My how times have changed in college football since the last time Alabama and Notre Dame met.
The Crimson Tide rode the nation’s best defense into that January 2013 national championship matchup, yielding a paltry 184 yards and eight points a game.
Fast-forward to the new reality: Offense wins championships. Or at least it’s carried the top-ranked Tide, No. 4 Notre Dame, No. 2 Clemson and No. 3 Ohio State into contention heading into Friday’s College Football Playoff semifinal games.
Alabama may have the nation’s best offense.
“This is not pro I, let’s run it up inside and play great defense,” said Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly, whose team will face the Crimson Tide in Arlington, Texas. “They’re still playing fundamentally sound defense, but with the offenses as they are today, you know, it’s very difficult not to give up some yards.
“So you’re seeing fundamentally sound defense. You’re still seeing the same principles. You’re seeing at times elite play in certain position groups at Alabama. And then an offense now that can rival the very best college offenses in the country.”
Only the Tigers, who play the Buckeyes in New Orleans, have an elite defense statistically among the playoff teams. The other three have been plenty good enough to support those high-scoring offenses.
But ‘Bama doesn’t rank higher than 12th nationally in the four major defensive statistical categories. Notre Dame isn’t better than 14th and Ohio State has been stingy against the run and more generous to opposing passers.
Then there’s Clemson, which ranks sixth in total defense, giving up 298.5 yards a game.
The AP All-America teams had eight representatives from the playoffs on the first-team offense and three on defense: Alabama cornerback Patrick Surtain II, Notre Dame linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah and Ohio State cornerback Shaun Wade.
The playoff teams have three of the four Heisman Trophy finalists.
ALABAMA
The Skinny: The Tide have veteran standouts like Surtain and linebackers Dylan Moses and Christian Harris and rising star freshmen like pass rusher Will Anderson and defensive back Malachi Moore. Have been stingy at times but gave up yards and points galore to Mississippi and Florida. The Tide have 21 sacks over the last four games and 32 total.
Best Game: Alabama became the first to shut out a Mike Leach team, beating Mississippi State 41-0 and allowing just 163 total yards while forcing three turnovers.
Worst Game: Alabama allowed a whopping 647 total yards in a 63-48 win over Mississippi. It was the most yards a Tide defense had ever surrendered, and the most points by an unranked team against ‘Bama. “It humbled us a lot,” Surtain said.
Best Player: Surtain is a shutdown cornerback who was the SEC defensive player of the year and is a Jim Thorpe Award finalist. Has 32 tackles, an interception and 10 pass breakups.
CLEMSON
The Skinny: The Tigers are not as star heavy and don’t have an Isaiah Simmons-type to lead the way. That balanced approach has Clemson giving up fewer points this year than last season’s group. The soft spot may be in pass coverage, where Clemson is giving up 198 yards a game, about 30 yards more than last year.
