Ad Disclosure
PHOENIX — If Alabama is to beat Clemson to win yet another national title, Jake Coker likely will need to connect with his receivers downfield.
Especially if the Tigers insist on playing press coverage, man to man, with cornerbacks Mackensie Alexander (an All-American) and Cordrea Tankersley (5 interceptions this season).
“They trust those guys to match up with anybody,” Coker said.
These are two of the biggest questions entering Monday’s game:
- How often will Clemson go to its favorite (press man) coverage?
- Can Alabama exploit 1-on-1 matchups downfield?
THE EVOLUTION OF THE TIDE OFFENSE
To understand the dilemma that defensive coordinator Brent Venables faces with respect to his coverage strategy, it’s important to understand what has happened with Alabama’s offense.
The simplistic narrative is that the Tide wasn’t sure what to do at quarterback until after the Ole Miss game. Cooper Bateman started in place of Jake Coker, who came off the bench and nearly completed a comeback. In the process, Coker finally exerted some authority with the offense.
The rest of the season, Coker got more and more comfortable augmenting superstar running back Derrick Henry, until he became the alpha player against Michigan State, even ahead of the Heisman Trophy winner.
While it’s true that Coker has gotten better through the course of the 2015 season, that’s a limited and convenient view. Calvin Ridley, Alabama’s true freshman receiver, didn’t excel until the quarterback position stabilized. His longest catch in September: 23 yards.
Then Ridley caught passes of 45 and 50 yards against Georgia. In Alabama’s last 10 games, he’s made nine catches of at least 30 yards. In other words, as defenses have devoted resources to slow Derrick Henry or blitz Coker, Ridley has started to beat 1-on-1 coverage for big plays.
“He can take a 5-yard hitch and take it to the house. He can catch a 70-yard bomb. It doesn’t matter what it is,” Alabama receiver Richard Mullaney said of Ridley. “He’s definitely a guy that is a huge threat. It’s been great to see him this year.”
An ankle injury hobbled Michigan State cornerback Darian Hicks against Alabama. Ridley exploited that matchup for 8 catches, 138 yards and 2 touchdowns. The question is, can he provide that type of production against a player like Alexander?
ALEXANDER ISLAND
All season, the Tigers have trusted Alexander to lock down the No. 1 receiver on the opposing team.
That frees physical safety T.J. Green to help against the run and allows Venables to deploy all sorts of blitzes on third down.
Many anticipate that Alexander will shadow Ridley 1-on-1 no matter where the receiver lines up.
“You’re going to have to wait until the game to find out,” Alexander said Saturday with a smirk. “When you’ve got a great corner — it’s basically what they do to (Darrelle) Revis. You allow your safeties to move around and make plays.”
Clemson coach Dabo Swinney described Alexander as a film room junkie. Often, Swinney left his office after 9 p.m. on a weeknight, only to notice that Alexander was still there, voluntarily watching film, desperate to pick up tendencies that would help him in that week’s game.
Studious off the field, Alexander is powered by emotion during games, straddling the line between aggressive and out of control. Teams just don’t throw his way. He has’t surrendered a touchdown pass in 22 games. Often, opposing quarterbacks ignore whomever he covers and target Tankersley instead.
If Clemson can neutralize Ridley with Alexander, thus deploying resources elsewhere, it negates some of the Tide’s offensive advantages.
ADDITIONAL FACTORS
But there are other factors Venables must consider. Coker has grown so comfortable feathering deep passes to Ridley and ArDarius Stewart in 1-on-1 coverage. Offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin has become notorious for calling his shots on the sideline when the Tide get a look they want pre-snap.
In other words, this Alabama offense is thrilled to get a cornerback on an island with one of those wideouts.
“It’s always nice to see that,” Coker said, his flat Southern drawl unable to mask the fact that the corners of his lips press into a subtle grin.
As good as Clemson’s secondary has been — the Tigers are sixth in the nation in opponent quarterback rating — that strategy has backfired a few times. Clemson has given up 11 passing plays of at least 40 yards, which is 81st in the country.
https://twitter.com/UofLFanBASE/status/644681525762592768
Then there’s the health of defensive end Shaq Lawson, who sprained his knee against Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl. Lawson leads the team with 10.5 sacks. Clemson expects him to play, but he said Saturday he’s 60 percent and that his pain level was an 8 out of 10.
It seems likely that Lawson will not be as effective as usual, which may force Venebles to get creative with blitzes.
Thanks to Henry’s record-breaking season, Coker’s reads were often basic. Alabama’s third-down conversion rate is just 96th in the country, marking the team’s biggest weakness. There’s some thought that Clemson will mix a lot of zone coverages to try to confuse the Tide quarterback.
“They really mix up their defenses a lot,” Mullaney said. “They’ll press, they’ll play off, they’ll go zone. I feel like they’ll throw a lot of coverages at us and try to find something that will work.”
BAMA’S POINT OF VIEW
Finally, the Tide must take into account Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson.
Alabama’s defense has enjoyed something of a renaissance this season. Bama allowed more points than the previous year every season from 2012-14.
Enter coach Nick Saban’s best pass rush ever (50 sacks), spearheaded by a historically deep defensive line. Add a secondary with a greater emphasis on coverage — thumpers like Landon Collins were replaced by former corners Eddie Jackson and Geno Matias-Smith — and Alabama sliced 5 points from its season average.
Alabama gives up just 13.4 points per game.
Watson and the rest of the Tigers’ skill players are as good or better than any group the Tide has faced all season, even Ole Miss. So don’t expect Alabama to be able to win by handing Henry the ball 40 times in a 17-14 type game. Even if Henry plays well, it’s likely that the Tide is going to need production from the passing game.
That may need to come from Stewart, Mullaney and tight end O.J. Howard, unless Ridley can beat one of the best lock-down corners in college football.
WHAT TO EXPECT
When all else fails, ask Saban. He seems to have answers.
Will Clemson trust its corners to cover 1-on-1? It seems likely.
“Clemson’s got a really good secondary and they do play a lot of man-to-man coverage. They do play a lot of press coverage. They are very aggressive in the secondary,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said.
“That’s why they create a lot of negative plays and that’s why they play the kind of defense that they’ve played all year. They’ve been difficult to score on. Their front does a good job of stunting. Creating negative plays. And their secondary does a really good job of covering them. It’s the combination of those two things that I think makes them most effective.”
If Alabama is to claim its fourth national championship under Saban’s leadership, it will be because the Tide found a way to get passing yards downfield.
An itinerant journalist, Christopher has moved between states 11 times in seven years. Formally an injury-prone Division I 800-meter specialist, he now wanders the Rockies in search of high peaks.
