I did just that over at SB Nation. Examining all the winning calls that brought down Alabama just brings into clearer picture how the key to beating the Tide is being able to throw the ball at a high level.
Like last year, the Tide trying to be cautious with their pass-rush to allow them to play lots of man coverage with two-deep safety help. Like last year, it wasn’t enough to stop perfect passes to big, skilled targets.
Alabama will almost certainly be elite again next year, if you’re looking for teams that might have a shot at bringing them down look for teams that can throw the dang ball.
Great breakdown. Watson and the OL did a great job of limiting Alabama’s pressure. Clemson was the only team with a top 10 offense and defense in the FPI (Alabama and FSU also had both units in the top ten in S&P+).
That was kind of the big thing about this matchup from a statistical profile perspective. Alabama had an elite defense and a great offense but Clemson had an elite defense and an elite offense.