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Alabama and Clemson will be meeting in the College Football Playoff for the third time in the last three years. If you think about it, that’s actually insane.
This game has a different feel to it, though. The Crimson Tide were barely able to get in after not winning their conference while Clemson was chosen as the top seed.
Alabama is currently a 3-point favorite, but there are a lot of people who think Clemson is going to get the best of the Tide for the second year in a row.
If the Tide want a chance at a fifth national championship since 2009, here are 10 things they need to do against Clemson.
1. Make sure the offensive line brings its ‘A’ game
Alabama’s offensive line is going to have to adequately protect Jalen Hurts. If it can’t do that, it could get ugly.
Clemson leads the nation in sacks this season with 44. To get an idea of just how dominant the Tigers have been, here are the top pass rushers in the College Football Playoff in terms of total quarterback pressures (sacks, hits and hurries):
Here are the leaders in QB Pressures among the four teams in the @CFBPlayoff pic.twitter.com/VupIfZE2JJ
— CFB Film Room (@CFBFilmRoom) December 18, 2017
2. Establish some sort of run game early
During the national championship last year, Alabama’s run game — Bo Scarbrough, in particular — was able to establish early success. It was unfortunate that Scarbrough went down with an injury, as Hurts wasn’t able to shoulder the load following the loss.
This season is going to be a lot more of the same. Establishing some sort of effective ground game is key to taking pressure off of Hurts and the passing game and will go a long way in opening things up.
3. Tackle on defense
It seemed like something was off with Alabama’s defense from the start against Auburn in the Iron Bowl. Instead of utilizing sound tackling technique, several guys were throwing shoulders.
That sort of poor tackling helped Auburn gain momentum early.
If the Tide wants to keep the Clemson offense in check, it starts with finishing tackles with authority.
4. Get creative on ways to attack Clemson
If Clemson is able to come out strong defensively, Alabama needs to have a plan to respond.
Two years ago, Saban and company elected to go with a surprise onside kick following a game-tying field goal early in the fourth quarter. That decision was a turning point in the 45-40 victory.
Alabama needs to have another trick up its sleeve — just in case.
5. Get off the field on third down …
Alabama’s defense was No. 8 in the country last season on third down — opponents converted only 30.67 percent of the time.
The Tide didn’t have that level of success against Clemson, however. The Tigers were able to convert 7 of 18 third downs (38.9 percent), which contributed to Alabama’s defense being on the field for 99 plays.
The Tide can’t afford to allow Clemson to have that level of success this time around.
6. … but convert third downs on offense
The offense is currently ranked No. 49 in the country with a 41.5 percent success rate on third down. That ranking doesn’t do justice to how poorly they’ve been, however.
In the last three games against SEC opponents, Alabama has converted only 32.4 percent of the time on third down — which would rank them No. 118 in the country if they had averaged that over the entire season.
The defense has to be able to get off the field on third down, but the offense has to be able to help them out by sustaining drives.
7. Force Kelly Bryant to beat them with his arm
No, Kelly Bryant isn’t Deshaun Watson. That doesn’t mean he isn’t capable of making a significant difference in this game, though.
If Alabama wants to give itself the best chance to win, it must contain the run game — Bryant and the running backs — and force the junior quarterback to win through the air.
8. Get Hurts comfortable early
At the time, it may have seemed a little confusing how Lane Kiffin chose to throw the ball on the first play of the game during most of Hurts’ freshman season.
Well, there may have been a method to the madness.
Brian Daboll needs to get Hurts into a rhythm early with safe passes in order to try to get his confidence up.
9. Translate first-half success to the second half on defense
In the two previous games, Clemson’s scoring breakdown by half is extremely lopsided. Of the 75 points that it scored against Alabama, 54 were scored in the second half.
To put that into perspective, the average of 27.5 second-half points for Clemson is more than Alabama has given up in any game this season — Auburn scored the most with 26.
The defense has to be able to translate any first-half success into the second half.
10. Stay healthy
This is crucial. Alabama has seen so many players go down with injury, and they can’t afford for the injury bug to linger.
Whether it’s Shaun Dion Hamilton, Dylan Moses or Hootie Jones this year or Bo Scarbrough against the Tigers last year, the losses can have a major impact.
Alabama needs to start healthy against Clemson — especially at linebacker.
Clint helps cover the SEC West for Saturday Down South. His work can also be found on USA TODAY Sports, The 'Bama Beat podcast and The Bullpen with TonyMac and The Lamb. Previous stops include SEC Country, 247Sports and Touchdown Alabama Magazine.
