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Get a few stud defensive linemen who know how to get to the quarterback and surround them with some ball-hawking linebackers who clean up whatever else is left.
It’s the most basic of football philosophies, and it still works.
Alabama and Clemson are proof of that. Both appear very similar in their preferred defensive plans, although it’s in large part due to the great talent both programs have been able to secure in recent years. Both impressive defensive lines will be on display during Monday night’s national championship game in Glendale, Ariz.
Both have dominant pass-rushers who anchor the defense, although the Crimson Tide have decidedly more of them in their 3-4 scheme with the likes of the NFL-bound A’Shawn Robinson, Jonathan Allen and Jarran Reed. Robinson, a first-team All-SEC selection who was a finalist for the Outland Trophy, is a force in the middle of the line who routinely dominates the point of contact to routinely blow up opposing offensive plays. The junior and likely high first-round NFL draft pick has eight quarterback hurries to his credit, as well as 34 tackles, including seven for loss. Alabama’s defensive linemen average better than 313 pounds, and they all can run.
Allen, a defensive end who also garnered first-team all-conference honors, ranks second in the SEC and ninth nationally with his 12 sacks to pace a Crimson Tide defense that averages 3.64 sacks per game, best in the nation. Reed, who has seen action both at defensive end and defensive tackle, has registered eight quarterback hurries to go along with his 56 tackles.
Because of great depth, defensive coordinator Kirby Smart has at times played a more traditional 4-3 defense featuring four down linemen, but the Crimson Tide’s rich abundance of talented, playmaking linebackers led by All-American and SEC Defensive Player of the Year Reggie Ragland and Tim Williams make that scheme more the exception than the norm.
In the 3-4 scheme that both Smart and head coach Nick Saban prefer, the nose tackle (Robinson) lines up on the center, while the two defensive ends match up with the offensive tackles. Two inside linebackers line up over each guard. The inside linebackers are tasked with straight-ahead gap responsibility, while the defensive linemen force opposing running backs to go where the defensive coordinator wants them to go and free up the linebackers to make plays. That means finding defensive linemen who are smart and can move quickly on their feet to force the play to a more favorable location.
So far, so good as the Crimson Tide rank first nationally in run defense (70.79 ypg.), first in scoring defense (13.4 ppg.) and second in total defense (256.8 ypg.).
The undefeated Tigers rely on the more conventional 4-3 defense, led by All-American Shaq Lawson, the ACC Defensive Player of the Year who boasts a team-high 10.5 sacks, 23.5 tackles for loss and 15 quarterback hurries.
Lawson suffered a knee injury during the Tigers’ recent Orange Bowl win over Oklahoma and they still didn’t miss a beat in his absence, holding the Sooners to only 67 yards rushing on 33 carries.
The Tigers aren’t as big along the defensive line as Alabama, but boast an imposing front seven that features Lawson and second-team All-ACC performers in defensive tackle Carlos Watkins and linebackers B.J. Goodson and Ben Boulware.
Watkins, a 6-foot-3, 300-pound junior, registered 3.5 sacks, 65 tackles and seven quarterback hurries to compliment Lawson’s attack from the outside.
Both Clemson defensive ends,Lawson and junior Kevin Dodd, will be considerably smaller at 270 and 275 pounds, respectively, than the behemoth Alabama offensive linemen that will be challenging them. Freshman Richard Yeargin, Lawson’s backup, weighs just 255 pounds. That could be a factor against a big and talented Crimson Tide offensive line that averages better than 310 pounds.
Clemson enters the game ranked sixth nationally in total defense (301.6 ypg.), 16th in scoring defense (20.0 ppg.), 18th in rush defense (124.36) and ninth in pass defense (177.2).
John Hollis is a contributing writer for Saturday Down South. He covers Georgia and Florida.
