Tigers will roll Tide in anticipated season opener

By Chris Preston  |   Thursday, August 14, 2008  |  Comments( 4 )

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In a column titled “Five ACC Predictions” that appeared on ESPN.com on Tuesday, among many bold predictions author Mark Schlabach made was this fearless assertion: “Alabama will beat the [Clemson] Tigers in the Georgia Dome in the opener.”

Schlabach is a good writer who knows the ACC well, but in this case I disagree – and not simply because Clemson is a consensus preseason top-10 outfit and Bama is unanimously unranked.

In truth, I think Nick Saban is not far from returning the Tide to national prominence. Not only is Alabama welcoming the nation’s top-rated recruiting class to campus this season, but it returns 16 starters from a team that won a bowl game in 2007. The Tide took eventual national champion LSU to the brink last season (but then again, who didn’t?), won at Cotton Bowl-bound Arkansas, and walloped Tennessee. Furthermore, look for Bama to improve on its 7-6 record from 2007; an 8-5 or even 9-4 season wouldn’t be surprising.

But Alabama won’t beat Clemson. Perhaps if the two teams met in the same venue on New Year’s Eve in the Chick-fil-A (Peach) Bowl, Bama would flex its SEC muscle and take down the Tigers. On Aug. 30, however, the Tide – for all its returning starters – will still be too inexperienced in the areas necessary to beat Clemson.

For starters, Alabama's linebacking corps is green. Only one starter returns, and Saban plans on plugging some of the holes with true freshmen. By season’s end those freshmen – a talented group featuring blue-chipper Jerel Harris – should be well-seasoned thanks to the weekly SEC wars. But in August, debuting in front of a national TV audience in a raucous dome setting, their lack of big-game experience will be a crutch. Against a lesser offense they might be able to get by on talent alone, but not with the likes of James Davis and C.J. Spiller running at them. Expect the Tigers’ tailback tandem to have a huge day.

Alabama does boast a solid running attack of its own, a three-headed monster led by senior Terry Grant (891 yards in ’07 despite missing two games with an injury). With Clemson’s own inexperienced linebacking corps and the absence of ailing DT Rashaad Jackson, Alabama could also run wild on the artificial turf. But unlike the Clemson offense, which is complemented by the Cullen Harper-Aaron Kelly-Tyler Grisham air assault, Bama’s passing game does not pose a major threat.

The Tide was 75th in total offense last season, and a big reason for that was the fact that QB John Parker Wilson was a woeful 92nd in the country in pass efficiency. Wilson returns as a three-year starter this season, and will have to learn an entirely different playbook under new offensive coordinator Jim McElwain. That will likely take time, which the Tide won’t have against Clemson.

Quite simply, Clemson is the better team. While Alabama has plenty of young talent, it will take at least a few weeks for that talent to fully mature. Alabama will be a beast come November. But in August – with a Clemson squad determined to make amends at the same venue where it lost to Alabama’s archrival, Auburn, last December – look for the Tigers to prevail rather handily.
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CommentsComments: 4  |  Sign Up  View all comments
No.1
RazzMaTazz		02:13 PM
08/14/2008
I sure hope you're right Chris. But I wouldn't put a penny on that game. A lot depends on how our O-line does. I think Bama...
No.2
RazzMaTazz		08:08 PM
08/14/2008
I just noticed that Schlabach's #1 prediction for the ACC (2 days ago) is that Clemson, won't win the ACC, and that Wake or UNC...
No.3
NB		04:04 PM
08/15/2008
I have to concur with Razz's reluctance to give Clemson a "going away" victory here. While the Tigers have experience and talent...
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