National Championship Preview: Alabama vs Ohio State
Since we last wrote this, here’s some news:
- Alabama is going to play in the National Championship against Ohio State (more about that later).
- Crimson Tide WR DeVonta Smith won the Heisman.
- Speaking of Auburn, the Tigers just hired Bryan Harsin to be their head coach. Former South Carolina OC Mike Bobo will be new OC, and former Vanderbilt HC Derek Mason will be the new DC.
- Speaking of Vanderbilt, the Commodores hired Notre Dame DC Clark Lea to be their head coach.d
- Texas is hiring Alabama’s OC Steve Sarkasian to be its head coach.
- The SEC went 6-2 in their bowl games, with only Auburn and Florida losing their games.
- Florida HC Dan Mullen is reportedly trying to sell himself to the New York Jets.
- Oh, and a bunch of SEC players are transferring, going to the NFL, or staying in school.
- Last but not least, there’s a new blogger coming to the SEC Football Blog, and she’s called Poppy Tegen Flora Ferguson, and she was born 5 days ago!!
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Alabama (-7.5, Over/Under 76.5) and Ohio State will be playing the National Championship Game on January 11th. The Crimson Tide battered Notre Dame, while Ohio State stunningly smashed Clemson in the other semi-final. Now, it’s the battle between two College Football heavyweights to see who’s going to see it home.
- THE OFFENSES ARE GOING TO BE FANTASTIC
Playing behind really, really good offensive lines, Mac Jones and Justin Fields can absolutely spin it. Mac Jones has had an incredible season, throwing for 4,036 yards, 36 TDs and 4 INTs, while Fields really came into his own against Clemson, going 22-28 for 385 yards, 6 TDs and 1 INT. If Fields has feeling no ill effects after the nasty hit he took against Clemson, he’s going to cause problems. And if we’re honest, Fields is a better NFL prospect than Jones, too, which should add another dimension.
Receivers-wise, both teams have great ones. On the Alabama side, Heisman winner DeVonta Smith was unstoppable all season long, grabbing 105 catches, 1,641 yards and 20 TDs. John Metchie is a sweet back-up, and we also really like Jaheel Billingsley, who’s in the WR/TE hybrid spot. He could well be an ‘X-Factor’ on Monday night. He had 16 receptions on 260 yards and 3 TDs. He’s been impressive. And on the Ohio State one, Chris Olave is. He had 660 yards and 7 TDs on 42 receptions. When he’s not playing (see the B1G Championship Game against Northwestern), Ohio State really misses him. Garrett Wilson (40 receptions, 673 yards, 5 TDs) is pretty filthy too. Also don’t forget about the Buckeyes’ two TEs Jeremy Ruckert and Luke Farrell, who combined for 3 TDs against Clemson.
The running game’s pretty damned good too. While a lot of love will be given out to Fields and the Jones/Smith hook-up which will undeniably throw down a bunch of scores, we should pay a hell of a lot of attention to what these two teams on the ground. Alabama might be seen as a ‘pass-first, ask questions later’ offense, but Najee Harris still topped the SEC in rushing attempts (229) by some distance, and helped himself to 24 TDs. He’s also a terrific worry for defenses in the passing game too. On the Ohio State, Trey Sermon’s been doing an Ezekiel Elliott, going off for 331 yards in the B1G Championship Game, and 193 yards in the semi-final. He’s looking the running back who ran for nearly 1,000 yards and 13 TDs for Oklahoma in his sophomore year.
2. THE DEFENSES ARE……SOMETHING
What’s going to make this such a shoot-out is that when Alabama’s faced offenses of any quality, it’s struggled. Against Ole Miss, the Crimson Tide gave up 647 yards and 48 points in a wild victory. Things improved as the Crimson Tide tightened up, but then they played a competent offense in Florida, and gave up 462 yards and 46 points.
And in Ohio State’s case, they are susceptible to the long pass. And when we say ‘susceptible’, we mean one of the worst in the country (116th), giving up 281.1 yards a game. But then again, people forget that Alabama’s isn’t great either, giving up nearly 243 yards/game.
Now in Ohio State’s favor, they are far better against the run, giving up only 9o yards per game versus Alabama’s 110.25. It should be really interesting if Alabama keys in on Sermon as much as Ohio State will key in on Najee Harris.
But can they afford to? Because any ‘key-ing’ could lead to untold damage on the other end.
3. WHO’S GOT THE BETTER SPECIAL TEAMS?
Alabama’s 100% in field goals and extra points this season, while Ohio State’s only 60%.
And that’s what it could come down to. And stupid field goal.
PREDICTION: This is going to be a really, really fun shoot-out. Alabama 48, Ohio State 44.