What on earth just happened.
This was the best-case scenario and even I, in my incessant optimism and sometimes even outright homerism, felt I was really reaching in my 34-28 Clemson prediction. I felt Alabama had more pathways to victory, but Clemson’s only obvious path was more likely to occur. Or so I tried to convince myself.
That pathway became a freeway after halftime I left all nerves and even dignity behind. Clemson’s gameplan was near perfect on both sides of the ball and the offensive line delivered an all-time performance. And so I will happily eat this crow:
Clemson’s interior line is a huge disadvantage — likely the single biggest mismatch — in this contest and has been underwhelming against the few merely above average run defenses Clemson faced.