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Alabama Football: 5 Bold predictions for National Championship vs. Clemson

By John Mitchell

NEW ORLEANS, LA - JANUARY 01: Damien Harris #34 of the Alabama Crimson Tide dives with the ball as Van Smith #23 of the Clemson Tigers defends in the second half of the AllState Sugar Bowl at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on January 1, 2018 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
NEW ORLEANS, LA - JANUARY 01: Damien Harris #34 of the Alabama Crimson Tide dives with the ball as Van Smith #23 of the Clemson Tigers defends in the second half of the AllState Sugar Bowl at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on January 1, 2018 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images)
(Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images) /

2. Alabama makes a costly special teams gaffe 

Special teams, particularly the place-kicking game, has long been seen as Alabama’s fatal flaw during the Nick Saban era. Not much has changed in 2018, other than the fact that the special teams have probably been even worse this season than past iterations.

Alabama is generally sound in coverage on kicks and punts, and boast a game changing punt returner (Jaylen Waddle) and kick returner (Josh Jacobs), but the kicking game has been an adventure this season.

Redshirt freshman kicker Joseph Bulovas seized the place-kicking role after Temple graduate transfer Austin Jones doinked two extra points off the uprights against Arkansas State in the home opener. Bulovas fared little better on point-afters, missing five of his 79 attempts.

Bulovas has made his last 18 extra points after missing four in a three-game stretch in November. That means he’s either figured it out, or he’s due for a costly miss or two on Monday night.

While consistently derided, Bulovas has actually been pretty steady on field goals this season. He’s connected on 13-of-17 of his field goals, making a higher percentage than his Clemson counterpart, senior Greg Huegel.

Bulovas has made his last five attempts, and nine of his last ten. He hasn’t missed a field goal since October 13. That should be calming to Alabama fans, but Bulovas hasn’t been asked to attempt a pressure kick all season long, with the Crimson Tide consistently blowing teams out. He didn’t attempt a field goal in the only single-score game of the season in the SEC Championship.

How will Bulovas hold up if he’s asked to attempt a kick in a crucial situation against Clemson? Alabama fans would sooner go through a double root-canal sans novocaine than watch a Tide kicker line up for a crucial kick.

The more nerve-racking aspect of the kicking game for the Crimson Tide is at punter, where it’s been an adventurous season replacing the booming leg of J.K. Scott. Freshman Skyler DeLong was benched for ineffectiveness, replaced by walk-on senior Mike Bernier.

Bernier hasn’t fared much better, averaging 37.0 yards per punt on 23 kicks. He had his worst game of the season against Oklahoma, managing punts of 22 and 34 yards on his two attempts in Miami.

Bernier also has a bit of a lag in getting the ball in the air, taking his time to actually put foot to leather. That led to a blocked punt by Auburn in the Iron Bowl, and if Clemson has closely watched tape, they’re likely to send rushes to try and do the same.

The bad punts didn’t affect much against Oklahoma in a game Alabama led by multiple scores throughout, but in a game against Clemson, when field position could play a pivotal role, the Tide’s lack of consistency in this area of the game could be a huge detriment.

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