Alabama Crimson Tide

Clemson Football: Analytics for National Title rematch with Alabama

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 2:46 p.m. ET

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Fansided, Tyreese Ingram/FanSided via Rubbing the Rock

The National Championship rematch between #1 Alabama and #2 Clemson will be broken down in so many ways, and statistics can’t be left out. 

Here are some analytics that will be very important in determining which team wins the third College Football Playoff Championship .

Defensive rankings (national position) via NCAA.COM

With the exception of red zone defense and rushing defense, the two teams are pretty comparable on the defensive side of the ball. Alabama only gives up 62.0 rushing yards a game to Clemson’s 123.0. Amazingly, the Tide improved on their 70.8 from 2015-16, and the Tigers slightly improved from 124.4.

Offensive rankings(national position)

There are a lot of similarities in the offensive stats from last season’s matchup. Alabama has the better rushing and red zone offense again, while Clemson leads in scoring, passing, protecting the quarterback, and total offense.

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1 d - Clemson vs Alabama: Comparing defenses2d - Clemson must get Jordan Leggett involved against Alabama2d - Clemson vs Alabama: Comparing offenses3d - Steve Sarkisian will serve as OC in the National Championship3d - Four-star safety target Xavier McKinney commits to AlabamaMore News at Rubbing the Rock

The rushing numbers for Clemson football are significantly down from the 228.6 ypg from 2015-16, but the uptake in passing yards from 283.4 to 327.8 is probably a direct reflection of those changes. Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson has run less(143 attempts to 187)and passed more(523 to 444)compared to this time last season.

Two more stats that should be highly considered in analysis of this game are turnovers and turnover margin. Alabama has the better turnover margin and is ranked 23rd nationally, conversely Clemson football is 64th. Both teams have gained 27 turnovers, but the Tide has only turned it over 19 times compared to the Tigers 27.

It’s been profusely noted that this Clemson football team is turnover prone and yet again they committed two more turnovers in the Fiesta Bowl against Ohio State. But what will be important in Monday’s match-up with Alabama is not allowing any turnovers to turn into touchdowns. Ohio State is second in the country with 7 defensive scores, but Alabama is first with 11 scores, so Clemson better take care of the ball.

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