SANTA CLARA, Calif. — With its high-octane offense, Alabama could afford to field a strong but less-than-overwhelming defense this season; a unit…
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — With its high-octane offense, Alabama could afford to field a strong but less-than-overwhelming defense this season; a unit that ranked 10th in the nation in yards per game given up and fourth in opponents’ points.
What the Crimson Tide couldn’t afford in the national championship game against Clemson was this:
♦ 44 points allowed, their second-highest total ever under coach Nick Saban.
♦ Clemson passes of 62 and 74 yards, after Alabama yielded only one completion of at least 60 yards all season.
♦ Virtually no pressure on quarterback Trevor Lawrence, who finished with a rating of 184.5 in becoming just the second true freshman QB to claim a victory in a national title game.
Alabama could point to plenty of reasons for its spectacular pratfall in a 44-16 loss to the Tigers in Monday’s College Football Playoff championship game, including an inexplicable disappearance in the final three quarters by its once-formidable offense, which scored three points in that span.
But the guys in charge of keeping the opponents out of the end zone deserves a fair amount of the blame as well.
An average effort by the Crimson Tide defenders — yielding 295 yards and about 15 points — certainly would have put them in position to claim the school’s sixth national title in a decade.
