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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 Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
(Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /

3. Trevor Lawrence makes at least one “freshman” mistake

This could be more wishful thinking than anything else, as Trevor Lawrence has looked anything but like a freshman throughout 2018.

Lawrence has more than lived up to the billing as the five-star, cant-miss QB he was hyped to be coming out of Cartersville, Georgia.

He usurped Kelly Bryant, causing the senior to leave the team to transfer to Missouri. The move to Lawrence proved to be fruitful for Dabo Swinney, with the freshman QB providing the perfect counter-balance for talented sophomore RB Travis Etienne. He led the Tigers to a top-five offense by being the ACC’s most efficient passer.

He’s completed 65 percent of his passes for just shy of 3,000 yards and 27 touchdowns. Most impressively, Lawrence has thrown only four interceptions on the season, showing maturity well beyond his years.

It helps that he has one of the nation’s most talented receiving corps to throw the ball to, but he has limited his mistakes, helping the Tigers bludgeon opponent after opponent since he took over the starting job.

Lawrence hasn’t faced an elite defense to date, however, so it will be interesting to see how he fares against an Alabama defense that is one of the best in the country at creating havoc. In the 10 games that Lawrence has started, the Tigers on average have faced the No. 64 ranked defense in yards-per-play. They’ve faced only one defense that ranks inside the Top-30 in yards-per-play, and that was Notre Dame in the Cotton Bowl, who lost their No.1 corner Julian Love early in the contest.

Lawrence is more than capable of making plays against Alabama’s defense; there’s no defending against perfect throws, and he was throwing darts in Dallas against the Irish.

It will be a tough task for the Crimson Tide’s defense to stop the talented freshman, but Nick Saban is a master of complex defensive gameplans that vex even veteran signal-callers. Look for him and defensive coordinator Tosh Lupoi to put together a plan that baits Lawrence into an ill-advised throw against disguised coverage, with either ball-hawking safety Deionte Thompson, or Orange Bowl defensive MVP Xavier McKinney, coming up with a key interception in a big spot.

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