CFP National Championship Game: Alabama vs. Clemson - Preview and Free-For-All Contest

The College Football Playoff Championship game is just a couple of days away, and it’s a rematch of last season’s title game. Also – this will be the final NCAAF Free-For-All contest!

CFP National Championship Game

Alabama Crimson Tide vs. Clemson Tigers

Raymond James Stadium – Tampa, FL
January 9, 2017 at 8:00pm EST on ESPN

Alabama finds themselves back in the CFP Championship game for the second straight season. And for the second straight season, they’ll be facing the Clemson Tigers. Last year’s title game was a shootout between the two teams that ended in a 45-40 win for the Tide. Alabama piled up over 470 yards of offense and Clemson racked up 550 yards. The game ended after a late touchdown by Clemson and a failed on-side kick attempt with less than a minute remaining in the game.

This year’s game could turn out the same way, but it’s likely that it might prove to be a lower scoring game. Both teams are coming off of dominating defensive performances against their playoff opponents last weekend. Alabama defeated Washington 24-7 and Clemson took down Ohio State 31-0. Both of these teams have star players on defense and they have taken advantage of those strengths in order to win the big games.

The old football cliché is that “defense wins championships.” If we’re to believe this, then Alabama is the obvious favorite for this year’s championship game.

Alabama Crimson Tide (14-0, SEC Champion)

The Crimson Tide has made getting to the CFP Championship look pretty easy this season. The SEC has had a rough couple of years, so the competition in conference isn’t what it used to be. Their out of conference schedule wasn’t too impressive either, other than an early season win against Southern California – which is a team whose better days have been behind them as well. My feelings about their match-up last week is unchanged. Washington was essentially a pretender that benefitted from a weak Pac-12 conference. Alabama proved that the hype of Browning and the Huskies offense was just that.

So what does Alabama need to do against Clemson – a team that has had a similar run and took down another team that wasn’t ready for the “big dance” last week? In my opinion, they just need to attack Clemson QB, Deshaun Watson. Alabama has been successful at putting pressure on quarterbacks all season long. They’re second in the country in sacks with 50 and they’re first in yards lost due to those sacks...by 41 yards. They’re tied for 14th in interceptions with 16 and have returned 6 of those for touchdowns, one less than the leader in that category – Ohio State.

However, Alabama also had a dominant defense last season, before Clemson gained 550 yards and scored 40 points against them in the championship game. So the stats may end up proving to be useless. But if Alabama can sufficiently pressure Watson and change his timing in the pocket, he can make bad mistakes, as he has proven all season long – including throwing two early interceptions against Ohio State last week.

On offense, freshman QB, Jalen Hurts, will need to be wary of the Clemson defense, which has been just as dominant as Alabama when it comes to pressuring quarterbacks. Clemson has piled up 49 sacks this season and 20 interceptions, so it’ll be no easy road for Hurts passing the ball. Alabama will need to get their ground game off to a good start in order to slow down the Clemson defense, which is something that Ohio State was not able to do last week.

This is one thing that Alabama does very well. They’ve had three good running backs in Damien Harris, Bo Scarbrough, and Joshua Jacobs. Adding Hurts into the mix, the four players have accounted for over 3100 rushing yards on the season and 27 touchdowns. But they’re not all about rushing. They have two solid receivers in ArDarius Stewart and Calvin Ridley. If too much focus is on the Alabama rushing attack, they can burn the Clemson defense with play-action and some well-timed shots down the field.

One factor to consider for this game: The Alabama offensive coordinator, Lane Kiffin, accepted a new job at Florida Atlantic University and will not be coaching in the championship game. Instead, Steve Sarkisian, who had been hired as a team analyst for Alabama in 2016, will take over the offensive coordinator duties.

Clemson Tigers (13-1, ACC Champion)

Clemson had a fairly dominant run through the ACC this year, with some key victories against Florida State on the road and Louisville at home. They took a bad home loss to an unranked Pittsburgh late in the season and have struggled at times to put opponents away. When their defense is playing well, it’s noticeable. When they’re not, it can be a nail-biter for their fans.

The focus for this game will need to be on the Alabama backfield. The Tide’s offensive line is massive and they’re very efficient at creating holes in defenses. They have a stable of running backs that can remain fairly fresh throughout the entire game. They also have Hurts at quarterback, who can be more of a threat as a runner than a passer. The key for Clemson will be containment. They’ll need to keep Hurts in the backfield and force him to make throws down the field, where the experienced Clemson secondary can take advantage of the pressure.

To help keep the Alabama running game in check, Clemson will need to get some points on the board early and force Alabama to play catch-up. To do this, Deshaun Watson will need to play smart and not have early turnovers like he had against Ohio State. With the game control that Alabama loves to employ, early turnovers could prove to be insurmountable. Watson will need to be willing to use his feet to keep the Alabama defense off balance. To make that more effective, Clemson will need to get RB Wayne Gallman off to a good start – which should include a lot of read-options.

If Watson and Gallman can keep the defensive linemen and linebackers guessing, they can pick up large chunks of yards, forcing Alabama to bring up their safeties. If they can successfully pull that off, Watson will have an easier time getting the ball into the hands of his standout receiver, Mike Williams. Fortunately for the Tigers, Watson has several talented targets to throw to on both the outside and in the slot. If Alabama can’t control Watson’s scrambling and shut down the running game without the need for safety help, it could be a long day for the Tide defense. But Clemson cannot underestimate the ability of the Alabama front seven, as there are several NFL-caliber stars in the mix.

The key for Clemson will all come down to Deshaun Watson. If he can play a clean game and use his legs to pick up some critical first downs, then Clemson will have a very good shot at winning. If Alabama can keep him in the backfield and get consistent pressure on him, the Tigers will see their hopes of taking home the CFP National Championship fade away once more.

Team Statistics

Category	Alabama	Clemson
Points Per Game	39.4	39.5
Offensive Yards/Game	460.9	503.1
Rushing Yards	246.7	175.4
Passing Yards	214.2	327.8
Defensive Yards/Game	244	306.9
Rushing Defense	62	123.1
Passing Defense	182	183.8
Turnover Margin	+8	+1

*Statistics from NCAA.com

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Free-For-All Contest Categories

This will be the final contest for the NCAAF season! We will have the regular five statistics for this game. They are listed below, with current stats for each selection. All numbers have been rounded for game accuracy.

1. Alabama QB, Jalen Hurts, Rushing Yards: Season average per game is 64.

2. Alabama Team Tackles for Loss: Season average per game is 8.

3. Clemson QB, Deshaun Watson, Passing Yards: Season average per game is 298.

4. Clemson RB, Wayne Gallman, Rushing Yards: Season average is 78.

5. Pick the Game Winner and the Total Points Scored by Both Teams: Combined average points per game for both teams is 79.

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How to Play and Win

1. In a comment on this post, submit your numbers in the order that they appear above. You can number your selections (1–5) as they are above or not, but if not, I will assume that they are in the correct order and the results will be checked in that order. ONLY ONE COMMENT SUBMISSION PER USER, PER CONTEST.

2. Once your comment is submitted, I will confirm it after the deadline for entering the contest. The deadline for submission is 12:00PM NEW YORK TIME (UTC -5) ON MONDAY – JANUARY 9, 2016. After submissions are confirmed by me, any new entries or edits to comments will automatically disqualify you from the contest. So make sure that you have accurately submitted your numbers before the deadline.

3. There will be one winner for each statistic. The winner will be the contestant closest to the actual final statistics from the game. There is no limit to the number of stat categories that you can win. Contestants can potentially win one or all of the categories.

4. The contest will be funded with a minimum pot of 20 SBD. The rewards distribution will be divided evenly between the five statistical categories. Each category winner will receive 20% of the total rewards. In the event of a tie, the rewards will be split between the tying contestants for that category.

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Please feel free to leave any comments or predictions about the game and invite friends, family, and sports enthusiasts to Steemit to participate!

Enjoy the game and watch for the RESULTS post to find out who the winners are!

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