Alabama football may not have the advantage of Clemson in awe of them, like they did against others; however, the Tide’s standard will influence play.
When one sets a standard, a bar that others try to reach, it can be intimidating to outsiders who do not understand or do not live by it.
Alabama football head coach Nick Saban has set that standard with his program, and the University of Alabama has reaped the rewards of that success. It also has forced many opponents to reflect on their own standards, as they put Saban and Alabama football itself on pedestals.
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Michael Casagrande of AL.com reported the latest example of an opponent openly admitting to the star-struck feelings after playing the Crimson Tide in Bryant-Denny Stadium. Colorado State’s top receiver Michael Gallup discussed playing against Alabama this season. Gallup stated, “A lot of kids just dream about walking into Alabama’s stadium, and then to see Nick Saban on the other sideline, it’s a different type of atmosphere out there. I thought it was one of the best things I’ve ever done.”
Seeing Saban coach on the opposing sideline and being in front of over 101 thousand people made many Colorado State players blush: “It was a life-changing thing for some kids.”
Clemson, on the other hand, is not blushing any time soon.
New Year’s Day will be the third time in three seasons that the Alabama Crimson Tide will be playing the Clemson Tigers in a huge college football game. Each side has won a national championship over the other in the previous two games. The third may not be for the national championship, but the playoff semi-final game should make for an intense rubber match.
The two teams know each other pretty well, even with some starting players having graduated in the last two years. The well-documented relationship between Saban and Clemson’s head coach Dabo Swinney is proof that the two men know how each other think pretty well.
With that in mind, the typical advantage that Alabama has over other teams, before even taking the field, will not be nearly as relevant.
Yet, it’s still there.
The Tigers are not the same team as two seasons ago. They lost to unranked Syracuse by three points. Say what you will about the ACC, but losing to Syracuse must have felt like Clemson’s guts were being crushed into pulp by the Orangemen.
Even Swinney might have been feeling the pain. Recently, Matt Connolly of TheState.com reported Clemson’s head coach stating how things are different for his team. When asked about whether he would watch the college football awards show, Swinney said in good humor: “Nah, we didn’t have anybody good enough to win any of these awards, kind of a rebuilding year for us […] Maybe next year we’ll have somebody good enough to win one of those awards.”
More importantly, when asked about the rivalry between Alabama and Clemson, Swinney added, “It’s become, like, ‘OK, it was kind of fun the first time. Aw, this is great […] Now it’s like, ‘Can we get rid of these guys? Can they just go away?’ And they won’t go away.”
Sounds more like a nightmare, a presence that Clemson’s coach just cannot shake.
Intimidated is not the right word. Clemson is not scared of Alabama football, at all. Why should they be scared? They have beaten the Crimson Tide in the biggest game in college football, last season.
Yet, that nagging feeling seems to be burrowing from the back of Swinney’s mind, finding its way to the forefront. If that same feeling is creeping through the players’ minds as well, it could influence how the game is played by the Tigers. In a game of inches, anything can tip the scales, including a sense of doubt or unneeded urgency against Alabama football, one of the greatest programs ever put together.
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The standard of excellence that Saban has instilled in his players has them worrying more about themselves doing the job right on each play, instead of worrying about what the Tigers will do. Clemson is not scared of the Crimson Tide. They are not going to be star struck like Colorado State was. Then again, Clemson may ask themselves during the game, how did we really lose to Syracuse? Would Alabama have lost that game?