Alabama rides well-rounded offense into title game against Clemson

Alabama embarrassed Big Ten champion, Michigan State on New Year’s Eve, with a hammering defense and equally dominant offense, earning their way to the College Football Playoff National Championship game with a 38-0 trouncing.

The sun drench Orange Bowl sadly did not live up to the hype that everyone hoped.

“August 3rd, when we started the season, I gave them shirts that said ‘Dream the Dream, ‘” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said.

In an otherwise close matchup, Clemson can’t afford to slip up on special teams and allow Alabama to create a momentum-changing play. Deshaun came out firing and connected on a gorgeous touchdown toss to Hunter Renfrow to essentially seal the deal for the Tigers.

Williamson, who missed eight games this season with torn biceps, had a quiet return against the Tide, playing sparingly in the nickel package.

If the Tide sells out to stop running back Wayne Gallman, Watson will find someone among his slew of talented receivers in Artavis Scott, Charone Peake or Jordan Leggett.

“Clemson is a great team, undefeated, a great program”, Saban said.

“When he does that, he makes things a lot easier on me – a lot easier than it should be”.

The 38-0 loss would suggest Michigan State hasn’t come that far, but five years of a program’s progress can’t be judged in one night. Watson, who was named the game’s offensive MVP, passed for one touchdown and ran for another.

The Crimson Tide (13-1) kept the pressure on Cook by limiting the Spartans to 29 yards rushing on 26 attempts, which included 29 yards lost in sacks of Cook.

The Cotton Bowl was won perhaps above all by quarterback Jake Coker, a redshirt senior, who exploited the one-on-one coverage that both teams knew talented pass-catchers such as receiver Calvin Ridley and tight end O.J. Howard would receive.

The Spartans will also be tested early with a road game against Notre Dame — another opportunity on a big stage for a program that’s had plenty of them lately.

He lit up the Spartans defense all night, relegating Heisman Trophy-winning back Derrick Henry (20 carries for 75 yards and two touchdowns) to second fiddle. Connor Cook was not ready for that type of size and speed either, he went 19/39 for 210 yards and two interceptions, not to mention he got sacked four or five times.

And ultimately, Alabama will get a chance for another national title. Michigan State had to punt from its 3, and Jones returned it 57 yards for a 24-0 lead late in the third quarter. Jones’s juke on the punter left people in awe, in multiple languages for that matter.

If they keep the greatness going into the first game of 2016, it would be historic.

Only one team remains between Alabama and its 16th national championship. Nobody out-recruits or out-plays Alabama under Saban. They count on us to do their job covering and we count on them to get pressure on the quarterback. Freshman Calvin Ridley was brilliant, streaking by defenders on deep throws and outfighting them on jump balls. Everything we saw on film was out there.

Saban refers to it as The Process, a catch-all term for the notion that every little detail matters, that his team will be more prepared and more conditioned and more mentally tough than every team they play.

Ridley broke Amari Cooper’s freshman record at Alabama for yards receiving (1,000, 2012), his 138-yard performance against MSU giving him 1,031 yards heading into the CFP national title game on January 11 in Glendale, Arizona.