Film Room: Alabama vs. Clemson – CFP National Championship

Welcome to the Film Room, a new series here at Good if it Goes, where I take a look at some of this past year’s best college football games and examine a few big plays from them. First up – the National Championship Game between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Clemson Tigers. Let’s begin!

(Diagrams are not drawn totally to scale. Videos are from tWWL. Thanks for doing something that doesn’t suck, guys.)

Alabama 0, Clemson 0. 8:05 1Q. 3^rd & 1 from the 50.

The Setup

Here’s the way the field looks at the snap.

What happened?

  Clemson starts to bring 6 (the front 4, SAM and Will), but the SAM notices that it’s a run to the other side and changes direction to the playside. The Will keeps trying to get upfield. Alabama blocks who they need to block. The LT blocks the SDE. The C blocks the NT and is later joined by the LG, who is looking for work. The RG and RT block the WDE. The RG then releases and blocks the Will. The SS heads upfield but is sealed by the H, creating a nice hole between the RT and H. Derrick Henry sees the hole and hits it. The Mike saw that it was a run and headed playside, but was a step slow in doing so. The FS started out by heading upfield and by ended up pretty much taking himself out of the play because by the time he gets over to the playside, his chances of catching Henry are slim. He doesn’t, and Henry takes it all the way to the end zone.

What needed to happen?

The Mike is a half-second slow getting over when Henry made his cut; he’s got to get over sooner. The FS in that situation has to be able to put fires out. He is not going to be able to do that if he ends up four yards off the LOS. But the hole gets created in the first place because the WDE and Will both end up in the playside B gap and nobody’s in the C gap. So the SS is screwed either way. If he attacks the D gap, the H can seal him off and Henry scores, which is what happened. If he attacks the C gap instead, the H can seal him off the other way, Henry bounces a little further outside, and scores.

Clemson 14, Alabama 7. 12:06 2Q. 2^nd &3 from Clemson 24.                                          

The Setup

Here’s the way the field looks at the snap. The slot receiver is in motion right for Clemson, the nickelback for Alabama is following him. What happened?

 

Alabama rushes 5. Clemson slide protects right. The RB ends up picking up the SAM. The LT moves back to pick up the Will. The X and Z both slant. Bama’s CBs cover them man-to-man. The TE curls. The slot runs a wheel route. The Alabama nickelback gets hung up with the TE, then goes to cover the slot, but it’s too late; he’s too far by him. The SS realizes what happened to the nickelback and picks up the slot, but the slot ends up getting a step on him, too. Watson tries to hit the slot on the wheel route, but the SS picks the pass off.

What needed to happen?

One of two things. Watson needed to put some air under this ball and give his receiver a chance to make a play on it. Clemson fans, believe me, I know the frustration – I spent the early part of this season watching Jake Rudock to the same thing. Alternatively, the TE was wide open for a first down. Prentiss said on the podcast that that’s where Watson should have gone with the ball, I see no problem with taking a shot deep on 2^nd & short. If you’re going to do that, though, you’ve got to get the ball out there. If you do that, the worst thing that happens is it’s incomplete and it brings up 3^rd & 3.

Alabama 38, Clemson 33. 4:00 4Q. 2^nd & 13 from the Alabama 23

The Setup

Here’s the way the field looks at the snap. Howard (Y) had just motioned left behind the LOS.

What happened?

 

Clemson rushes 5 – the front four and the Mike. The WDE goes unblocked; I’m not sure if Henry was supposed to pick him up, but I’m going to guess no since the play was a screen. The LT and LG block the NT before the LT releases to take care of the Mike. The C and RG combine to block the DT. The RT blocks the SDE. The X, Z, and slot all block. The X doesn’t have to for long – the CB on him realizes what’s going on and takes off to try to put out the impending fire. The slot does a good job. The Z doesn’t do as great of a job, but at least forces his guy inside, allowing Howard to get the edge. On the plus side, when the Z fell down, he got in the SS’s way and slowed him up long enough for Howard to get by him and turn this into a big play. Eventually, Howard’s chased down by the FS.

What needed to happen?

First of all, the Will needs to hustle. He just kind of drifts over playside like he expects someone else to make the tackle. When nobody else does, he kicks it into high gear, but it’s too late at that point. The SS needs to take a better angle. If he goes for the edge, he doesn’t run into the Z and has a shot and making the tackle.

What did we learn?

Clemson’s safeties did not do them any favors. We saw one play where they only put out the fire after it had done a considerable amount of damage and one where they weren’t able to put it out at all. If Clemson’s able to do damage control on those big plays the Tide broke, they’re the national champions. Going into the game, I thought that if the Clemson offense could put some points on the board and make Alabama’s offense have to answer, they’d win. Deshaun Watson and the Tiger offense did their jobs. The defense – not so much.

Watson made just one big mistake – the interception we looked at. The concept of momentum in football is overblown, but that one hurt. Clemson had a chance to put some real pressure on Bama and the pick let the Crimson Tide right back in the game.

Twitter: @KSchroeder2325

E-mail: schroeder.giig@gmail.com

Related Posts

• 
  CFB Picks: 2022 Week 13
• 
  CFB Picks: 2022 Week 12
• 
  CFB Picks: 2022 Week 11