National Championship game notes: Bama vs Clemson

Quote from: hscoach on January 13, 2016, 09:05:51 PM

First: Congrats to the Bama players and coaches on the victory and bringing home Bama’s 16th National Championship. I must also say Clemson is a hell of a team and pushed it to the very end. Too be quite honest I was not sure it was over until the onside kick was recovered.
Offense: The offense had their problem and still put 473 yards of total offense on the board. I do think they went fast at times and had too much confusion. Bama had 335 passing and 138 rushing. As far as negative plays Bama had 5 sacks and 5 tackles for losses. They only had 2 three and outs the whole night. For plays for over 10 yards they had 8 passes and 3 rushes. Bama got into the red zone 3 times and scored 2 touchdowns and 1 field goal. They were aided by 4 touchdowns from outside the red zone. One of the biggest stats was there were no offensive turnovers.
QB: Coker had a decent game. He complete 64 per cent of his passes. I do think he started looking at the pass rush a couple of times. I also think the routes could have been a little better to help him. He made probably his best throws off his back foot on the 38 yard completion to Stewart.
RB: Henry had a good game. He was hit hard and a lot by many people. He did a pretty good job pass blocking
REC: They had a hard time getting open and the Clemson defenders closed quickly after their catch. I guess Clemson forgot Howard could catch and run or maybe Lane was holding out until this game. Howard took advantage of his opportunities. Now one thing I noticed was the receivers got hit in the mouth when they went to block therefore causing missed or poor blocks by them.
OL: At one point I thought the right side of the OL may cost Bama the game. There was either miscommunication or poor technique that led to poor offensive plays for Bama. Not only did they miss blocks they were blown up by the D lineman from Clemson. The OL had trouble getting a big push most of the night. The good thing is that they got enough push so Henry could get 3 to 4 yards most of the time.
Defense: The D had a tough night. They gave up 550 yards of total offense. This was 405 passing and 145 rushing. I will say I was surprised how strong Watson’s arm was. Bama only had 2 tree and outs for the night. As far as negative plays I have Bama for 5 sacks, 4 tackles for losses, 1 interception, and 1 block field goal. Now here come the eye opener. As far as plays for over 10 yards, Clemson had 19 passes and 5 runs that covered that distance. I didn’t count the missed tackles but there were a few especially late in the game. This is just my opinion but I think Bama was a little too cautious with their pass rush early and didn’t get to the QB because of being afraid of losing contain or the scrambling ability of Watson. The D did lose contain a couple of times and rushed too far up the field and opened a running lane for Watson. It seem to be the game plan early to attack wide and quick throws. Clemson looked to be satisfied taking what we considered an uncovered rec and take that 5+ yards.
DL: I really thought they played well. Again I thought their pass rush was a little too cautious early and they picked it up later in the game. If I remember correctly Bama’s first negative play didn’t come until late in the 2nd quarter, about the last 3+ minutes left to go in the half. One of the best efforts of the night was when Reed stopped the 2 point conversion.
LB: They played pretty well in a tough situation. These guys had to contend with a very mobile QB that could also throw the ball. They had to play coverage and the run.
DB: They played better than the stats show in my opinion. The way Watson could extend plays it is very difficult to cover for that long. Harrison had a huge play when the broke up the throw in the end zone which forced Clemson to take the field goal. His techniques was great he watched the man and then went to the arms of the rec to break up the ball. He never looked back. If you noticed on the first TD by Clemson Fitzpatrick took a peek back for a quick second and that is when he lost his cushion that allowed the throw to get in.
Penalties: Bama is only credited for 2 penalties both of those were pass interference calls. The one on Foster kept the drive alive that led to points. The one on Fitzpatrick looked to me like it could have been called offensive, but that is just my opinion. Two holding calls were refused because Clemson took the plays.
Special Teams: This is where the game was won. They got an onside kick which led to a touchdown. They blocked a field goal which, if made, would have allowed Clemson not to have to go for two after the touchdown. Finally, the kickoff return was a huge answer after Clemson had scored. They did miss a couple of tackles on kickoff returns and Bama missed a field goal themselves. The punting game for Clemson was pretty good and the punts took funny bounces which didn’t really allow Jones to stop them or return many. When he was able to field them he did a good job.
Finally: What a year. Many people counted them out after the Ole Miss game. This was a very good team that, if not for their own mistakes, would have been undefeated. Again congrats to all the players and coaches. Kirby Smart and players will be missed. The leadership on this team is what allowed them to make the push and win this National Championship.
Please feel free to comment.
Good Luck and Roll Tide Roll
16 and counting

You've outdone yourself again, great job. Applause E-Cred

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