There is one easy way to illustrate why Clemson coach Dabo Swinney believes his team has more juice headed into its matchup against Alabama than it did a year ago.
Entering the 2016 national championship game:
Starting defensive end Shaq Lawson had a knee injury that he sustained in the semifinals against Oklahoma, and he gutted out a performance while injured.
Starting cornerback Mackensie Alexander went into the game with a hamstring injury but was unable to go after a few plays.
Starting linebacker Ben Boulware had so much pain in one shoulder that he was essentially playing with one healthy arm, which made tackling an excruciating exercise.
Starting receiver Mike Williams wore a neck brace, unable to play after sustaining a scary injury in the season opener.
Oh, and receiver Deon Cain was back at home serving a suspension for violating team rules.
Add the five together, and Clemson was significantly hampered against the Crimson Tide. The Tigers could have used Williams and Cain to stretch the Alabama defense down the field, an element that was clearly missing from that game. Boulware, Lawson and Alexander were the three best players in that defensive group, so not having them at full strength hurt too.
And yet, Clemson lost by only five points.
Entering the College Football Playoff National Championship presented by AT&T on Monday, Clemson has no significant injuries to report. The Tigers are healthier and maybe even a little more rested -- they had to play only six straight games before starting to prepare for Ohio State in the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl. Compare that to 10 straight weeks last year because of an early bye.
Interestingly, the offense played the same number of snaps this season as last season through 14 games: 1,122. But the timing of those snaps makes all the difference. The majority of them came after Week 3 last season. A little more than half of those snaps came after Week 8 this season. As such, the sleeper edge that the Tigers could have Monday night is that they are not as banged up or tired.
"We're a healthy team, much healthier than we were this time last year, and again, we've got more depth than we had this time last year," Swinney said.
That is true in some cases. Let's start with the offense. Last season, quarterback Deshaun Watson, starting left tackle Mitch Hyatt, starting center Jay Guillermo and starting left guard Eric Mac Lain each played more than 1,000 snaps by season's end. In fact, they each set a school single-season record by class for number of snaps played. Watson has the overall single-season record:
Mitch Hyatt, freshman: 1,049 snaps
Deshaun Watson, sophomore: 1,121 snaps
Jay Guillermo, junior, 1,092 snaps
Eric Mac Lain, senior, 1,096 snaps
Hyatt, Guillermo and Watson all returned to start this season. None will reach his snap total from a year ago. Of the three, Watson is the only one to play more than 1,000 snaps to this point. Guillermo (972) should get there against Alabama. But other starters such as Jordan Leggett and Artavis Scott have taken just about the same number of snaps they did a year ago. Leggett (855 snaps) is actually on pace for more than the 892 snaps he logged last season, tops among tight ends in a single-season in Clemson history.
Defense is where the Tigers really wore down at the end of last season. This season, Clemson's defense has faced more total snaps (942) than it had by the 2016 national championship game (897). Its key stalwarts have all played more snaps -- mostly because they've had to.
Clemson returned only three starters to the defense. Cordrea Tankersley was the only one among them who got fewer snaps (minus-22). Ben Boulware (plus-35) and Carlos Watkins (plus-175) each logged more. While it is true that the depth is better on this year's team, especially in the secondary, Clemson has continued to rely on its starters significantly.
What is different is the way the players feel. They aren't as tired or run down because the bye week hit differently. They are energized for a second opportunity at Alabama. They simply don't have as many costly injuries.
Swinney was asked to assess the health of his team after the Ohio State game. He simply said, "We're in good shape."
Much better shape than last year.
