Posted on 01/06/2019 10:34:08 AM PST by blam
Clemson's Christian Wilkins will end his fourth and final season with the Tigers the same way he has ended each of the prior three: with a showdown against Alabama, and for the third time it comes in the College Football Playoff National Championship presented by AT&T (Monday, 8 p.m. ET, ESPN/ESPN App).
"I guess the only comparison is the Rocky movies," he said. "I know after three it's a trilogy. But what's four?"
It's a good question, though it's doubtful Nick Saban and Dabo Swinney have spent much time researching it. The on-field questions, however, deserve plenty of attention.
Sure, this is a matchup between two teams that know each other pretty well by now. Alabama came back to beat Clemson for a national championship to cap the 2015 season. Clemson returned the favor in 2016. Last season, the Tide topped the Tigers in the Allstate Sugar Bowl before upending Georgia for another title. And there are plenty of holdovers from those three, from Wilkins to the coaches to the undeniable heavyweight fight comparisons. But a lot has changed, too, and so we're digging into the details -- and hopefully avoiding too many Rocky allusions -- to find out who has the advantage in Part IV of college football's biggest rivalry.
Alabama X factor: Safety Deionte Thompson will have his hands full with all of Clemson's receivers, but Hunter Renfrow is another animal. Thompson can ask his predecessor, Minkah Fitzpatrick, about that. Fitzpatrick, a first-round pick and perhaps the best defensive back ever to come through Tuscaloosa, was torched by Renfrow in the team's three previous playoff matchups, where he caught a combined 22 passes for 211 yards and four touchdowns, including the winner in 2016.
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(Excerpt) Read more at espn.com ...
Quadrilogy.
I’m with you...And go back to about 10 bowl games instead of 34...
Bama dominated Oklahoma for a quarter, and that was enough.
Nobody outside the bay area knows the difference or cares. Stupid place to have the Championship.
Yes. I’m old enough to remember when there were only four bowl games: Rose, Cotton, Sugar, and Orange. Then came the likes of Peach, Astro Bluebonnet, and Fiesta. I don’t mind some of the lesser bowls, but they all should be played before New Year’s Day. Unfortunately, Pandora’s Box has been opened, and don’t think we’re going back.
Add the Gator Bowl and Sun Bowl to that and those are my first rememberances...I started paying attention in 1956 when Johnny Majors was at Tennessee....
What’s the matter, the All You Can Eat Salad Buffet Available At Participating Locations Only Void in Wisconsin and Vermont Bowl doesn’t suit your fancy?
Then Peach opened the floodgates in 1968 and we the potpourri of "Really? Who Cares?" bowls:
Bowl | Year |
---|---|
Outback Bowl | 1989 |
Cheez-It Bowl | 1989 |
Camping World Bowl | 1990 |
Las Vegas Bowl | 1992 |
Alamo Bowl | 1993 |
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl | 1997 |
Music City Bowl | 1998 |
Dollar General Bowl | 1999 |
New Orleans Bowl | 2001 |
Redbox Bowl | 2002 |
Hawaii Bowl | 2002 |
Belk Bowl | 2002 |
Armed Forces Bowl | 2003 |
Texas Bowl | 2006 |
Birmingham Bowl | 2006 |
New Mexico Bowl | 2006 |
Military Bowl | 2008 |
Gasparilla Bowl | 2008 |
Pinstripe Bowl | 2010 |
First Responder Bowl | 2010 |
Bahamas Bowl | 2014 |
Boca Raton Bowl | 2014 |
Camellia Bowl | 2014 |
Quick Lane Bowl | 2014 |
Cure Bowl | 2015 |
Arizona Bowl | 2015 |
Frisco Bowl | 2017 |
Go Tigers!
This will be a very fine competition between very gifted and athletic football teams comprised of truly committed student athletes endeavoring to complete their degrees with exceptional GPAs in highly difficult and challenging major courses of study.
Haha! Golic & Wingo had a funny bit — to name a bowl, combine the last place shopped with the last food eaten. For example: The Walgreens Beef Jerky Bowl.
Clemson losing three key players, I predict Alabama by at least 14 points........
Don't forget, in their last meeting, Bama's QB Tua played three and a half quarters with a severely sprained ankle until he was finally taken out of the game.
He's healthy now.........
Ronald Evans
January 6, 2019
The best indication of Clemsons chances to slow the Alabama football offense is the Crimson Tide game against a better defense, Mississippi State.
Alabama football has plenty of offense to beat Clemson. Not that the Clemson defense is not good. It is very good, one of the best in the nation. The reason Alabama football fans should feel good about Monday night is the November, Crimson Tide game against Mississippi State.
Mississippi State has a better defense than Clemson. That is not a typo or a moment of insanity. Check the NCAA Stats. Clemson and Mississippi State take turns being either No. 1 or No. 2 in the FBS for Total Defense and Scoring Defense. Dive deeper into those stats and see the Bulldogs are also much better than Clemson in Passing Efficiency Defense.
The Bulldogs arguably have the better of the two defenses because the Mississippi State stats were achieved against a tougher schedule.
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The only common opponent was Texas A&M. They outplayed Clemson the entire game but lost when they went for a 2 pt conversion at the end of the game. Clemson won 28-26.
Alabama beat Texas A&M 45-23.
Unless Alabama self-destructs Clemson cant beat them. Should be a good game.
Amen.
Incidentally, across the parking lot from the stadium is the Mariott Hotel, where the California Republican Party liked to meet for their state conferences--back in the 1980's, when the GOP still wielded clout in California and before the area became Silicon Valley.
Plus the field there is terrible. Expect a lot of players to be slipping and sliding.
The madness really started in the 80s with the “Poulan Weed-Eater Bowl”.
Ha.
See my post #13....I was making (silicon)chips there in 1967.
(Admittedly it wasn't called Silicon Valley until years later.)
They say it's a mess.
Go Tigers!
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