On a night where two quarterbacks were supposed to steal the show, it was a certain defense that put on a clinic. This was not merely an upset, this was an Old-Testament tail kicking. The Clemson Tigers took it to the Alabama Crimson Tide last night, in what has to be and I quote “Largest deficit ever under Nick Saban”. Wow! Who saw that coming? Not this guy. Don’t get me wrong, we all knew Clemson was a good football team. The shocker is how they dominated Alabama in all facets of the game.
A few things that made Clemson successful last night:
- They dominated the line of scrimmage.
- They established the ground game.
- Trevor Lawrence was on his A game.
- Playmakers stepped up.
On the flip side, Alabama’s young star quarterback, Tua Tagovailoa was off last night. That’s probably an understatement. On Bama’s first possession, Tua threw an interception that was returned for a touchdown. You knew after that pick six that something was not right. Maybe he was still playing hurt, who knows? But you can’t put all the blame on Tua, the defense couldn’t get off the field. Clemson moved the ball when it mattered and the Tide had no answer.
For the game, Trevor Lawrence was 20/32, throwing 347 yards passing , including three touchdowns. And don’t forget about Justyn Ross and Tee Higgins with their acrobatic catches and clutch plays. Lastly, Travis Etienne ran for 86 yards and two touchdowns last night. It was a complete team effort from Clemson and they stepped up. Now they are National Champions, their third for the program.
So what’s next for Clemson? If you ask Dabo, just more of the same- winning championships. It’s all about family at Clemson. Coach Swinney has developed a culture of brotherhood and winning. And he recruits at a high level. Clemson is going to be doing this for a while, college football is just going to have to get used to it.
JDubb's Sideline Report 