Clemson, Alabama tied at halftime

After a wildly unpredictable 2015 college football season (at the Football Bowl Subdivision level), the Clemson Tigers (14-0) and the Alabama Crimson Tide (13-1) are set to square off at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona tonight for all the marbles in the second annual College Football Playoff National Championship Game presented by AT&T.

Last year, the four-team playoff replaced the Bowl Championship Series in which the top two teams were selected to play in the final game. The 2009 class would’ve even won it their first year or in 2011, and the team’s subsequent National Championship in 2012 would have covered everybody in-between.

Bama is driven by Nick Saban, a living statue in the hall of great coaches, and Clemson’s boss is Dabo Swinney, who had to walk on at Alabama during his playing days, and yet I’m taking the Tigers.

Alabama: RB Derrick Henry is the Heisman Trophy victor with 2,061 yards rushing and 25 touchdowns in his first season as the Crimson Tide’s fulltime starter. Watson has been one of the most dynamic players in the country this year and when not killing defenses through the air he has been embarrassing defenders with his legs to the tune of more than 1,000 yards and twelve touchdowns on the ground. The Crimson Tide’s lone loss came by way of a 43-37 defeat to Ole Miss in the third game of the year. “A lot of Watson’s running comes on designed plays and I’m not sure that works against the Alabama defense, which is tops in the nation against the run”. He hit three big passes in a row – 24 yards to Charone Peak, 20 yards to Jordan Leggett and then an 11-yard strike to Renfrow in the back of the end zone. They also have to find a way to dig deep in the fourth quarter and play hard throughout the game. Only former Alabama coach Bear Bryant with six has more. We have three keys for you to watch throughout the game and, in my opinion, this will be what leads to a Clemson victory Monday night.

“We’ve had a number of his players and I would say they have that in common”. But this strategy opened up the passing game, and Alabama took advantage.

“They’re focused on the game”, Swinney said. ” That said, there’s some evidence to show he might be right as Alexander has given up just two touchdowns in his entire college career and just 14 receptions total in that time”.

If Clemson pulls the upset – at least by bettors’ measures – the Tigers will be the first Division I team to finish 15-0. Lawson, who suffered a sprained MCL in his left knee early in the game against Oklahoma, said he was “about 60 percent” healthy on Saturday. If you would like to discuss another topic, look for a relevant article. But the Alabama defense is really tough, as they haven’t allowed more than 16 points in the last seven games.

While the Crimson Tide’s success over the past 8 years gives off an aura of invincibility, they are anything but.