Summary
Gary's thoughts about what happened to Alabama in the CFP National Championship game last night.
Once Alabama raced out to a 14-0 lead, the majority of the country thought this game was over, but Clemson took over the 2nd half once Alabama was not able to convert a single 3rd down after the 1st quarter (both of which were on a 9 play, 22-yard drive that ended in a punt). Pretty crazy that Alabama was able to score 31 offensive points all on drives that never converted a 3rd down.
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1. Quarterback was the biggest difference in the game
Clemson was obviously the better team last night, and the biggest position that made a difference in the game was at quarterback. Clemson had Deshaun Watson while Alabama had true freshman Jalen Hurts. One was making picture perfect passes all night, hitting his receivers in the perfect spots, and the other one could not throw the ball further than 5 yards down the field. On Alabama's side, there was no pocket presence.
Jalen Hurts has been a good quarterback, but if you cannot throw the ball down the field, it really limits a team's play calling and strategy. Clemson was able to keep their safeties up near the line the entire ballgame. As far as passing numbers go, Hurts was 13 of 31 passing for 131 yards last night. Now, one of those passes was a 68 yard touchdown to OJ Howard on a busted coverage by Clemson. So, really, Hurts went 12 for 30 for 63 yards. That's an average of 5.25 ypc, and an average of only 2.1 yds per attempt.
Against Washington, Hurts went 7 of 14 for 57 yards. OJ Howard, the TE, had 4 receptions in that game for 44 yards.
Let's look at the wide receivers. Last year was a monster year for Alabama's wide receiving corps. Many people thought unit was one of their biggest strengths this year. Calvin Ridley and ArDarius Stewart are proven deep threats. Gherig Dieter is a proven possession receiver. Cam Sims, Trevon Diggs, Robert Foster, Xavian Marks are all obvious threats in the passing game. The receiving corp has talent all over the field.
In the 2 playoff games, these were the stats for the wide receivers:
Calvin Ridley - 6 catches / 36 yds
ArDarius Stewart - 2 catches / 12 yds
Gherig Dieter - 1 catch / 10 yards
That's only 9 completions to receivers in 2 playoff games. That's terrible. Clemson's receivers had 26 receptions just in this game, and their TE Jordan Leggett caught 7 for 95 yards and RB Wayne Gallman caught 3 for 39.
So there's an obvious difference at QB, which allowed Clemson to stack the box, and forced Alabama into seven 3-and-outs, a punt on a 4 play drive, and two more punts on 5 play drives. There was also a punt on a 9 play drive in the first quarter that went only 22 yards (where Bama converted their only two 3rd downs of the game).
Alabama's lack of a downfield passing attack basically cost them the football game.
2. Clemson ran 99 plays to Alabama's 66
Alabama's defense was gassed. They only gave up 91 yards rushing, but Clemson's ability to throw the football kept drives moving, and when Alabama's offense could not stay on the field, they had to go in over and over and over. Even the Alabama scoring drives were quick strikes. Here were the drive lengths and times:
1st quarter: 3 plays, 59 yards, 0:58 (25 yd Scarborough rushing TD)
2nd quarter: 5 plays, 74 yards, 1:24 (37 yd Scarborough rushing TD)
3rd quarter: 3 plays, 7 yards, 1:29 (27 yd Griffith FG)
3rd quarter: 4 plays, 79 yards, 1:01 (68 yd Howard receiving TD)
4th quarter: 6 plays, 68 yards, 2:31 (30 yd Hurts rushing TD)
The longest drive of the night was the final scoring drive, which only lasted 2 minutes and 31 seconds. Clemson had longer drives that didn't even result in points.
The time of possession was key: Clemson held the ball for 34:44 while Alabama had it for 25:16. Not a winning formula for the Tide.
3. Alabama did not capitalize on Clemson turnovers
In the first quarter, Deshaun Watson fumbled and Alabama recovered on the Clemson 35 yard line. LT Cam Robinson immediately started first down with a false start that moved the ball back to the 40. On 1st and 15, a handoff to Scarborough went for -2 yards, so the Tide was back at the 42. Hurts then threw 2 incompletions and the Tide had to punt.
On the first possession of the 2nd half, Clemson fumbled and Alabama took over at Clemson's 16 yard line. After ANOTHER false start by LT Cam Robinson to start the drive (moving it to the Clemson 21), the Tide ran 3 plays (Scarborough 3 yard run, incompletion, 9 yard completion to OJ Howard) and kicked a 27 yard field goal. Took 1:29 off the clock. The defense was right back out on the field.
The one thing that Alabama had to have was some sustained drives, or at least have the offense convert the turnovers from the defense into points. They got one field goal out of 2 drives that started at the Clemson 35 and the Clemson 16. And ended up losing the game by the difference between a field goal and a touchdown.
4. Injuries killed Alabama
You think that Crimson Tide team didn't miss Eddie Jackson and Shaun Dion Hamilton? That's 2 defensive starters, a guy that contributed 2 punt returns for TDs and a pick-6 (Eddie Jackson), and the QB of the defense in Shaun Dion Hamilton.
To top it off, Alabama's biggest offensive threat, Bo Scarborough broke his right fibula late in the 3rd quarter after running for a first down on a scoring drive. After that, Alabama had two 3-and-outs and a 4-and-out before scoring on their last drive.
Injuries are a part of football though. Clemson dealt with them last season, losing star receivers D. Cain and Mike Williams, CB Mackensie Alexander and DE Shaq Lawson before or during last year's game against Alabama. The team should have been better prepared, but replacing talent is not always easy.
All in all, it was one hell of a title game, and a worthy successor to last year's big game. I would even say, from a game standpoint, it was better than last year's. Two great teams, and we've got somewhat of a rivalry going on here now.
It doesn't get much easier for Alabama next year though. Pre-season polls mostly have Alabama at #1 again... and who is at #2 in most of them? Florida St -- next year's season opener.
Rest easy, Tide fans. As long as Nick Saban is coaching this team, you're going to win more than you're going to lose. And losing games along the way makes the winning that much better.
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