Clemson Tigers vs Alabama Crimson Tide
When: 8:00 PM ET, Monday, January 9, 2017
Where: Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, Florida

TV: 8:17 p.m. ET, ESPN.
LINE: Alabama -6.5
PREDICTION: Alabama 30, Clemson 28

Oddsmakers currently have the ALABAMA listed as -6.5 point favorites versus the CLEMSON, while the game’s total is sitting at 51.

There just might be an antidote to Alabama’s best-in-the-nation defense. His name is Deshaun Watson.

Clemson’s junior quarterback rolled up 478 yards and directed the Tigers to 40 points in last season’s national championship loss to the Tide. He’s back for more — especially a ring — when No. 1 Alabama (14-0) and No. 2 Clemson (13-1) play Monday in Tampa, Fla., for this season’s title (8 p.m. ET, ESPN).

“Deshaun Watson has played big in every game since he’s been at Clemson,” Tigers coach Dabo Swinney said. “I think he’s played great his whole three years. I mean, great.”

If anybody is going to unravel the Tide, it’s Watson. He’s an athletic dual-threat. He has a big arm and go-deep receivers. That all means big plays. You don’t beat Alabama with methodical 12-play, 75-yard drives. You need “chunk” plays. You need “splash” plays.

Clemson carved up Alabama with 10 plays of 20-plus yards last season. Contrast that to Saturday, when the Tide allowed one such play — a 20-yard pass — in a dominating 24-7 semifinal victory over Washington.

“I thought he played fantastic against us last year,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said of Watson.

“He may be arguably the best player in college football. The guy is very athletic. He’s got a great understanding of their offense. He does a really good job of executing for his team. He can extend plays. He can run. He can run quarterback runs. And he’s a terrific passer. I mean, he is the complete package.”

The knock on Watson — the Heisman runner-up this season and third-place finisher last year — are his 30 interceptions in 29 games in the past two seasons.

While that might be disconcerting for Clemson fans, it’s probably not as distressing as losing your offensive play-caller the week before the season’s biggest game.

That’s the highly unusual position Alabama is in after Saban parted ways with Lane Kiffin on Monday, saying that Kiffin hasn’t been able to successfully juggle two jobs since accepting the coaching position at Florida Atlantic.

Saban elevated offensive analyst Steve Sarkisian to coordinator. Sarkisian has been involved with the planning of the offense this season, but, by NCAA rule, wasn’t able to coach at practice or otherwise instruct the players.

Now, Sarkisian directs freshman quarterback Jalen Hurts and tries to find a play-calling rhythm against a Clemson defense coming off a 31-0 shutout of Ohio State.

Hurts has many of the same qualities as Watson, just in a younger package. In fact, when he enrolled early at Alabama at last year’s winter break, he played the role of Watson on the Tide’s scout team in preparation for the title game, won 45-40 by the Tide.

Hurts was the SEC Offensive Player of the Year, directing an offense that was best when it played up-tempo. Alabama often relied on its ground attack, led by Hurts and running backs Damien Harris and Bo Scarbrough, but it has multiple threats in the passing game, including receivers ArDarius Stewart and Calvin Ridley, and tight end O.J. Howard, the offensive MVP of last season’s championship game.

“I guess you’ve got some nuances that might be a little bit different maybe from a play-call or something like that, but it’s not like they’re going to come out and run the triple option,” Swinney said of Alabama’s change of coordinators.

“They’re going to do what they do. It’s just as simple as that. Why would they change? Nobody has stopped them.”

Alabama, going for its fifth title in eight seasons, leads the country in total defense, scoring defense and rushing defense. Clemson is salty, too, seventh in scoring defense and eighth in total defense.

One mistake by either quarterback could be the difference. Alabama has scored 11 times on defense this season and will be hunting off-target throws by Watson. Clemson, as is its usual strategy under coordinator Brent Venables, will bring defensive pressure and force Hurts to make quick decisions and complete passes in the intermediate and deep zones.

No true freshman quarterback has led his team to the national championship since 1985, when Jamelle Holieway did so for Oklahoma.

Will quarterback experience matter?

Will defenses rule?

Clemson is going for its first national title since 1981, and Swinney said these Tigers have “more juice” than the 2015 squad. Meanwhile, at Alabama, winning never gets old.

“When you play an outstanding opponent, that’s something that in and of itself as a competitor is motivation,” Saban said. “And that’s certainly the case in this game.”

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South Carolina Gamecocks vs. Clemson Tigers
When: 11/26/2016 7:30 PM

TV: 7:30 p.m. ET. ESPN.
LINE: Clemson -24
PREDICTION: Clemson 33, South Carolina 20

Clemson coach Dabo Swinney says his team is in the “championship phase” of its season, and, after clinching the ACC Atlantic Division title last week, there’s another one at stake this week — the state championship.

The Tigers (10-1, 7-1 ACC) will play host to arch-rival South Carolina (6-5, 3-5 SEC) on Saturday in the regular-season finale with the Palmetto Bowl trophy going to the winner. Kickoff at Memorial Stadium in Clemson is 7:30 p.m. ET with ESPN doing the telecast.

Swinney refers to the Tigers’ annual game against in-state rival South Carolina as “a season of its own.”

“It really doesn’t matter what the records are and all that type of stuff,” Swinney said. “When you get into these rivalry-type games, it’s a lot of emotion and anything that can happen, so we know that we have to play very well.”

South Carolina coach Will Muschamp is getting his first exposure to this rivalry, but knows intrastate “feuds” after recent coaching stints at Auburn (Alabama) and Florida (Florida State).

“I don’t know if the other stops will help you at all, other than being here your first day and walking by people talking about beating Clemson,” he said. “You hear that very quickly, and you understand the importance of the game.

“We’ve talked about winning our state all the time — whether it’s recruiting or on the field, whatever we need to do. The competition between the two schools is very healthy.”

Swinney liked the way his team responded last week following its only loss of the season. Following the setback at home to Pittsburgh, the Tigers rebounded in a big way with a 35-13 victory at Wake Forest. They flashed an effective rushing game behind Wayne Gallman, who posted a season-high 161 yards, and Clemson finished with more yards rushing (254) than passing (202) for the first time this season.

Quarterback Deshaun Watson continues to be the catalyst. He has passed for just over 298 yards a game and is the second-leading rusher on the team with 422 yards to Gallman’s 831. His favorite targets, wide receivers Mike Williams and Artavis Scott, have combined for 128 receptions for 1,481 yards and 11 touchdowns.

Watson, who has announced his intention to bypass his senior season to enter the NFL draft, is looking to go 3-0 against South Carolina in his collegiate career. He has gone 34-of-46 passing for 561 yards and three touchdowns while rushing for 127 yards in the two previous games.

“I don’t know if you’re going to stop a guy like him,” Muschamp said. “You have to limit him, and that’s exactly the word we’ve used.

“Where he gives you the most issues is the off-rhythm plays and his creativity. It’s very hard to finish on him in the pocket because he’s a bigger target who is a hard guy to get down. He’s a strong guy, and he also runs extremely well.

“All of the things you want in your quarterback he possesses. Number one is his leadership ability and his ability to positively affect the guys around him.”

Two freshmen and a sophomore have helped turn South Carolina around. Muschamp took the redshirt off a true freshman at midseason, turning the offense over to Jake Bentley, and Bentley has made that decision pay off by completing 66.2 percent of his passes for 198 yards a game.

Running back Rico Dowdle, who also was in high school this time a year ago, jump-started the running game. He has rushed for 684 yards in seven games and is coming off a 226-yard effort last week against Western Carolina.

And sophomore wide receiver Deebo Samuel has recovered from an early-season hamstring problem and has caught a team-high 41 passes for 579 yards in eight games.

“It’s not going to take anything spectacular,” Muschamp said on preparing for the “Death Valley” atmosphere. “We just need to go play well. We need to go play hard. We need to go play fast. We need to play physical. We need to go play with great effort. We need to play smart.

“We need to keep our composure in a rivalry game — all of the things that you always constantly address with your guys in this type of game.”

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Oklahoma at Clemson
When: 5:30 PM ET, Monday, December 29, 2014
Where: Florida Citrus Bowl, Orlando, Florida
TV: 5:30 p.m. ET, ESPN.
LINE: Oklahoma -3
PREDICTION: Clemson 27, Oklahoma 24
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Quarterback Trevor Knight, who was named the MVP of the Sooners’ Sugar Bowl win over Alabama after throwing for career highs of 348 yards and four touchdowns, has been cleared to play after sustaining a neck injury in a Nov. 8 loss to Baylor. His three-game absence coincided with Perine’s late-season explosion as the Sooners averaged 97.3 passing yards with redshirt freshman Cody Thomas starting, as opposed to 250.1 yards with Knight. Oklahoma also anticipates a healthy return from leading receiver Sterling Shepard, who missed most of the last five games with a lingering groin injury.

In their last action, Oklahoma was a 38-35 loser at home against Cowboys. They failed to cover the -19.5-point spread as favorites, while the combined score (73) was profitable news for OVER bettors.

Team record: 8-4 SU,5-7 ATS
Oklahoma is 2-6 ATS in its last 8 games
Oklahoma is 19-6 SU in its last 25 games
The total has gone OVER in 7 of Oklahoma’s last 9 games

The ringleader of the Tigers’ defense is two-time All-American Vic Beasley, who leads the ACC in sacks this year with 11 and has a school-record 32 in his career – tied for fifth in conference history. The ACC Defensive Player of the Year was one of four Clemson defensive players to be named to the all-conference first team, joining defensive tackle Grady Jarrett, cornerback Garry Peters and linebacker Stephone Anthony. Senior quarterback Cole Stoudt, who started seven games, will slide back into the starting role after the school announced that freshman Deshaun Watson would not continue to play through the same torn ACL he did in a Nov. 29 win over South Carolina.

In their last action, Clemson was a 35-17 winner at home against South Carolina. They covered the 4.5-point spread as favorites, while the combined score (52) was profitable news for UNDER bettors.

Team record: 9-3 SU,5-7 ATS
Clemson is 1-6 ATS in its last 7 games
Clemson is 8-1 SU in its last 9 games
The total has gone UNDER in 7 of Clemson’s last 8 games

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