Sugar Bowl Preview
By: Kenneth Harrison Jr.
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The ‘good’ bowl games have always happened on that day and with the College Football Playoff, it’s no different.
Number 1 Clemson takes on Number 4 Alabama in the prestigious Sugar Bowl. This is a rematch of the last two national championship games.
I’m on record as saying Clemson is the best team back in October. I still feel the Tigers are the most talented team in all of college football. I think they have the toughest matchup because Alabama is the second best team.
The Crimson Tide only have one loss on their resume, which happened in the final game of the season. Because of this, they fell out of the top four before the conference championship games. After the conference championships they moved back into the top four.
Clemson is the most complete team because their strong on both sides of the ball. They rank sixth nationally in total defense, giving up an average of 277.9 yards per game. They lead the nation in sacks with 44. They can also take the ball away because they have 14 interceptions and recovered 5 fumbles.
The Tigers rank 30th in total offense, averaging 448 ypg. My biggest surprise is that they were able to successfully replace Deshaun Watson.
Kelly Bryant is a better dual threat quarterback because he’s faster than Watson. Bryant has thrown for 2,678 yards and 13 touchdowns while completing 67% of his passes. He also ran for 646 yards and 11 TD’s.
They also have two backs (Travis Etienne & Tavien Feaster) that have rushed for over 650 yards each. They have three receivers with over 500 receiving yards apiece.
On paper Alabama is very impressive. They rank second nationally in total defense and 19th in total offense. There are a couple of noticeable differences from years past though.
They typically feature an elite running back like Heisman Trophy winners Mark Ingram and Derrick Henry or even Trent Richardson. A strong running game and stifling defense is the formula the Crimson Tide have utilized since Nick Saban took over as head coach.
Sophomore Jalen Hurts is a great athlete playing quarterback. He’s only thrown for 1,940 yards with a 61% completion rate. He does have 15 TD’s to 1 interception. He’s the second leading rusher on the team with 768 yards and 8 rushing touchdowns. Damien Harris is the leading rusher with just 906 yards. That takes me back to Bama lacking a dominant running back.
The passing game also lacks the great playmakers we’ve become accustomed to like Julio Jones, Amari Cooper or O.J. Howard. Calvin Ridley is pretty good but he’s their only threat as a pass catcher.
He has 55 catches for 896 yards and 3 TD’s. The second leading receiver (Jerry Jeudy) has 13 receptions, 244 yards and only one less touchdown than Ridley.
The defense has been dealing with injuries, primarily outside linebackers Christian Miller and Terrell Lewis. Without them they have given up a lot of big plays. On the positive side they might be healthy by the time this game is played.
Clemson has the advantage because they have a dominant defense and Alabama only has a couple of weapons to stop. The winner of this game will win the championship so enjoy the game.
