Hoov50
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I don't watch as much football (NCAA or otherwise) as I used to since my television is almost permanently tuned to Nick Jr. or Disney Jr. However, I did want to share some of my observations from last night.
Alabama's line play was far superior to Clemson's on both sides of the ball and overall some of the best I have seen in quite some time. Alabama has some big, strong dudes who can most importantly move extremely well. Clemson's offensive line stepped up at the end of the game, but for much of the time they were over matched needing double teams to handle the defenders on the LOS, which kept any running play from getting passed the LB level.
On the other hand, Clemson's offensive skill position players were of higher quality than Alabama's, with the exception of Scarbrough. Once Clemson's offensive line starting playing just a little bit better their skilled players were able to make plays. I thought the advantage Alabama had on the lines (for most of the game) was much larger than the advantage Clemson had in skilled players. Fortunately, for Clemson their line stepped it up (especially on offense) the fourth quarter.
If we are going to get to the level we need to in order to compete for ACC titles which, after watching and listening to Coach Babers, I truly believe is possible, we will need to upgrade our line through development and recruiting. We will probably never get to the level of Alabama, but if we can start off by getting just 1-2 players the level of Clemson's lineman, we can use Coach Babers's system to be very successful year in and year out.
I love the fact that our coach was on ESPN (yes, I know it was technically ESPN News) all evening. He had great interactions with the other coaches and it allowed him to showcase both his football knowledge and personality. If this is the type of publicity our new AD can get us with his connections, I am very excited. Things like this can have a huge positive impact on our recruiting.
Alabama's line play was far superior to Clemson's on both sides of the ball and overall some of the best I have seen in quite some time. Alabama has some big, strong dudes who can most importantly move extremely well. Clemson's offensive line stepped up at the end of the game, but for much of the time they were over matched needing double teams to handle the defenders on the LOS, which kept any running play from getting passed the LB level.
On the other hand, Clemson's offensive skill position players were of higher quality than Alabama's, with the exception of Scarbrough. Once Clemson's offensive line starting playing just a little bit better their skilled players were able to make plays. I thought the advantage Alabama had on the lines (for most of the game) was much larger than the advantage Clemson had in skilled players. Fortunately, for Clemson their line stepped it up (especially on offense) the fourth quarter.
If we are going to get to the level we need to in order to compete for ACC titles which, after watching and listening to Coach Babers, I truly believe is possible, we will need to upgrade our line through development and recruiting. We will probably never get to the level of Alabama, but if we can start off by getting just 1-2 players the level of Clemson's lineman, we can use Coach Babers's system to be very successful year in and year out.
I love the fact that our coach was on ESPN (yes, I know it was technically ESPN News) all evening. He had great interactions with the other coaches and it allowed him to showcase both his football knowledge and personality. If this is the type of publicity our new AD can get us with his connections, I am very excited. Things like this can have a huge positive impact on our recruiting.