No one saw a Clemson ass kicking of the Tide coming.... not one expert out there. I guess it's a good thing LSU and Florida represented pretty well because otherwise the SEC looks a little dinged up right now. Not sure what to make of it cause Bama didn't look like Bama tonight. That Lawrence kid looked like he was flyin on Xanax he was so calm and collected. Amazing performance by Clemson.....
The score was pretty one sided, but from my perspective the teams are pretty evenly matched and if they played again Alabama could sure win. When the top 10 comes out tomorrow the order I see is Clemson, Alabama, Ohio State, Notre Dame as the top 4. Then Georgia and Oklahoma, Florida, LSU. That's nine, Texas, UCF. The SEC will still be well represented and fairly ranked. I am enjoying the Man in High Castle series and we are through episode 3 in season 2. I imagine in the next week we will be done and anxiously awaiting season 4. I am going to the library and check out the book the series is based on.
Florida is still not in the same category as Alabama and Georgia but I do think we are moving in the right direction. Meanwhile this was Clemson's night and they deserve a lot of praise for the way they played.
"Florida is still not in the same category as Alabama and Georgia" No ****....but I agree that by the end of the season we were much closer. Gotta throw that LSU game in there too because that was a sign of things to come as well for the Gators.
Certainly, a different type of game than I anticipated, but Clemson played a superb game and deserved the win. As someone posted earlier winning two straight CFP games is not an easy task.
Clemson is that good. Notre Dame is vindicated. Or, like Notre Dame, the Tide did not belong in the playoffs as the Buckeyes did not belong when Clemson whitewashed them . Now everyone understands that line of thinking is nonsense.
After a little perspective, Alabama just got beat by a better defense. Lawrence is really good but the Clemson defense made 4 or 5 stops in the second half and Alabama was out of the game. If you look at the stats it looks like it should have been a close game. Two interceptions and 3 times in the second half Clemson stopped Alabama on downs. After driving down the field, Clemson was able to stop us on those 4th downs. Great defense and Alabama had no answer for it. Like I said earlier, it's hard to be disappointed in a 14-1season. I was ready for a loss but I never expected one like this.
I'd agree kp, the stats were more even than the score and the Clemson defense was the difference. Plus that Clemson WR just made some incredible plays. Just wasn't Alabama's night. I thought the comment about the staff turnover at Alabama compared to Clemson is interesting. Saban has had a new Coord almost every year on offense, and while not quite as much on defense as Kirby Smart stayed a long time but since he left the turnover at DCoord is picking up. While there has been very little turnover on Dabo's staff.
Terry, we have had major staff turnover almost every year. If that was a factor it would have shown up earlier in the year. Clemson was just more prepared to play last night. They executed better than we did.
I agree, Irish had a great season and deserved to be in the final four, the semifinals so far have been less competitive, Mich State was rolled one year, and of course Clemson rolled Ohio State, FSU was rolled by Oregon, Washington was handled easily by Alabama, and last year Clemson was handled by Alabama pretty easily. Right now Conferences are upset when they don't get a shot for their Champion. The Pac12 and the Big10 have been left out the last 2 years. Yet in spite of all the talk about it, those in charge don't really seem to want to change from 4 teams. I think mainly because it would truly kill the big bowls that have lined their pockets for so long.