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Clemson Football: 5 Reasons Tigers beat Tide in College Football Playoff

By Justin Heisey

ARLINGTON, TEXAS - DECEMBER 29: Head coach Dabo Swinney of the Clemson Tigers celebrates after defeating the Notre Dame Fighting Irish during the College Football Playoff Semifinal Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic at AT&T Stadium on December 29, 2018 in Arlington, Texas. Clemson defeated Notre Dame 30-3. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
ARLINGTON, TEXAS - DECEMBER 29: Head coach Dabo Swinney of the Clemson Tigers celebrates after defeating the Notre Dame Fighting Irish during the College Football Playoff Semifinal Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic at AT&T Stadium on December 29, 2018 in Arlington, Texas. Clemson defeated Notre Dame 30-3. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) /
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Clemson football meets Alabama in the College Football Playoff for the fourth time in four years. Here are five reasons the Tigers get revenge this time around.

We all knew it would end with this. While some fanbases spent the postseason complaining about College Football Playoff expansion, it seems as if the BCS system predicted that this would’ve been the outcome anyway.

The Alabama Crimson Tide are coming off of an Orange Bowl win over Oklahoma in which they took a 28-point lead over the Sooners early on before securing an 11-point win when the clock struck zero. Despite watching the lead dwindle, anyone who watched the matchup never felt that the Sooners would make the comeback considering the size of the deficit and their lack of defensive play in the fourth quarter.

Clemson entered their matchup with Notre Dame as a 13-point favorite and a lot of controversy surrounding star defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence. Despite losing Lawrence for the contest, the Tigers held the Irish under three yards per carry and held running back Dexter Williams to 3.4 yards per carry, his third-worst output of the season. The Tigers would go on to win 30-3 over the No. 3 Irish in Dallas, Texas behind a 300+ yard, three touchdown outing for freshman quarterback Trevor Lawrence.

Alabama opened up as a 6.5-point favorite over the Tigers but Vegas has since dropped the gap to 5.5-points as the money poured in Clemson’s direction. The appeal to have the suspensions lifted of the three players who tested positive for Ostarine was denied which means that the three players in question will remain suspended for the national championship game. Luckily, Albert Huggins seemed to have filled in just fine for Dexter Lawrence and even forced a fumble early on in the contest.

The winner of this matchup will own the only 15-0 FBS college football season while the other will suffers their only blemish in an otherwise perfect campaign. Here are five reasons Clemson will come out on top.

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