4. The Really Big Thing Was …
It’s Clemson, it’s Alabama, and now let’s see what Ohio State brings to the fun.
Lather, rinse, repeat on the college football world for the last few years, but all this weekend did was show that the top two teams in college football are just that much better than everyone else.
They’re more talented, they’ve got the better infrastructure, and they are who they are for a reason. Again, Ohio State is about to enter that discussion once it gets going, but considering how bad LSU and Oklahoma were to kick things off this year, let’s not automatically give the Buckeyes the benefit of the doubt just yet.
Alabama’s defense was shaky for the first few games of the season and couldn’t do much of anything right against Ole Miss.
It sure as shoot clamped down when it had to in the second half in the 41-24 win.
Clemson hasn’t played a who’s who of killers so far, but it ripped apart Miami two weeks ago, and just to show that it’s not playing around, it put that 73 burger on a not-that-awful Georgia Tech.
Both of these teams lost a ton of talent to the 2020 NFL Draft. Both of these teams have had to deal with various issues on, off the field, and with the coronavirus. Both of these programs just keep on marching.
How good are these two? Did you see Notre Dame’s 12-7 win over a bad Louisville team? If that’s the No. 3 team in college football right now, and if Oklahoma State – who hasn’t done much of anything other than beat Tulsa, West Virginia and Kansas – is the sixth-best team in college football, then Clemson and Alabama belong on the moon when ranked compared to the rest of the pack – again, with the Ohio State caveat thrown in there.
That’s not to say this is a done deal.
Of course Clemson could slip along the way vs. Notre Dame or against a very, very dangerous Virginia Tech squad – both games are on the road.
Of course the Alabama team that still has to tighten up defensively could get caught flat-footed by LSU on the road if that whole thing steps it up, or against Tennessee this week if something goes weird in Knoxville, but it’s going to take something insane to tag either of these two twice.
No one has been able to get to Clemson twice in the regular season since 2014, and with all due respect to how good Mac Jones has been, the injury to Tua Tagovailoa was the only real reason why the Tide were beaten twice in the regular season last year for the first time since 2010.
It doesn’t look like either of these teams can be beaten twice before the College Football Playoff this year, either. And in 2020, don’t take that for granted – it’s a potentially special accomplishment by these two special teams.