Alabama v Clemson

[donovan]

Was the most entertaining game of the post-season. Alabama is so disciplined they immediately regroup and start over, every play. I thought Alabama's play calling was excellent, have to give credit where it belongs. Clemson seemed to play their hearts. They got burned in the secondary and that was the downfall. I liked that there were not yellow flags all over. I think good teams avoid penalties.

I suspect, however, America did not care about this game. Certainly interest on this site has waned. With this playoff format general fans lost interest right after the regular season; i don't blame them.

[armchairqb]

Donovan, it was definitely a good football game; IMO it was better than last year's CFP Championship. Clemson definitely belonged on that level with Bama. Deshaun Watson in the second quarter was unstoppable running and passing in the second quarter, but he was a bit battlescarred as the second half went on. He still managed to keep it interesting in the last minute of the game. That onside kick as I saw Griffin pull off; a pop fly that landed in Marlon Humphrey's hands was impressive. Alabama's special teams came through, there's the difference in the ball game.

I'd have to agree with you that national interest wasn't there like last year; not just because of a geographic niche, but having the playoff games on New Year's Eve set up the championship game poorly. Twelve days might also be too much downtime between the semis and the title game. I'm quite curious what the viewership rating will be.

But definitely a good game and worth watching.

[billybud]

Those two miscommunications by Clemson's defense resulting in broken coverages, made all the difference in this game. When Clemson's Alexander went out with injury, it really affected their outside coverage. Still, this game was a great game between two good teams.

Saban's staff, calling for that on side kick, gambled and won. Got to like that play call. If Clemson had recovered and went on to score, the momentum of the game shifts the other way. That play was a momentum maker.

[Spence]

I thoought it was the best game of the post season too. I thought that Clemson was the type of team that could cause Alabama some problems and have a chance to win. It is hard to pick against Sabin, though, and I even have to reluctantly give credit to Kiffin for having a good game plan and making the needed adjustments. I have never cared much for Kiffin, but he was good last night. Clemson was ready to play and did. They just came up a little short. Nothing to hide their head about. They belonged in the game and they proved it. They could have been national champs if the ball bounced differently a couple of times. It was the kind of championship game people envisioned when they came up with this format.

[donovan]

On the flip side. I don't like to watch football on TV when the in between play commentary is so long you do not get to see the set up or even the beginning of the next play,

[Spence]

On the flip side. I don't like to watch football on TV when the in between play commentary is so long you do not get to see the set up or even the beginning of the next play,

Seeing the play form in person and getting to feel the electric in the air is the reason going to games beats watching them on TV. When I do watch them at home, I try to get a radio feed. I find radio announcers to be so much better than the TV guys.

[Eric]

I don't know how much of that is Kiffin's "genius" or him just having the better players. He tries to be sneaky by being counter-intuitive. I don't want to say I'm smarter than every defensive coaching staff hired in the SEC and at Michigan State and Clemson (that would be foolish ), but I can usually sense when something is up. I knew on 3rd down that Coker would bootleg, for example. And I knew that on 1st down and goal, Henry would get it. And I knew on 2nd down and goal, Coker would sneak. And I knew that on 3rd and goal, Henry would get it. And O.J. Howard is a guy that Kiffin has liked and has at different times in the season tried to get involved in the offense. He was a big factor for Bama in 2013, but he just did a disappearing act for the last two seasons. So that's not quite as stunning as ESPN tried to paint it last night, but Clemson didn't account for him well enough for some reason.

Saban's call for the onside kick though was genius. You figured going into this game that Saban had the coaching edge for Swinney, with this being his first rodeo. You kind of saw the same thing in the NFL last week, the newbies (and relative newbies) got roasted with an 0-4 record while the old guard went 4-0. Some people just have to be there first before they go on to win the big one. Clemson will be right back in the mix because they return a large portion of their best players. A lot of people were doubting Clemson heading into this year because they didn't have a boatload of returning starters, but they keep most of this team intact for 2016. Bama figures to be there too because they also threw a lot of freshmen to the wolves.

It's obviously really early and we need to see how injuries, suspensions, and transfers pan out, but Alabama, Clemson, Baylor, Michigan, LSU, Notre Dame, and Florida State are probably my odd-on favorites for the four playoff spots next year. Ohio State is in a bit of a rebuild, but of course we play them at the end of the season when they'll probably more cohesive, and with Michigan not looking great at QB, I don't think we will get in. We might finally get the two SEC teams if LSU wins the West over Bama or if LSU finishes runner up in the SEC West with one loss and Leonard Fournette at RB. Notre Dame might be a bit of a sleeper, but I like the way their schedule sets up. Baylor will still be prolific on offense and while Oklahoma will be fine, I don't think they beat a healthy Baylor this season.