Clemson Football: Early Observations vs. Alabama Crimson Tide

As we begin our analysis of Clemson football’s matchup with Alabama in the National Championship, here are our early observations of the Crimson Tide.

The Clemson football team took care of Notre Dame in the Cotton Bowl Saturday afternoon, defeating the Irish 30-3.

The Tigers took control of the game in the second quarter and then protected their lead in the second half.

With the win, Clemson advanced to the National Championship game for the third time in the past four years. Now, only the Alabama Crimson Tide stand in the way of the Tigers’ trek to a third National Title in school history.

As we began to look at the film, here are our early observations of Alabama.

Scouting Report: Early Observations

• Tua is special

The first key in stopping Alabama is going to be limiting Tua Tagovailoa and that prolific Alabama passing game. You’re not going to stop Tua from finding open receivers. What the Tigers are going to have to do is create pressure and make him feel uncomfortable.

Tua can get out of pressure and extend plays, so it’s going to be important that linebackers stay disciplined and that defensive linemen don’t overrun the ball.

I’ll also tell you that against Oklahoma, the Crimson Tide had a ton of success with simple slants over the middle.

• Alabama running backs are physical, north-south runners

Those Alabama running backs are physical and they run north-south. I wonder if you’ve ever heard that before.

Damien Harris leads that stable of running backs and he is just a horse. Joshua Jacobs and Najee Harris will also get plenty of carries. Clemson won’t be able to arm tackle those running backs. It’s going to take some major discipline from the Tigers.

• Bama secondary has some troubles

Alabama is led by Deionte Thompson- a very physical and talented safety. Though the Crimson Tide have talent in the secondary, they’ve certainly had some troubles this year. Those troubles were on display against Oklahoma.

Patrick Surtain II is a very talented cornerback, but he and those other cornerbacks had some trouble guarding those Oklahoma wide receivers, in particular Lamb.

I think that you could see Justyn Ross and Tee Higgins take advantage of that and out-physical those Bama defensive backs.

We’ll have plenty more analysis as we get closer to kickoff. Make sure you check back here on Rubbing the Rock.