College Football Playoff: 5 reasons Alabama wins 2017 national championship
Always in the mix to win it all, we explore five reasons why the Alabama Crimson Tide will win the 2017 College Football Playoff national championship.
The USA Today Coaches Poll was released Thursday, and to the shock of practically no one, the Alabama Crimson Tide was ranked No. 1 in the nation. After all, every Alabama football team since 2008 has spent time as the No. 1 team in the country, including four that finished there.
With 49 first-place votes, Alabama has a large lead over No. 2 Ohio State, Week 1 opponent Florida State, up-and-coming USC and defending champion Clemson. And, despite the preseason favorites label, and coming off a 14-1 season and SEC championship, the 35-31 loss to Clemson in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game guaranteed the Crimson Tide enters the season with a chip on its shoulder.
Head coach Nick Saban and his staff aren’t likely to need any “fake news” motivational tactics this year; all they have to do is put on the tape of Clemson’s title-winning touchdown drive.
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We’re six months away from the next CFP Championship Game, but the Tide will have an opportunity for a sneak peek at the title game location when Alabama kicks off against the Seminoles at the new Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta later this month. The Top 5 matchup could be the first of two meetings between the blueblood programs this season.
Time will tell, but with a few short weeks left before our first college football Saturday, we take a look at five reasons why Alabama wins the 2017 national championship.
5. Jalen Hurts
It’s been rare in recent seasons for Alabama to welcome back an experienced quarterback. In fact, Jalen Hurts is the first returning starter under center for the Crimson Tide since A.J. McCarron was a senior in 2013. Hurts proved experience isn’t necessary to lead a team to an undefeated regular season, the SEC title or CFP National Championship game last year, when he did so as a true freshman.
Overall, Hurts completed 62.8 percent of his passes last season for 2,780 yards, 23 touchdowns and nine interceptions. He also added 954 rushing yards, which ranked second on the team behind Damien Harris, and led the squad with 13 touchdowns on the ground.
Hurts managed the offense quite well during the regular season, with only minor hiccups and relatively few “freshman mistakes” thrown in along the way. Also, his athletic ability – particularly his ability to elude oncoming pass rushers – helped mask those imperfections most of the season, and gave the Crimson Tide an added wrinkle to the offense.
Imagine how well the team could do with the 6-foot-2, 218-pound Texan now that he has a season under his belt, especially since it’s common for quarterbacks to show the most growth between their freshman and sophomore seasons. Plus, the word from Tuscaloosa is that Hurts has shown improvement in his command and decision-making.
And, should something unfortunate happen to Hurts, true freshman Tua Tagovailoa might have even more raw talent. A four-star QB ranked No. 31 overall and first among dual-threat quarterbacks in the 2017 class in the 247Sports Composite, Tagovailoa will likely be Hurts’ primary backup.