Shakin The Southland · Jan 24, 2019
Clemson’s O-Line Paved the Way to the National Title
Clemson was 14-0 and riding a streak of nine straight 20+ point wins, yet in the week preceding the National Championship game against Alabama, I was fretting. Much of the season’s success had felt futile as this inevitable clash with the “greatest team of all time” loomed. The previous year’s Sugar Bowl loss hurt, but this would be worse. The season had felt so special all along and something about the inevitability of this fate it made it worse. The path to victory I imagined Alabama could pave went something like this:
Alabama would establish the run game and get into manageable third downs: Correct
Meanwhile, Clemson’s run game would struggle against a strong run defense: Correct