Their boards are alive with "do what we did in 17 and keep them out there 100 plays" and "that defense was dying in Miami late vs OU."
I think both those are gross generalizations;
1. Laurence AIN'T Watson. He's good, great even as a freshman, but get out of here with that.
2. First game back after a month and practice can't get you the conditioning a game does and holy crapsticks it was warm and humid.
The world is full of idiots who think that something that happened one time is the new normal. There's a couple of flaws in that plan, but anyone who doesn't realize them will not accept what I'm saying.
1) Is anyone dumb enough to think you're going to hold Tua to 155 yards passing in a four quarter football game?
I'll give you a hint - he had 166 against UGA in one half plus one pass. So......no.
2) Is anyone dumb enough to think DeShaun Watson's total yardage of over 5,100 is the equivalent of Spicoli's slightly oer 3,000?
Watson had about three times as many rushes for about four times as many yards which, of course, keeps the clock running.
3) Is anyone dumb enough to think you're going to hold Alabama to six possessions of four plays or less in the second half?
Clemson might well win the game, but if their fans are banking on it depending on keeping our defense on the field for 100 plays, they may as well buy some Crimson Tide national championship memorabilia right now.
South Carolina had six drives of 73 or more yards and had more points against Clemson than they did Tennessee, whose defense is atrocious. I'm not going to use that one data point to determine things, but it would be wise of folks thinking they can keep Alabama's defense on the field for 100 plays to do the same.
Of course, there's one more thing: in all their evaluating of the OU game, they seem to forget we held Oklahoma 15 points below their season average. That would give Clemson 29 points.
Does any Clemson fan out there think 29 points will be enough to win the game?
(Teams that held Alabama below 29 points this year: Mississippi State in a game where they were trying to hurt Tua and we had in hand early).
They're talented, but I saw two plays early in the Notre Dame game where the defender had a clean shot at Lawrence and flat out missed. Not only won't we miss, your QB might not remain in the game if you leave that one open.
Keep this in mind: the 2 best QBs (yardage-wise) Clemson faced this year were Kellen Mond and Jake Bentley. They threw for 430 and 500 yards each - and neither is in the same solar system as Tua.
Clemson's chance of winning relies on establishing the running game. If they don't do that, we win.