Alabama quarterback Jake Coker had a career night in the College Football Playoff semifinal facing Michigan State, but Crimson Tide fans would be wise to temper their expectations for the national championship game Monday against Clemson.

Coker was 25-of-30 for 286 yards with 2 touchdowns and 0 interceptions in the Cotton Bowl win over the Spartans, which was a bit of a surprise since many suggested he was the weak link for this ‘Bama team. The 6-foot-5, 232-pounder spread the ball around underneath — five players caught at least three passes — and then hit wide receiver Calvin Ridley over the top twice for 50-yard completions.

However, Coker and Co. made all this happen against a Michigan State pass defense tied for 77th in the country with Old Dominion.

That won’t be the case at University of Phoenix Stadium, as Clemson is No. 9 nationally vs. the pass and light years better than Sparty across the board statistically. The Tigers allow only 47.6 percent of passes to be completed, surrender just 6 yards per attempt and hold enemy QBs to an anemic passer efficiency rating of 104 — Michigan State’s averages were 60.5, 7.3 and 130.3, respectively.

Clemson has enough big bodies in the trenches to make Coker uncomfortable in the pocket, even if defensive end Shaq Lawson is limited due to the knee injury he suffered early in the Orange Bowl victory over Oklahoma.

“I definitely believe Clemson has the ability to keep Coker from having one of his better outings,” said Eric Boynton, who covers the Tigers for the Spartanburg Herald-Journal. “Clemson has solid depth and athleticism along the defensive front. Very few opponents have been able to keep the Tigers from penetrating the line of scrimmage, leading to the team ranking top 10 nationally in both tackles for loss and sacks.”

Clemson secondary a primary strength

Michigan State also featured a fair amount of future pros along the defensive line, but the same can not be said of its secondary.

While the Spartans had a pick in Round 1 at the cornerback position in each of the past two NFL Drafts — first Darqueze Denard, then Trae Waynes — they were not as talented at that position in 2015. Senior Arjen Colquhoun projects as an undrafted free agent. Junior Darian Hicks is no threat to leave East Lansing a year early for the next level.

Conversely, Clemson’s Mackensie Alexander, just a redshirt sophomore, is being mentioned alongside Florida State’s Jalen Ramsey and Florida’s Vernon Hargreaves III as potentially the best corner available for the 2016 draft.

“A big part of the line’s consistent success is due to the coverage ability of the secondary, which features one of the most important components of any great defense: a lockdown corner in Alexander,” Boynton said. “He’s had tremendous success in smothering the likes of Notre Dame’s Will Fuller.”

Fuller caught 62 passes for 1,258 yards and 14 touchdowns this year, but against Clemson the honorable mention All-American had just 2 catches for 27 yards.

In addition to Fuller, Alexander also went toe-to-toe with South Carolina’s Pharoh Cooper — he was a first-team All-SEC performer this season alongside Laquon Treadwell of Ole Miss and Fred Ross of Mississippi State. No matter how uncoverable Ridley seemed catching 8 balls for 138 yards and 2 TDs against Michigan State, there’s no reason to think Alexander will be intimidated.

Fortunately for Coker, even if Mackensie manages to limit Ridley to some degree, he still has other capable targets in the passing game.

Fellow wideout ArDarius Stewart has made his share of highlight reel-worthy catches, so he and Ridley form one of the more acrobatic duos in the land. Third banana Richard Mullaney is a sure-handed option — he better be after transferring from a Pac 12 doormat like Oregon State to an SEC powerhouse like Alabama — and tight end O.J. Howard is a matchup problem for most safeties.

But Alexander has plenty of help himself, both on the other side of the field and as a last line of defense.

Tigers will challenge Ridley

In particular, Jayron Kearse was a second-team All-ACC selection and is currently the No. 1 safety on the draft board according to CBSSports.com — his uncle, Javon Kearse, was quite a player, too. While corner Cordrea Tankersley and safety T.J. Green were three- and two-star recruits, respectively, Tankersley leads the Tigers with 5 interceptions and Green is second with 84 tackles.

As dangerous as Ridley is, chances are he won’t be tip-toeing through the Clemson defensive backfield unchecked, like we saw New Year’s Eve against Michigan State.

“Ridley has been great this season,” said Aaron Suttles, who covers ‘Bama for the Tuscaloosa News, “and Stewart has really come on. Ridley can do damage. However, Clemson is much better in the back end of their defense and much more athletic. The key is for Alabama’s offensive line to control a very disruptive Clemson front seven.”

Because the Tigers are just as confident in their back end as they are up front, defensive coordinator Brent Venables can dig as deep into his playbook as he wants.

“The Tigers have had success getting pressure on quarterbacks with just a three- or four-man front,” said Boynton, “but Venables likes to play aggressively and will get after Coker with a variety of blitzes and pressures from all over the field.”

Rarely does a column discussing the Crimson Tide offense go this deep without mentioning running back Derrick Henry, who won the Heisman Trophy and set the SEC’s all-time rushing mark for a single season in the process.

The Spartans may have been blown out of AT&T Stadium to the tune of a 38-0 final score, but Henry didn’t exactly have a lot of success on the ground — despite two TDs, he only averaged 3.8 yards per carry. Even minus Lawson for most of the game, Clemson just held Oklahoma’s 22nd-ranked rushing offense to 67 yards on 33 attempts.

Coker will have to make some plays. He certainly has the firewpower to do so. But Clemson possesses enough SEC-type cover guys to extinguish those flames.

It remains to be seen if the pinpoint passer we saw in Arlington is the same one that shows up in Glendale.