WEBVTT - National Championship Recap 0:00:02.040 --> 0:00:06.880 Welcome to the Solid Verbal. I'll that for me. I'm 0:00:06.920 --> 0:00:08.200 a man, I'm forty. 0:00:08.280 --> 0:00:10.119 I've heard so many players say, well, I want to 0:00:10.160 --> 0:00:10.680 be happy. 0:00:10.800 --> 0:00:12.840 You want to be happy for Dake Edith. 0:00:12.760 --> 0:00:14.920 State is that woo woom? 0:00:14.960 --> 0:00:17.120 And Dan and Tye. 0:00:18.760 --> 0:00:21.759 Welcome back to the Solid Verbal, boys and girls. My 0:00:21.840 --> 0:00:25.279 name is Ty Hildenbrand, joining me as always over there 0:00:25.320 --> 0:00:29.000 in New York City, my beloved co host and dear friend, 0:00:29.080 --> 0:00:32.800 the one, the only Dan Rubinstein, Sir, how are you. 0:00:33.640 --> 0:00:37.520 A little bit tired, a little bit surprised, a little 0:00:37.560 --> 0:00:40.360 bit worn out from from all sorts of things, but 0:00:40.760 --> 0:00:42.800 glad to be with you, Ty. How's life with you? 0:00:43.840 --> 0:00:47.559 Wife? Life is good. Life's a little bit somber. Because 0:00:47.680 --> 0:00:52.040 college football, the season is now over as of today, 0:00:52.080 --> 0:00:54.360 officially everyone's undefeated. I love that line. 0:00:54.760 --> 0:00:55.160 Mm hmm. 0:00:55.760 --> 0:00:59.040 But we had quite a game last night, Clemson. Congratulations 0:00:59.360 --> 0:01:04.919 to the Clemson Tigers, forty four to sixteen, your twenty 0:01:05.000 --> 0:01:11.560 eighteen nineteen national champions A dominating effort from Dabo Sweeney, 0:01:11.720 --> 0:01:14.920 certainly from Brent venimals from Trevor Lawrence. We're going to 0:01:15.000 --> 0:01:17.920 go through all of that over the next forty five 0:01:17.959 --> 0:01:20.440 minutes or so. Clemson, of course, finishes with a mark 0:01:20.480 --> 0:01:23.960 of fifteen to zero. H Dabo now has as many 0:01:24.040 --> 0:01:28.280 national championships as Bobby Bowden as Joe Paterno. It was 0:01:28.360 --> 0:01:33.360 Alabama's worst loss since nineteen ninety eight and the vaunted 0:01:33.440 --> 0:01:37.199 Mike Dubo's era, which I'm sure still gives BAMA fans 0:01:37.200 --> 0:01:40.280 some nightmares. Yeah, we've got a lot to break down. Dan. 0:01:40.360 --> 0:01:44.080 Quite a finish here, it was, And bless me really 0:01:44.240 --> 0:01:48.440 for saying, now, watch Clemson lay the wood after saying 0:01:48.440 --> 0:01:51.040 that was the least likely outcome, which alter of Dan 0:01:51.080 --> 0:01:52.880 one hundred percent of the time, am either right or wrong? 0:01:52.920 --> 0:01:54.960 Alter of Dan, Alter of Dan, that's right. Sure, a 0:01:55.000 --> 0:01:58.320 sting in college football picking. We both at least took 0:01:58.360 --> 0:02:01.480 the points. But what we thought this game before does 0:02:01.640 --> 0:02:05.760 not matter because we have the actual results. And the 0:02:05.800 --> 0:02:11.640 actual reality is Clemson now has to be in the 0:02:11.680 --> 0:02:14.960 conversation of best team ever just in terms of sheer, 0:02:14.960 --> 0:02:18.000 dominance and production and the level of team they beat 0:02:18.080 --> 0:02:22.560 at the top. And I could not believe my eyes 0:02:22.680 --> 0:02:26.480 in the best possible way the degree to which Clemson 0:02:27.200 --> 0:02:30.840 in every facet pretty much from Trevor Lawrence and the 0:02:30.919 --> 0:02:34.160 lines and the defense and the moments that they won 0:02:34.360 --> 0:02:39.160 on down. To do that against Alabama is you know, 0:02:39.320 --> 0:02:41.320 the King is dead, long lived the King kind of thing. 0:02:41.600 --> 0:02:44.560 It's funny you bring that up, because I was texting 0:02:44.560 --> 0:02:48.520 with friends at halftime and I was keeping an eye 0:02:48.560 --> 0:02:51.960 on the halftime line. What was the money line for 0:02:52.000 --> 0:02:54.680 Alabama still winning the game despite being down at that 0:02:54.760 --> 0:02:59.079 point thirty one to sixteen. We've seen this before with Alabama. 0:02:59.120 --> 0:03:01.800 We saw that last year in the National Championship. 0:03:01.800 --> 0:03:02.560 They strike immediately. 0:03:02.639 --> 0:03:04.760 Yeah, they find a way to make a second half adjustment, 0:03:05.160 --> 0:03:07.720 they reassemble the robot, and they find a way to win. 0:03:08.240 --> 0:03:10.760 That was not the case here. We saw a field 0:03:10.760 --> 0:03:14.359 goal very early on, about fourteen minutes left in the 0:03:14.440 --> 0:03:18.040 second quarter that gave Alabama the leads sixteen to fourteen, 0:03:18.520 --> 0:03:21.720 and from that point forward, Dan, they did not score. 0:03:22.639 --> 0:03:27.160 Clemson went on an incredible run thirty unanswered points between 0:03:27.560 --> 0:03:29.560 the very start of the second quarter and the very 0:03:29.639 --> 0:03:32.200 end of the game, as they ultimately end up winning 0:03:32.240 --> 0:03:34.639 the game by twenty eight points, which is just amazing 0:03:34.680 --> 0:03:37.120 to me. I'm glad I didn't take that number that 0:03:37.200 --> 0:03:39.240 I saw at halftime, because it would not have worked 0:03:39.240 --> 0:03:40.040 out in my favor. 0:03:40.240 --> 0:03:41.280 No, it would not have. 0:03:43.080 --> 0:03:43.200 There. 0:03:44.520 --> 0:03:48.200 There were elements of this game, even with how Clemson 0:03:48.200 --> 0:03:50.160 and we'll start at the top, I'm sure momentarily, but 0:03:50.200 --> 0:03:53.120 there were elements of this game no matter what we 0:03:53.200 --> 0:03:57.520 had seen for fourteen games. Whether it was the offensive 0:03:57.560 --> 0:03:59.880 line coach by Robbie Caldwell, by the way Turkey and 0:04:00.040 --> 0:04:02.280 eminator to the stars, that's right. Whether it was that 0:04:02.320 --> 0:04:05.040 offensive line, a very experienced offensive line led by I 0:04:05.040 --> 0:04:07.400 guess what Mitch Hyatt started for four years, right, yep, 0:04:09.160 --> 0:04:10.880 Whether it was the defensive line, which we knew was 0:04:10.960 --> 0:04:14.080 with absolute certainty, was going to wreak havoc on anybody 0:04:14.120 --> 0:04:17.680 lined up in front of them, that it was going 0:04:17.760 --> 0:04:21.880 to take them on every play, winning every moment. And 0:04:21.920 --> 0:04:27.400 they outshined even that bar which was which was just incredible, 0:04:27.520 --> 0:04:30.279 especially with the game. The way the game started, we 0:04:30.400 --> 0:04:34.440 were like, oh, shoot, fourteen thirteen after thirty five seconds. 0:04:34.320 --> 0:04:37.320 It wasn't thirty five seconds. We're like, okay, somebody, this 0:04:37.440 --> 0:04:40.200 is TCU Baylor two thousand and whatever. It was fourteen 0:04:40.520 --> 0:04:42.640 where it's just fifty nine to fifty six, last one 0:04:42.680 --> 0:04:44.400 with the ball wins. Turns out last one what the 0:04:44.440 --> 0:04:47.760 ball did win, but just in a very calm victory formation. 0:04:48.240 --> 0:04:51.760 I'm going to start in the first quarter because, as 0:04:51.800 --> 0:04:55.960 you hinted, the first quarter was the most frenetic of 0:04:56.000 --> 0:04:58.480 the game, a lot of back and forth, back and forth, 0:04:58.520 --> 0:05:01.000 back and forth. So first off, if Clemson gets the ball, 0:05:01.760 --> 0:05:04.719 they go three and out. Alabama gets the ball to 0:05:04.720 --> 0:05:09.160 it throws a pick six on their first possession. Twitter 0:05:09.240 --> 0:05:11.240 goes nuts. People are going crazy. 0:05:11.440 --> 0:05:12.160 Yeah. 0:05:12.320 --> 0:05:15.360 Then Alabama gets the ball back to his very next 0:05:15.560 --> 0:05:19.520 pass three plays into their next drive, a sixty two 0:05:19.600 --> 0:05:24.320 yard strike, a beautiful deep ball to our boy Jerry Judy. 0:05:28.000 --> 0:05:31.480 With that, Clemson gets the ball back a touchdown. Then 0:05:31.520 --> 0:05:34.800 Alabama gets the ball back a touchdown, and then a 0:05:34.839 --> 0:05:38.760 missed extra point. Now we're at fourteen thirteen. We're near 0:05:38.800 --> 0:05:41.840 the end of the first quarter. Everyone's wondering, it's the 0:05:41.880 --> 0:05:45.200 age old line. Will the extra point come back? 0:05:45.360 --> 0:05:45.920 Taunt out? 0:05:45.920 --> 0:05:49.520 Oh yeah, six points was the line. Huh. That's interesting 0:05:50.880 --> 0:05:53.880 to at least plausible at this point. But then Bama 0:05:54.920 --> 0:05:57.360 forces a three and out, they get the ball back. 0:05:58.120 --> 0:06:01.280 They put together an eleven place minute drive. It seems 0:06:01.279 --> 0:06:03.279 like they're starting to steady that ship a little bit. 0:06:03.600 --> 0:06:05.240 They kick a field goal at the start of the 0:06:05.279 --> 0:06:08.080 second quarter. That's when they go up sixteen to fourteen. 0:06:08.120 --> 0:06:13.479 As we mentioned earlier, from that point forward again, fourteen minutes, 0:06:13.960 --> 0:06:19.800 eighteen seconds left in the second quarter, all Clemson, All Clemson, 0:06:20.040 --> 0:06:24.960 thirty unanswered points, complete domination for the next forty four 0:06:25.080 --> 0:06:28.279 minutes in eighteen seconds of the football game, Dan, what 0:06:28.480 --> 0:06:33.200 stood out to you as being the main reasons why 0:06:33.360 --> 0:06:37.000 Clemson dominated in the manner that they did and what 0:06:37.200 --> 0:06:38.640 surprised you about what you saw? 0:06:39.200 --> 0:06:40.760 I mean, do you want me to spell out Trevor 0:06:40.800 --> 0:06:45.000 Lawrence as all of the reasons on offense at least? So, 0:06:45.120 --> 0:06:49.120 First of all, the shocker in terms of where Clemson 0:06:49.160 --> 0:06:51.520 went from being down while they were down sixteen to 0:06:51.560 --> 0:06:54.600 fourteen yep to being comfortably up at the half by 0:06:54.600 --> 0:06:56.960 double digits thirty one sixteen is that they were not 0:06:57.160 --> 0:07:01.640 doing it sort of meticulously with perhaps the best running 0:07:01.640 --> 0:07:03.800 back in the country and Travis etn and even when 0:07:03.800 --> 0:07:06.480 he did break loose for a couple of runs, it 0:07:06.680 --> 0:07:08.679 was not game changing. 0:07:08.720 --> 0:07:11.240 Now they used him in a very complimentary role. 0:07:11.280 --> 0:07:13.600 I thought, right, they had a nice screen. I think 0:07:13.640 --> 0:07:17.240 to Tavian Feaster on that drive, that touchdown drive where 0:07:17.240 --> 0:07:21.440 they got to twenty one points. But really it was 0:07:21.560 --> 0:07:25.000 going downfield. And this is something I want to sort 0:07:25.000 --> 0:07:26.640 of bring up later on in the show in terms 0:07:26.640 --> 0:07:31.240 of strategy against Bama whatever. But what looked to me 0:07:31.520 --> 0:07:35.320 as just at least for the offense, because the defense 0:07:35.400 --> 0:07:38.640 is also worth really honing in on, was Trevor Lawrence 0:07:39.520 --> 0:07:42.640 being counted on to not be a freshman on the 0:07:42.640 --> 0:07:45.480 biggest stage where you would understand if he played somewhat 0:07:45.520 --> 0:07:48.080 like a freshman for better or for worse in that 0:07:48.120 --> 0:07:49.880 you know, going in and I was one of these 0:07:49.920 --> 0:07:52.160 people you say, well, is he going to be trusted 0:07:52.160 --> 0:07:54.400 to do more than read half the field? Is he 0:07:54.440 --> 0:07:56.720 going to be trusted to look at, you know, look 0:07:56.720 --> 0:07:59.880 off more than one receiver, go through more than one progression, whatever, 0:08:00.400 --> 0:08:03.560 And repeatedly third and sevens, third and eights, third and 0:08:03.640 --> 0:08:07.800 thirteen's whatever. He was saying, this is the tight window 0:08:07.840 --> 0:08:09.400 I have to throw, and I'm going to look off 0:08:09.440 --> 0:08:11.920 this guy and I'm going to hit Justin Ross here 0:08:12.080 --> 0:08:14.960 along the sideline. And I'm not just specifically talking about 0:08:14.960 --> 0:08:18.600 this in the second quarter, but it was Trevor Lawrence 0:08:19.520 --> 0:08:21.920 having the option to do what needed to be done 0:08:21.960 --> 0:08:25.200 against a very good Alabama defense. The line protecting him 0:08:25.680 --> 0:08:27.560 and them saying we are not going to win this 0:08:27.680 --> 0:08:32.199 game with Tavian Feaster and Travis Etn on the ground, 0:08:32.320 --> 0:08:35.720 and let's not even try to do something that we've 0:08:35.720 --> 0:08:40.120 already determined is not the best course. And we said it. 0:08:40.160 --> 0:08:42.320 I don't know if it was in the Instagram live 0:08:42.360 --> 0:08:46.600 thing we did postgame. Devil Swinney is cutthroat. He may 0:08:46.640 --> 0:08:50.319 come off as aw shucks, but between the Kelly Bryant 0:08:50.320 --> 0:08:54.439 thing and we are not going to feed Travis Etn 0:08:54.480 --> 0:08:57.000 because we like him and we know he's excellent, if 0:08:57.000 --> 0:09:00.319 it's the wrong thing to do against Alabama, and I 0:09:01.480 --> 0:09:06.360 commend that entirely, and I on that stage to say, 0:09:06.920 --> 0:09:08.680 you know, we're not going to be fifty to fifty 0:09:08.760 --> 0:09:11.920 run pass. We are just going to do everything that's 0:09:11.960 --> 0:09:15.920 necessary in every possible moment to win. That's best of 0:09:15.960 --> 0:09:17.880 the best tie. That's just that's all. It is. Stuff, 0:09:18.000 --> 0:09:18.800 that's good stuff. 0:09:18.960 --> 0:09:23.520 You mentioned Clemson's offensive line. They created what I would 0:09:23.559 --> 0:09:27.600 describe as a hermetically sealed pocket. Yeah, around Trevor Lawrence 0:09:27.679 --> 0:09:30.120 for most of the game. That doesn't mean he didn't 0:09:30.120 --> 0:09:32.679 take some shots. He took some shots for sure. By 0:09:32.720 --> 0:09:34.240 a large he had a lot of time to throw. 0:09:34.800 --> 0:09:37.880 He was under duress a lot less than too, it 0:09:38.120 --> 0:09:41.640 was and much more accurate on the night twenty of 0:09:41.679 --> 0:09:45.319 thirty two, three hundred and forty seven yards and three touchdowns. 0:09:45.600 --> 0:09:49.600 That is a legendary performance for any quarterback on that 0:09:49.679 --> 0:09:52.160 big of a stage. Let alone the fact that this 0:09:52.280 --> 0:09:54.760 kid is a freshman. In case he didn't know by now, 0:09:54.840 --> 0:09:57.720 Dan Trevor Lawrence is a freshman. He's nineteen years old. 0:09:57.840 --> 0:10:01.079 Well now was was a freshman. Yeah, we're going to 0:10:01.160 --> 0:10:03.200 be talking about him for quite some time, for at 0:10:03.280 --> 0:10:05.640 least the next two years. He's going to have justin 0:10:05.720 --> 0:10:08.560 Ross with him. He's also going to have some of 0:10:08.600 --> 0:10:12.600 his other targets around next season as well. He is 0:10:12.760 --> 0:10:15.160 a once in a generation talent and it's going to 0:10:15.240 --> 0:10:17.640 be exciting to see what his ceiling ends up being 0:10:17.679 --> 0:10:19.920 on the college level, if there is any, if he 0:10:19.960 --> 0:10:22.880 can continue this incredible run with Clemson, but on a 0:10:22.920 --> 0:10:27.679 more basic level, just as someone who's watched Brandon Wimbush, 0:10:28.320 --> 0:10:31.480 watched Ian Book, and watched a bunch of other quarterbacks 0:10:31.520 --> 0:10:35.520 around college football, what stands out to me about him 0:10:35.520 --> 0:10:37.320 and I don't care if he's a freshman or a senior. 0:10:38.000 --> 0:10:41.240 You don't see any of those weird frantic backfoot throws 0:10:41.240 --> 0:10:41.760 from him. 0:10:42.200 --> 0:10:44.960 No, he's He did have one really good backfoot throw, 0:10:45.040 --> 0:10:47.480 but it was not frantic. It was with purpose, I think, 0:10:47.480 --> 0:10:48.360 on a big third down. 0:10:48.480 --> 0:10:50.439 You know, you see it a lot in games like this, 0:10:50.760 --> 0:10:54.400 where an opposing quarterback is overwhelmed by a pass rush 0:10:54.480 --> 0:10:57.240 or a situation or a bad read or who knows 0:10:57.240 --> 0:10:59.880 whatever else, floats one and they back up. They back 0:11:00.200 --> 0:11:03.360 they back up. They sort of float one trying to 0:11:03.360 --> 0:11:05.079 get it out of bounds. Maybe they get it there, 0:11:05.160 --> 0:11:07.160 maybe they don't, or they float one over the middle 0:11:07.200 --> 0:11:10.600 trying to make a play. Trevor Lawrence doesn't do that. 0:11:10.640 --> 0:11:12.920 He doesn't have to do that. And like you said, 0:11:13.240 --> 0:11:17.120 even when he's throwing off his back foot, it's going somewhere. 0:11:17.160 --> 0:11:19.679 There's a purpose to it. He's making that throw because 0:11:19.720 --> 0:11:22.280 he knows he can complete the pass. That to me, 0:11:22.480 --> 0:11:25.880 that little aspect of his game, to me, is what 0:11:26.000 --> 0:11:28.800 really stands out and puts him head and shoulders above 0:11:28.880 --> 0:11:29.920 so much of the competition. 0:11:30.000 --> 0:11:33.520 It's incredible, by the way, and rightfully so. Eyeballs were 0:11:33.520 --> 0:11:37.080 following the pass itself on that ridiculous justin ross third 0:11:37.120 --> 0:11:41.920 down conversion one hand sideline. Yeah, Trevor Lawrence was absolutely 0:11:42.080 --> 0:11:46.160 pulverized by Isaiah Buggs on that play. Like he broke through. 0:11:46.240 --> 0:11:49.200 He totally beat I think the Clemson right guard, I 0:11:49.240 --> 0:11:52.200 want to say, And to your point, he was not 0:11:52.280 --> 0:11:54.760 backing up and floating that. He stepped in as well 0:11:54.800 --> 0:11:57.320 as he could have on that throw, delivered it to 0:11:57.480 --> 0:12:00.480 the exact window it needed to be delivered too, and 0:12:00.559 --> 0:12:05.920 got busted up, Yeah, and lived to move the chains 0:12:06.040 --> 0:12:10.800 and play another down. And it was that's I mean, 0:12:10.840 --> 0:12:14.480 that's just ridiculous. I mean, how do you be so 0:12:14.679 --> 0:12:17.280 good that we are talking about you in a game 0:12:17.320 --> 0:12:20.640 with Tua, who was arguably the best letterback in the country. 0:12:21.120 --> 0:12:23.719 Let's switch gears a little bit and let's talk about Tua. 0:12:23.840 --> 0:12:25.760 Tua was on the other side of this thing, and 0:12:25.800 --> 0:12:30.000 he was going against that Clemson that vaunted Clemson defensive line, 0:12:30.040 --> 0:12:33.360 you know, the one that was without Dexter Lawrence, which 0:12:33.400 --> 0:12:38.040 is still amazing to me. That line for Clemson changed 0:12:38.200 --> 0:12:42.760 the rhythm for Tua. He had two very uncharacteristic interceptions, 0:12:43.080 --> 0:12:46.240 one very early another one still pretty early in the game. 0:12:46.880 --> 0:12:52.080 In particular, though Clemson's line and its ability to generate 0:12:52.160 --> 0:12:56.480 pressure without actually blitzing is what I thought played such 0:12:56.480 --> 0:12:58.760 a huge role in this game. Whenever you can do 0:12:58.800 --> 0:13:02.840 that again it's a good passing team like Alabama, it's 0:13:02.880 --> 0:13:04.960 a huge advantage. Whenever you do that against any team, 0:13:04.960 --> 0:13:07.480 it's a huge advantage, but especially against Alabama because it's 0:13:07.520 --> 0:13:10.000 not something Bama has to deal with a whole lot. 0:13:10.559 --> 0:13:13.839 They were just four of thirteen on third downs here 0:13:14.400 --> 0:13:17.200 on the flip side, Clempton was something like ten or fifteen. 0:13:17.280 --> 0:13:19.760 It felt like they were converting every big third down play. 0:13:20.280 --> 0:13:23.719 Alabama could not get it going because Clemson was able 0:13:23.760 --> 0:13:26.040 to play pass coverage and yet still generates so much 0:13:26.040 --> 0:13:27.199 pressure with they're front. 0:13:26.920 --> 0:13:29.200 For Did you read, by the way, Pete Thammill, I 0:13:29.200 --> 0:13:32.760 believe from Yahoo did like the anonymous coaching scouting report 0:13:32.800 --> 0:13:33.439 ahead of this guy. 0:13:33.440 --> 0:13:36.400 I didn't see that. No, so he did that, and 0:13:36.520 --> 0:13:38.240 I listen, I am such a sucker. 0:13:38.320 --> 0:13:41.600 Listen, listen less, I am such a sucker for that 0:13:41.720 --> 0:13:44.240 like blind item, like it happens a lot in like 0:13:44.320 --> 0:13:48.000 preview magazines. Oh yeah, like anonymous coaches break down because 0:13:48.040 --> 0:13:49.520 you get a certain amount of honesty. 0:13:50.240 --> 0:13:52.959 Athlon does like a whole page perpose on that Yeah, 0:13:53.000 --> 0:13:53.400 it's great. 0:13:53.840 --> 0:13:57.560 I understand the trepidation about anonymous source and whatever, but 0:13:57.640 --> 0:14:01.320 I appreciate the honesty in those situation because it's something. 0:14:01.360 --> 0:14:03.720 They're the ones watching the games with with a finer 0:14:03.760 --> 0:14:07.319 tooth comb than any of us. And the big one 0:14:07.320 --> 0:14:10.200 of the big notes that caused a minor stir was 0:14:10.840 --> 0:14:15.440 Alabama's offensive line is good but not great, and this 0:14:15.520 --> 0:14:17.600 is still an offensive line with a ton of talent. 0:14:17.679 --> 0:14:20.800 Jonah Williams might be the first He's gonna be the first, yeah, 0:14:20.920 --> 0:14:23.120 off the board in the NFL draft. We'll see what happens, 0:14:23.160 --> 0:14:27.040 but he's on that level. And I saw some pushback 0:14:27.120 --> 0:14:31.520 with that, especially with our pal and curling teammate Cole 0:14:31.600 --> 0:14:36.560 Kubltz from ESPN SEC Olympian. Yeah, does radio down in Alabama, 0:14:37.000 --> 0:14:40.120 and he was like, this is madness, this is insane 0:14:40.200 --> 0:14:42.640 to say this about this Alabama offensive line. And he's 0:14:42.640 --> 0:14:45.960 somebody who watches a ton of tape. And I don't 0:14:46.000 --> 0:14:48.760 know if it was him short selling Clemson or him, 0:14:49.160 --> 0:14:53.960 you know, just not understanding that what Clemson is capable of, 0:14:54.360 --> 0:14:57.880 and I of course believe he is, but that was 0:14:57.920 --> 0:15:00.680 what caused a stir and Alabama's off fensive line. We 0:15:00.720 --> 0:15:02.600 saw it running plays and they ran the ball all 0:15:02.680 --> 0:15:05.320 right at times, but protecting to I know on a 0:15:05.360 --> 0:15:08.480 fourth and goal they ran like to a left right 0:15:08.520 --> 0:15:10.920 it was just a QB run to the left off 0:15:10.960 --> 0:15:16.600 tackle and I believe it was Cleveland Virule who just 0:15:16.760 --> 0:15:21.400 almost went untouched and destroyed the play behind the line 0:15:21.440 --> 0:15:24.800 of scrimmage. And they just they won the moments. That's 0:15:24.800 --> 0:15:26.560 what I'm gonna keep harping on. It's what they did 0:15:26.560 --> 0:15:30.440 on third down to keep Alabama away from moving the chains, 0:15:30.440 --> 0:15:32.760 what they did on fourth down. Alabama finished what three 0:15:32.760 --> 0:15:37.120 of six The Alabama had to go for six fourth downs. 0:15:37.840 --> 0:15:39.960 That's just and it's not just the defensive line. It's 0:15:40.640 --> 0:15:43.760 Kendall Joseph in the linebacking corps everywhere. It's the secondary 0:15:43.880 --> 0:15:46.720 weathering an injury. I think it was a cramp in 0:15:46.760 --> 0:15:49.360 the second half. And Mark Fields, I believe was the 0:15:49.360 --> 0:15:51.520 guy who came in. He was making plays. It was 0:15:51.640 --> 0:15:56.440 challenging balls at the top of their the whatever the 0:15:56.480 --> 0:16:00.960 passing arc it was. It was just a total every 0:16:01.040 --> 0:16:05.080 down efforts. And yes, I do think it started with 0:16:05.120 --> 0:16:08.600 the line just making life hell for the Alabama offense. 0:16:08.880 --> 0:16:12.160 So do we learn anything now from Tua after seeing 0:16:12.200 --> 0:16:14.320 him go up against a really good Clemson team. Again, 0:16:14.920 --> 0:16:18.440 we saw Tua burst onto the scene sure win the 0:16:18.520 --> 0:16:21.440 national championship against Georgia year ago in overtime. That was 0:16:21.480 --> 0:16:24.520 a great game. Clearly, Tua has had an amazing year. 0:16:24.520 --> 0:16:27.720 He had forty one touchdown passes. But this this was 0:16:27.760 --> 0:16:28.800 fundamentally and much different. 0:16:28.800 --> 0:16:30.920 Without a lot of second halves. Yeah, without a lot 0:16:30.920 --> 0:16:34.200 of second halves. He's an incredible college football talent and 0:16:34.240 --> 0:16:37.000 will continue to be so, at least for one more 0:16:37.080 --> 0:16:40.000 year on the college stage. But this was a different 0:16:40.000 --> 0:16:40.800 too that we saw. 0:16:40.960 --> 0:16:42.520 And I don't know if you can put it all 0:16:42.560 --> 0:16:45.960 on him, because again that line really did win the 0:16:45.960 --> 0:16:50.120 point of attack against Alabama's front. But to see Tua 0:16:50.720 --> 0:16:55.080 kind of on his back foot at times frantic that 0:16:55.200 --> 0:16:57.640 this was a different side of him. Every quarterback is 0:16:57.680 --> 0:16:59.480 going to see this over the course of their career, 0:16:59.480 --> 0:17:02.120 there are no exceptions. But it was just a much, 0:17:02.200 --> 0:17:05.960 much different stage for him in this setting now to 0:17:06.000 --> 0:17:09.000 see him kind of frankly where a lot of Alabama's 0:17:09.000 --> 0:17:10.720 opponents are on the offensive side. 0:17:11.119 --> 0:17:13.800 So I can't in good conscious say something like, well, 0:17:13.840 --> 0:17:16.520 Tua on the big stage or Tua like didn't play 0:17:16.560 --> 0:17:19.080 up to the moment, because you can't say that that 0:17:19.240 --> 0:17:22.440 is that is taking away a ton from what this 0:17:22.640 --> 0:17:26.679 all time Clemson defense was able to accomplish. And I 0:17:26.720 --> 0:17:31.240 think that was it. I mean, the first interception was uncharacteristic. 0:17:31.320 --> 0:17:33.959 He was throwing to the wide sizes under the field side. 0:17:34.840 --> 0:17:37.919 The pass was behind the receiver, and it was just 0:17:38.520 --> 0:17:41.760 easy pick six. It was just bad pass, bad read, 0:17:41.800 --> 0:17:45.760 bad execution, blah blah blah. His second interception, he saw 0:17:45.800 --> 0:17:48.480 something that wasn't there. And would you say he was 0:17:48.480 --> 0:17:52.200 seeing ghosts. I don't even know if he was seeing ghosts. 0:17:52.200 --> 0:17:54.480 He just went into the house. What is the ghostbusters? 0:17:54.800 --> 0:17:58.200 You know the pack? Oh, the proton pack, the proton pack. 0:17:58.280 --> 0:18:00.640 Thank you, it's been a while. He just went into 0:18:00.680 --> 0:18:03.879 a house firing. He didn't see ghosts. He was just 0:18:03.920 --> 0:18:06.240 like it was a heat check moment. When he went 0:18:06.320 --> 0:18:09.680 deep on that pass, I think he saw man coverage. 0:18:09.680 --> 0:18:11.960 Perhaps maybe that was the ghost he saw. They were 0:18:12.000 --> 0:18:15.120 in some variation it looked like to me of cover three. 0:18:15.680 --> 0:18:18.200 So it was Travion Mullen who made plays all over 0:18:18.200 --> 0:18:19.720 the place. He was also the one who got home 0:18:19.760 --> 0:18:23.440 against on a corner blitz. So he had that left 0:18:23.480 --> 0:18:25.800 side of the field and he was just playing the 0:18:25.880 --> 0:18:28.679 left side of the field and he was just running 0:18:28.680 --> 0:18:32.800 alongside a receiver while somebody else was underneath, and it 0:18:32.880 --> 0:18:35.080 was just a really it was a bad pass, it 0:18:35.119 --> 0:18:37.000 was a bad read, and it was I think that 0:18:37.119 --> 0:18:38.240 led to a touchdown, right. 0:18:38.640 --> 0:18:39.040 Yeah. 0:18:39.080 --> 0:18:42.520 So it was both those interceptions, either directly or indirectly 0:18:42.840 --> 0:18:47.360 led to points, and that is Clemson. That is Clemson 0:18:47.440 --> 0:18:50.800 perhaps making to his sea ghosts, but it was a 0:18:50.920 --> 0:18:55.000 terrific game plan. It was forcing to it to be perfect, 0:18:55.119 --> 0:18:56.919 and at times he looked like he was I mean, 0:18:56.920 --> 0:18:58.960 the third of Jerry Judy Early was still. 0:18:58.640 --> 0:19:01.080 Throws to his ear a hell of a deep ball. 0:19:01.440 --> 0:19:04.400 I know it didn't all work out yeah last night, 0:19:04.440 --> 0:19:07.560 but it'd be silly to taunt to at this point 0:19:07.600 --> 0:19:10.520 after he's done so many great things already and say, wow, 0:19:10.600 --> 0:19:12.880 you know he's not a big game player. 0:19:13.280 --> 0:19:17.080 Yes, and they ran the ball decently enough early, but 0:19:17.160 --> 0:19:21.720 they were just there was a team that made mistakes small, medium, large. 0:19:21.880 --> 0:19:24.159 I still remember that fake field goal. Oh yeah, I 0:19:24.800 --> 0:19:29.399 just took a screen grab rewatching and that wide shot. 0:19:29.480 --> 0:19:32.439 I think it was the wirecam shot of what Clemson's 0:19:32.480 --> 0:19:36.440 defense was in and what after the game Alabama's I 0:19:36.480 --> 0:19:38.320 don't know if it was the kicker or the holder said, 0:19:38.440 --> 0:19:40.680 you know, we knew they might be in that look, 0:19:40.880 --> 0:19:42.600 and we still liked it. 0:19:42.600 --> 0:19:44.360 It was a base four to three or. 0:19:44.320 --> 0:19:46.760 So, I mean it was there was I could bring 0:19:46.840 --> 0:19:49.560 up the screenshot. This is you know, definitely a visual medium. 0:19:49.680 --> 0:19:51.879 But as you look at it, there's four down linemen, 0:19:52.280 --> 0:19:55.480 there's a standing like edge rush or whatever. It would 0:19:55.520 --> 0:19:59.040 be a four to five two I guess technically, and 0:20:00.200 --> 0:20:04.440 they are just all facing looking at each other and saying, 0:20:04.680 --> 0:20:07.119 you know what to do if and when they fake it? 0:20:07.560 --> 0:20:11.480 And Alabama's kicker is staring directly into this, and the 0:20:11.520 --> 0:20:14.760 holder is looking directly into this and saying, yep, fourth 0:20:14.760 --> 0:20:20.639 and six, iy, we got this, and spoiler alerts, they 0:20:20.680 --> 0:20:21.000 did not. 0:20:21.600 --> 0:20:25.600 It was the least special special teams formation for Clemson 0:20:25.640 --> 0:20:26.160 in that moment. 0:20:26.600 --> 0:20:30.040 It's been a hell of a last month for botched fakes. 0:20:30.119 --> 0:20:34.040 Between Oh my God, Georgia, the Oregon Red Box Bowl 0:20:34.800 --> 0:20:38.960 disaster fiasco with the fake and this, it's been it's 0:20:39.000 --> 0:20:43.880 been rough for creativity, execution, actual deciding to go through 0:20:43.880 --> 0:20:46.760 with it. Miss and Alabama wasn't going to I guess 0:20:46.800 --> 0:20:49.240 call a time out, thinking, Okay, we're still down fifteen 0:20:49.680 --> 0:20:51.720 with ten minutes left in the third quarter. Let's not 0:20:51.760 --> 0:20:54.760 waste a time out here. If this is not indeed 0:20:54.760 --> 0:20:57.159 the full field goal unit we won on the field. 0:20:57.640 --> 0:21:01.680 But nope, Well you know what, and there is no 0:21:01.720 --> 0:21:05.800 longer any excuse for wearing an ill fitting suit. 0:21:06.600 --> 0:21:10.240 No an excuse for that fake or an excuse for 0:21:10.240 --> 0:21:11.720 wearing an ill fitting suit. Yeah. 0:21:11.800 --> 0:21:15.000 Indo Chino is North America's leading made to measure men's 0:21:15.000 --> 0:21:17.320 wear a company. They make suits and shirts to your 0:21:17.440 --> 0:21:22.480