With the College Football Playoff National Championship Game just days away, it's time to take a deeper look at the two teams playing for the title on Jan. 11. We looked at the offense earlier in the day, now it’s time to check out two defenses that dominated their opponents during the CFP semifinals.
DEFENSIVE LINE
We all know about the Alabama defensive line, the incredibly dominant Alabama defensive line.
It’s deep, it’s seasoned and it’s incredibly diverse. If a team attempts to run, more than likely they’ll run into A'Shawn Robinson and Jarran Reed. Drop back for a pass and Jonathan Allen and Tim Williams will be in the quarterback’s face.
The Alabama defensive front ranks first in the country in rushing allowing just 74 yards per game. It’s allowed just one player to rush for 100 yards this season and just two teams to rush for 100 yards. The Alabama front seven has allowed fewer yards against 14 opponents than Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson has rushed for this entire season.
The Tide, which have 50 sacks, have allowed just six touchdowns rushing.
Clemson’s defensive line is no slouch, but it’s not as experienced as Alabama’s.
The Tigers rank 32nd nationally against the run allowing 128.8 yards per game thanks to players such as Shaq Lawson, Kevin Dodd and Carlos Watkins. Lawson missed the majority of the semifinal game against Oklahoma with injury, but is expected to play against the Tide. Lawson has 10.5 sacks and an FBS-best 23.5 tackles for loss. Dodd has 18.5 tackles for loss and nine sacks.
The Clemson defensive front allows just 3.6 yards per rush and has given up 15 rushing touchdowns. It has 43 sacks and has helped limit opponents to just 43 percent red zone touchdowns.
Against Oklahoma, the defensive line kept the Sooners rushing offense, which came into the contest averaging 222.1 yards per game, to just 67 yards and just 2 yards per rush. It sacked quarterback Baker Mayfield five times.
While Clemson had a stellar semifinal game, Alabama has been consistently dominant all year. Hard to pick against the Tide.
EDGE: Alabama
LINEBACKERS
Even though Clemson lost eight starters from last year’s defense, the linebacking corps remained mostly intact.
Ben Boulware and B.J. Goodson are the anchors at the linebacker position as Goodson leads the team with 146 tackles and Boulware is right behind with 132. The two players have combined for nine sacks and four interceptions.
Boulware had 11 tackles and a sack in the semifinal against Oklahoma.
The biggest piece missing from the Tigers’ linebacking group is Stephone Anthony, who was a first round pick of the New Orleans Saints last year, but Boulware and Goodson have more than picked up the slack.
While the Alabama defensive line gets all the press, the linebackers deserve some praise as well. Reggie Ragland leads the team with 97 tackles and Rueben Foster is second with 64. But against Clemson, which has a dynamic dual-threat quarterback in Deshaun Watson, the linebackers might be even more important.
While Alabama hasn’t detailed its defensive gameplan, it could employ a QB spy to keep Watson from being too dangerous. That would put the Tide in a nickel defense with Ragland and Foster rotating with Tim Williams and Ryan Anderson at linebacker and as part of Alabama’s four-man rushing front.
Once again, it's difficult to go against the success Alabama has had up front this season even though Clemson's linebackers have been more productive.
EDGE: Alabama
SECONDARY
If there’s a weak link in Alabama’s defense — and that’s probably an unfair characterization — it’s the secondary.
The Tide allow 184.2 yards per game and much of that is because opposing quarterbacks rarely have time to throw against the Tide’s quick defensive front. Michigan State quarterback Connor Cook threw for 210 yards, but he also had two interceptions and was sacked four times. Only one team, Middle Tennessee, has passed for more than 300 yards on the Tide while six teams have failed to throw for 200.
However, this Clemson team, which is a heavy run offense, averages 283.4 yards per game and has five receivers with at least 400 yards and four receivers with at least five receiving touchdowns.
The secondary has accounted for 16 of the Tide’s 18 interceptions and has allowed just 13 passing touchdowns this season. But again, a lot of that success starts up front. If Alabama’s defensive front can’t put pressure on Watson, who has nine games with 248 or more passing yards this season, it could be a long evening for the secondary.
Clemson’s secondary allows just 166.9 yards per game, which will pose an interesting problem for Alabama quarterback Jake Coker, who completed a season-high 25 passes in the semifinal against Michigan State. Clemson is widely considered a more aggressive and athletic secondary as compared to Michigan State, so Coker, who was not really known for his strong passing acumen, will have a significant challenge.
The biggest conundrum will be figuring out how to get the ball to star receiver Calvin Ridley, who will no doubt draw the shadow of cornerback Mackensie Alexander. Ridley had eight catches for 138 yards and two touchdowns against Michigan State. Alexander was thrown toward six times and allowed just two catches for 27 yards.
If it’s not Alexander, Alabama’s receivers will have to contend with corner Cordrea Tankersley or safety Jayron Kearse, who is 6-foot-5.
Clemson will focus a lot of attention toward Heisman Trophy-winning running back Derrick Henry just like Michigan State did, but the Tigers have to be cognizant that Coker will enter this game with a boatload of confidence after his stellar semifinal performance. Shaking Coker’s confidence early will be a key to success.
Edge: Clemson
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Graham Watson is the editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at dr.saturday@ymail.com or follow her on Twitter! Follow @YahooDrSaturday
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