This. Bama loses their hammer and is now forced to have their QB spread the field and use his arm. This resulted in many stalled drives. As a result of the stalled drives, Clemson's offense saw the field a lot more than expected. If Scarborough finishes that game, the time of possession tilts way in favor of Bama who keeps Watson off the field and limits their opportunities with a two TD lead. Bama's defense was gassed because Bama's offense couldn't stay on the field. Clemson did a "Bama" to Bama's "LSU".
Blame Saban and Pruitt for being stubborn and obtuse. After Clemson ran it earlier in the fourth quarter for a touchdown they insisted on running the very same man-to-man defense... and paid the same price.
You have to figure sooner or later the breaks would go the other way. It seems like they have been getting all the breaks for years. Fair officiating helps as well. Or at least impartial officiating.
Isn't that Saban's MO? Complain and complain about something and when he can't change it he adopts it. Look for lots of pick plays next year from Bama.
Scarborough's injury was the kiss of death for the gumps. That will be #1 in the forthcoming litany of excuses and I hate to agree with the sisterfuckers but it's true. A healthy Scarborough would have kept the chains moving, Clemson d0esn't run 99 plays and Bama wins by 14-21ts points in a borefest. I don't know why they didn't try to make Hurt a bigger part of the ground game after the injury. Would they if Kiffin had still been OC? We'll never know.
There was more than 1 thing you got wrong in your write up, but this was the most egregious. If Bo Scarborough doesn't get hurt, Alabama wins by double digits. Bama wins 6 out of 10 times, minimum.
BUT MAYBE, they get called for head hunting early and they dial back the aggressiveness and Clemson doesn't waste a quarter getting their shit back together. A lot of things could have gone another way. But it was a fun game to watch.
