown assignments, i.e. poor defensive execution by Clemson. I mean yeah, nice wrinkle by Alabama to utilize them more than they had but let's not get carried away.

Agree that the onside kick was ballsy and the execution was flawless. Not sure why the heck there was such a large gap in coverage on that side of the field.

 

[HeelFan58]

^^^ I'm not sure I'd call Clemson letting the TE run free "pure genius." Those were blown assignments, i.e. poor defensive execution by Clemson. I mean yeah, nice wrinkle by Alabama to utilize them more than they had but let's not get carried away.

Agree that the onside kick was ballsy and the execution was flawless. Not sure why the heck there was such a large gap in coverage on that side of the field.

Clemson had a bizarre bunched up kick line , might as well been an invitation to on side and yeah 2 of the tight end's catches were totally blown assignments. The last one was an excellent run after a blown tackle. The TE has 4.59 speed , not too shabby.

 

[JimmyinVA]

these were the two best teams in the country and they both played great yesterday. that's as much talent on the field as you will ever see in one game short of the NFL. both rosters were full of 4 and 5 star recruits and well coached, both teams played their hearts out, with exciting action and brilliant execution and no refs trying to dictate the outcome. as a college football fan what more could you ask for?

 

[TarHeelNation11]

these were the two best teams in the country and they both played great yesterday. that's as much talent on the field as you will ever see in one game short of the NFL. both rosters were full of 4 and 5 star recruits and well coached, both teams played their hearts out, with exciting action and brilliant execution and no refs trying to dictate the outcome. as a college football fan what more could you ask for?

Totally agree. Man, there was SPEED all over that field last night. Also, Shaq Lawson is a bad BAD man.

 

[BeezerHeel]

I dunno ... Refs dictated the end of the half. That was a big deal.

 

[TarHeelNation11]

I dunno ... Refs dictated the end of the half. That was a big deal.

They contributed to it for sure and Clemson has a legitimate beef on that; however, let's not forget that Clemson was already well on their way to frittering the clock away. They took way, way too much time once they got to the ~30 yard line.

 

[JimmyinVA]

Totally agree. Man, there was SPEED all over that field last night. Also, Shaq Lawson is a bad BAD man.

and how about the power and aggressiveness of the offensive and defensive lines. the big uglies came to play!

 

[BeezerHeel]

Most impressive (to me) was the Clemson offensive line. They did a whale of a job blocking on all accounts when no one gave them an opportunity all week. It was supposedly their Achilles heel compared to the Bams front 7. Solid job.

 

[HeelFan58]

O. J. Howard's TD's last night were his first since 2013. Guy today on ESPN said "it was the most people chasing O.J. since 1994".

 

[randman1]

Clemson ultimately lost due to being outwitted coaching-wise. Saban made a gutsy call and Clemson left themselves wide open for it. Also didn't have their special teams executing properly on that run back.