By Austin Turner – Content Editor
After a week of pre-game festivities surrounding the San Jose downtown area, it’s finally time for the main event, and it should be a good one.
For the fourth-consecutive year, the Alabama Crimson Tide (14-0) and Clemson Tigers (14-0) will play in the College Football Playoff, with the upcoming meeting being their third matchup in the national title game. The Tide have taken two of the three matchups, while the teams have split their championship tilts. The game will be the first championship game in CFP history in which both teams enter undefeated.
The two sides have become playoff rivals, and this season it seemed as though Alabama and Clemson were on a collision course. They were ranked first and second respectively for the all six of the CFP rankings. Even when legitimate challengers like Oklahoma and Notre Dame arrived, the squads handled them with ease.
The Tide and Tigers were about as dominant as they could possibly be over the season. Both teams head into the game unbeaten with 14-0 records. After Monday, one of them will finish off the first ever 15-0 FBS season. Their similarities don’t stop there.
The game will be coached by two of the best in the business.
The legendary Nick Saban will be going for his seventh national title as head coach on Monday, and his sixth for the Crimson Tide. The sixth of course came just came last season when Alabama defeated Georgia in overtime in the championship game.
Dabo Swinney, a University of Alabama graduate and Clemson’s current head coach has taken the program to new heights. Prior to his tenure, the school had only one national title in 1981, and struggled to reach the top tier of programs. Since his hiring in 2009, the Tigers have five Atlantic Coast Conference titles, and now four playoff appearances, including a national championship in 2016.
Young superstar quarterbacks will also represent both teams in Santa Clara.
For the Crimson Tide it will be the sophomore Heisman runner-up Tua Tagovailoa. After his coming out party in last season’s national championship game, he has established himself as one of the most-feared passers in the nation. He threw for 3,671 yards with 41 touchdowns and only 4 interceptions, while only throwing 14 fourth quarter passes.
Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence has proved why he was so highly rated coming out of high school. The true freshman-phenom has become a leader for the Tigers already at only 19 years old, and he’s being touted as one of the best NFL quarterback prospects since Andrew Luck. His 2933 yards, 27 touchdown and 4 interception season has been extremely efficient, and he simply doesn’t make the mistakes normally associated with freshman quarterbacks.
Speaking of defense, the Clemson Tigers allow the second lowest yardage per game in the nation, at only 274 yards allowed. The defensive line is considered to be the best in college football. They average 3.71 sacks per game, which leads college football.
However, they will be without superstar defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence, who’s serving a suspension for consuming a banned substance. Lawrence’s run stuffing abilities will be missed against a formidable Alabama rushing attack.
A common thread throughout Saban’s Alabama teams is elite defense, and this year is no different. The Crimson Tide allow just 307 yards per game. Their front seven is ferocious, as always, but the young, inexperienced secondary has tended to struggle against elite competition.
In its last two games, against Georgia and Oklahoma, Alabama has allowed over 300 yards passing for the only times all season. Heisman trophy winner Kyler Murray of Oklahoma in particular had a steller game in the Cotton Bowl, and the secondary of the Tide allowed the Sooners to get back into the game through big plays.
The key matchup in this game will be between the inexperienced players on both sides. If true-freshman Trevor Lawrence can avoid mistakes and expose the young secondary, the Tigers may be holding the trophy in Levi’s Stadium on Monday night.
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