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[QUOTE="Hoov50, post: 2027477, member: 1056"]
Clemson did nothing in regards to run blocking for nearly the entire game.  Watching the feet of the OL when comparing them to Bama's OL or DL there was a huge difference. Leaning into guys when double teaming or getting your shoulders turned completely sideways when pass blocking are not signs of a "just as effective" OL. Clemson won that game and got 250+ of their yards (and that's a conservative estimate) because Watson was mobile enough to avoid the rush or in many cases had a strong enough arm to make throws while back pedaling. Add to that the numerous times his receivers made spectacular catches and the huge chunk of yards from a screen pass (where allowing the DL through is the strategy) and you have  loads and loads of yards created with average to below average blocking.

In addition to the 2.2 yards per carry stat, Watson made plays because he is a complete QB and not just a runner with an okay arm.  Sure his WRs had a few drops, but the majority of his 20 incompletions were due to being pressured and only occasionally by blitzes, since a lot of the time Bama's LBs were spying him and not blitzing him.

On the other side of the ball Alabama averaged 6.5 yards a carry.  Hurts had all sorts of time to find his receivers but since he is currently a great athlete and not a great QB he couldn't find his open receivers, which there were quite a few of throughout the night.

Using yards as the main way to determine quality of line play doesn't show the whole picture.  I stand by my original statement that Alabama for the majority of the game had superior line play on both sides of the ball.
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