Clemson, Alabama both win bowl games: will play for National Championship on Monday, Jan 7th.
Alabama topped Oklahoma 45-34 in the Orange Bowl, and Clemson crushed Notre Dame 30-3 in the Cotton Bowl. The two winning sides will now play for a National Championship on January 7th in Santa Clara, California.
For Clemson, their freshman QB Trevor Lawrence was dominant in the win over Notre Dame, throwing for 327 yards in only his 10th career start. He was 27 for 39 on the day and did not throw a single interception against a Notre Dame team which prides itself on defense.
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Lawrence was quick to deflect any praise from the media, instead pointing out that his teammates were a big part of the win.
"It makes it a lot easier on me when you just have guys all around you who are such great players and take that load off of you. There's not much pressure when you have guys this good playing around you," Lawrence said.
Lawrence’s preferred target for the Cotton Bowl was freshman receiver Justyn Ross, who had 148 yards on six catches, two of which were touchdowns.
A pivotal moment in the game happened when Notre Dame’s All-American CB Julian Love suffered an injury and was taken out of the game. His backup, Donte Vaughn, was unable to fill the shoes of Love and was taken advantage of by Clemson. Ross broke free of Vaughn’s tackle for one of his touchdowns, and Lawrence connected with Tee Higgins for a one-handed grab over the head of Vaughn with two seconds remaining in the second quarter.
Love returned for the second half, but the damage was already done, and Notre Dame went on to lose another bowl game. The school is 0-8 in BCS and New Year’s Six games since 1993, when they won the Cotton Bowl.
Alabama-Oklahoma was also the story of a dominant QB, as the Crimson Tide’s Tua Tagovailoa threw for 318 yards and four touchdowns to lead his no. 1 ranked Alabama back to the National Championship game for the fourth consecutive year.
The win counted as sweet revenge for Tagovailoa, who lost the Heisman Trophy vote count to Oklahoma’s Kyler Murray earlier this season. Alabama struck early and often in the win, jumping out to a 28-0 lead after only 17 minutes of football.
The lead ended up being too much for Oklahoma, who was able to rally within 11 points on three occasions but were never able to close the gap completely.
Alabama Coach Nick Saban now faces the task of getting his team ready for Clemson.
"They've got a great program and a great team," Saban said. "I'm sure it'll be a great challenge for us, and I'm sure we'll need to play better than we did today."
Saban will be gunning for his 7th National Title – 6 of which have come with Alabama.
College Football fans will be treated to another great game, with the two undisputed best teams going at it again. Alabama has won two of the previous matchups, including last year’s 24-6 blowout victory. This year, Clemson has an added weapon in Lawrence, who has been dominant all season and could be a difference maker for the Tigers. He has great poise and confidence for a freshman, even when under pressure by Notre Dame in the Cotton Bowl.
Another aspect to watch is Clemson’s pass rush, which was extremely effective against Notre Dame, where they collected six sacks and eight tackles for loss. If the Tigers can replicate that success against Alabama, they have a chance at slowing down their offense.
Particularly, Clemson will need to find a way to cover the Tide’s arsenal of WR’s. Jerry Jeudy, Jaylen Waddle, Henry Ruggs, and Devonta Smith are all highly-scouted talents that have given defenses nightmares all season long.
The game should be another classic, so you won’t want to miss out. Be sure to tune in on the 7th and register in our sportsbook to bet on Alabama vs Clemson!