After seeing the cold weather games from the NFL, it will be nice to watch teams rewarded for their play and playing in a controlled environment. There will be no issues such as wind or extreme cold for anyone to deal with.
This game is interesting because of power and speed against read option and inferior conference play. A lot is in play to look at here. There is road work going on in my area around the freeways near where I live. The construction guys have a very tall cylinder shaped cage that continuously drops a weight that drives a beam into the ground. I see Alabama as this never ending heavy weight that just relentlessly pounds on you. It never stops. They have been battle tested. They have lost a game. They have played elite teams. They have played in championship games many times. They have the best or near best recruiting classes every year. The talent just keeps pounding. I feel Clemson is very finesse. I know what they rank on defense (6th) but this a team that allowed 37 to UNC, 41 to NC State and 27 to Syracuse. The ACC has proven to be a weaker than results based conference. They can only play who is on their schedule, but Alabama has played better opponents week over week.
No question that QB Deshaun Watson had an awesome year. A QB that rushed for 1000+ yrds and threw for 3700 more. He accounted for 31 passing tds and 12 rushing ones! Clemson does have another RB that ran for 1400+ yrds too. This is a read option team. I am VERY concerned for Clemson because Watson is still learning to play his position. Against quality defenses, Clemson has become more one dimensional due to Watson's inability to sustain a passing attack. There are 2 games in particular ND (10 comp / 84 yrds), Miami (17 comp / 151 yrds) plus he just made it over 200yrds against Oklahoma last time out. These are games that resemble the defense of Alabama. My belief is that Clemson will find the front seven of Alabama (as has everyone else) to be the best in the country. Alabama will not have to "cheat" players out of position to cover for the read option. They can man up and beat Clemson on every individual match up. Watson will logically have to be able to sustain offense via the passing attack. I just don't see that having positive, sustained results. They might get a couple plays here and there, but no consistency.
Alabama is very punch you the mouth style. Don't forget who their coaches are and the quality of recruit there is at every position. They have skill too. Over the past 2 games (both championship games), they have allowed 44 rushing yards on 47 attempts! The Alabama offense has been very good as well. They appear conservative. The is a myth. They are extremely productive to the point that they are boring. Since a bye week on Halloween, this offense has scored 213 points. That is over a span of 6 games that include SEC Championship and 1st round of National Playoffs. They score 35.5 on offense while allowing 14 from defense. Alabama wins every player match up except QB. It really isn't even close either. I haven't even mentioned Derrick Henry yet. He is only the Heisman Trophy winner! He a RB that rushed for over 2,000 yards with 25 Tds!. The ATS trends are no advantage to either team. The experience and coaching edges go to Alabama.
Alabama is just a superior team in every way to Clemson except at QB. QB play matters and Watson may get a few good things to go his way. Alabama is not being asked to cover that much. They have been less the DD favorites 4 times covering 3 times. The other Is the loss to Ole Miss. The average margin of victory in those games they won was 19! The battering weight of Alabama is too heavy.
TAKE: Alabama -7
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