Alabama might be the best program to ever touch the college football landscape. With famous head coaches such as Nick Saban and Bear Bryant, this program has the most national titles in the poll era. This means they beat the nearest competitor by four- Notre Dame has 8 – and will continue this path for a long time. Now led under Heisman-hopeful Tua Tagovailoa, Alabama looks to get into the College Football Playoff, once again, and win another national title. The Crimson Tide currently sit at (10-0) and only need a couple more wins to finish undefeated in the regular season.
Clemson has been on the college football scene for a while, but just recently hit the height they wanted. Clemson has been coached by head coach, Dabo Swinney, for some time now and have now reached a top level. The Tigers have made the College Football Playoff for three years in a row and intend to make it four this year. Clemson is being led by Trevor Lawrence at quarterback, after the letting go of Kelly Bryant. This team has dominated most teams in their path and will most likely do so all the way to the College Football Playoff.
| Alabama | Clemson | |
| Points Per Game | 48.6 | 45.7 |
| Points Allowed Per Game | 12.7 | 12.7 |
| Opponents Winning Percentage Average | .510 | .571 |
| Red Zone Defense Rank | 3rd | 12th |
| Turnover Margin | 10 | 1 |
| Total Defense | 282.2 | 253.6 |
| Total Offense | 539.5 | 526.6 |
It might surprise you in that Clemson ended up taking two categories (opponents winning percentage and total defense) and tying one (points allowed per game). This really surprised me, since I thought Alabama literally ran the board on everything. It shows that Clemson’s defense should earn more respect than it has at the moment. However, don’t think that Alabama’s defense is not the best; they often rest starters after they amount their four touchdown lead.
Does Alabama play a cupcake schedule? Yes and no. Alabama’s opponents boast a (.510) winning percentage, while Clemson’s hold up a balanced (.571). Alabama does play some hard teams in their year like Auburn and LSU, but they do play Citadel and Arkansas State. It is known that schools will schedule some easier teams some years to boost their record, but this “cupcake” scheduling has been a theme at Alabama for some time now. I wish this program would give us some non-conference battles to watch outside the postseason.
Another line to look at is Alabama’s offense compared to Clemson’s. The Crimson Tide hold three offensive categories over the Tigers in: Total Offense, Points Per Game, and Turnover Margin. However, Alabama won Total Offense and Points Per Game by slim margins, while they ran away with the turnover margin. Alabama has shown that they can get turnovers on defense and protect the ball on offense. Clemson is struggling with this category and needs to improve for their future postseason slate.
At the end of it all, Alabama is clearly a better team than Clemson. Yes, you can say a deal about offense. However, if Alabama really wanted to, they could put up 80 points on most of their opponents, but bench their starters after they are up by a good margin. Clemson does bring a strong defense to the table that they deserve respect for, but is it capable of stopping Alabama? I only look to the LSU and Mississippi State games as proof.
Photo Credits: Evan Norris
