Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit preview latest Alabama-Clemson national championship bout
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Monday night, we get the game many have been calling for dating back to last back to the spring — No. 1 Alabama vs. No. 2 Clemson.
Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit will be calling the game for ESPN and recently broke down the matchups in the game via a teleconference with select media members.
We’ve taken the liberty of providing you all the questions both ESPN college football personalities handled on the contest and their thoughts on the specific matchups entering the 2019 College Football Playoff National Championship Game.
Question: Do you two of you think this game is going to go down to the wire and expect there’s little chance of this being a blowout?
CHRIS FOWLER: I hope so. I think this game is going to resemble the first year’s meeting much more than last year’s. Clemson has a defense much more dynamic than last year, two years ago when Deshaun Watson was giving Nick Saban a lot of stress. We always hope it goes down to the wire.
We’ve been on a roll with the national championship and some of the bowls the last couple years. We’re a little biased in that we always want a close game. I think it’s viewed that way by most people. It would be a surprise if it got out of hand either way for me.
KIRK HERBSTREIT: I think we’ll see a lot of points. Go back to the first matchup when Deshaun was there. He came close, lost in ’15. I think it was 45-40. Came back in ’16, somewhat of a shootout. When you think of Alabama’s type of defense, 35-31 when Clemson won it. Last year Alabama kind of dominated the game.
I agree with Chris. I think based on the way these teams have played, I think what Trevor Lawrence brings to the table, I think it’s a very different Clemson team, especially offensively, than who Alabama went up against last year.
Even though Alabama has an incredibly athletic defense, they’ve had a whole year, when I say young and inexperienced, in comparison to Fitzpatrick, Minkah, the group they had last year on the back end, those guys played so much football.
I think, yeah, there’s a chance it could be one of those games whichever quarterback has the ball last can lead his team down and win the game.
Question: Have you seen a quarterback or a true freshman quarterback do what Trevor Lawrence has done this year? What kind of challenge will it be for him going up against Nick Saban and his Alabama defense?
KIRK HERBSTREIT: There have been quarterbacks going back since I’ve been on GameDay that were freshmen that made you step back, I can’t believe that guy is a true freshman. I don’t think I’ve seen a freshman that’s 6’5″, 215, has an unflappable personality towards the big moment. That is unusual, special. I keep saying, I can’t wait to see where he is in two years when he’s a junior. I can’t even imagine where he’ll grow.
I’ve heard a lot of analysts say, We’re waiting for him to have that freshman moment. I just don’t see that happening based on watching almost every snap he’s taken this year…
You can talk about his physical skills all you want. To me it’s the ability, in this offense, especially when they go up-tempo, the ability not to make mental mistakes, process the coverage, get out of a bad play into a good play. That is just unbelievable. To go along with the arm strength, the athletic ability, all the physical attributes.
He’s a once-in-a-generation type of guy. I think we all knew last year when Clemson lost to Alabama the potential of this offense when he came into it. Now we’ve seen that play out. Now they’ll get their big test.
All those defensive linemen, I heard one of their players made a comment yesterday or today, Kendall Joseph, saying, When we were walking off that field against Alabama, this is what we wanted, another chance. We felt like we got out-classed that night.
Now they get it with Trevor Lawrence. We’ll see if they can get it done this time.
CHRIS FOWLER: I think the most exciting thing about college football is the emergence of these prodigy quarterbacks. I think that’s the proper word. Kirk said ‘once in a generation’. The good thing is we’re seeing more and more of them.
I think these two are special because of the mindset that Kirk talked about, the poise, unflappability, as well as the obvious talent. It’s just a beautiful thing to watch Tua and Trevor throw the ball.
College football has become so much about the quarterback, there’s so many wannabes, young guys eight, 10, 12, 14, getting great coaching, developing their skills, being mentally ready when they hit college. It’s astounding for me who has been around for a long time, you have to recalibrate what the expectations are for freshmen because of guys like these two guys.
If you think about first-year starters, all three top Heisman getters, all CFP quarterbacks. Very different circumstances, but all first-year starters. You’re not supposed to be able to do this as a first-year starting quarterback, play that kind of high level.
I think it’s very exciting. I think it’s more than a quarterback dual Monday night. But that’s the main storyline people grab onto. Sit back and enjoy two prodigies in the ultimate pressure game and see how they play and see who emerges. It’s fun.
Question: Kirk, from what you’ve seen from Clemson’s pass protection this year, do you see that matchup playing out differently than last year’s game when Alabama’s defensive line took that over?
KIRK HERBSTREIT: Yeah, that’s a great question.
Like most people, once we found out this is the matchup, I went back and watched that game. What stood out to me is a couple things. Number one, Clemson started most of their drives inside their own 20 yard line. The game seemed to be played on their end of the field a lot. That’s very tough when you’re playing against a talented Alabama defense to call plays when that’s the case.
The second thing that stood out to me is they could not throw the ball downfield. Most of what they did was quick throws, getting the ball out fast, jet sweeps, tried the run. The problem is, because Alabama did not fear that vertical passing game, they had everybody up close to the line of scrimmage, basically begging Kelly Bryant to throw it downfield.
They never were able to do that, so you’re dealing with nine, 10, 11 guys up close against that quick, short passing game. A lot of times those guys are covered. When they’re covered, Kelly is holding onto the ball. Anthony Jennings, who had a huge game, and company, were getting sacks.
To me, we could talk about the offensive line, but there’s so much more to it. The big thing is, Trevor Lawrence and these receivers have got to get the ball down the field in the air. When you do that, it opens up the running game and makes the offensive line have a much better matchup against a very talented defensive line led by Quinnen Williams. It’s like a jigsaw puzzle, all kind of plays in together.
I think the vertical passing game, being able to stretch that Alabama defense back, could go a long way in helping the running game, which could go a long way in helping the offensive line not get into such obvious passing situations like they were a year ago.
A graduate of the University of Tennessee, Michael Wayne Bratton oversees the news coverage for Saturday Down South. Michael previously worked for FOX Sports and NFL.com
