College Football Playoff 2020: Projected top 4 after Week 9

2. Alabama Crimson Tide (6-0)

While the Tigers look to be declining, the No. 2 Alabama Crimson Tide are getting better every week. This was evident after the Crimson Tide shut out the Mississippi State Bulldogs and the air raid offense 41-0. The Tide scored 27 points in the first half against one of the most efficient secondaries in the SEC.

Senior receiver DeVonta Smith came up huge in the second game without the dynamic Jaylen Waddle. Smith caught six passes for 130 yards and two touchdowns in the first quarter. He added another touchdown in the second quarter for Alabama. Overall, he caught 11 passes for 203 yards for an average of 18.5 yards per reception and four touchdowns. He’s the only player in SEC history to have multiple games with four reception touchdowns.

One of the biggest problems for the Tide earlier in the season was the lack of overall efficiency from their defense. Against the Bulldogs, the Tide held them to 200 total yards with 163 of them coming from the passing game. The Tide also allowed only 12 first downs on a 2-for-15 conversion rate on third downs. The defense, especially, the secondary for Alabama played up to the task of a potentially dangerous air raid offense from Mississippi State.

This is the first time that a team coached by Mike Leach was shut out. The line between the Tigers and the Tide gets much closer as Clemson gathered 33 first-place votes from the AP Poll while Alabama gathered 29 first-place votes. Now the Crimson Tide will go into a bye week as they will prepare for a road trip to Baton Rouge to face the LSU Tigers (2-3).