In the 14 times Alabama and Clemson have been matched up, Alabama has won 12 times, including winning their last game 34-10 in the 2008 regular-season opener in Atlanta.
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“Everybody talks about it being insane, me pulling for Clemson, but it’s not for me”.
“They certainly have been the standard in college football for a long, long time, but especially since coach Saban has been there”, Swinney said.
©2015 Fox Sports Interactive Media, LLC. But Alabama was even more dominant against No. 3 Michigan State in the Cotton Bowl, and they’ve been unbeatable for most of the season. “But you know, there was a lot of things that we could do better, and hopefully our players will look at that and try to go to work and improve on those things”. It was a way for both of them to have a sense of normalcy after a tumultuous past. “I’m proud as hell of them to get where they are”. That’s just fine with him. The only prior Alabama opponent to rank above Clemson in either category: MS, who handed the Crimson Tide its only loss of the season in a 43-37 game on September 19.
But while the overall strength of the conference is easy to criticize, the Tigers aren’t buying into any idea that they’re untested or inferior. Clemson doesn’t need to be spectacular on special teams to beat Alabama, but they will definitely have to keep mistakes to a minimum.
Swinney, 46, grew up in Pelham and played football at Pelham High School before enrolling at the University of Alabama and joining the football team as a walk-on under then-Alabama coach Bill Curry.
Howard’s first job after graduating from Alabama in 1931 was as line coach at Clemson, and it was the only place he worked until he retired as athletic director in 1971. Clemson brings a much younger team, but Swinney said the current team of Tigers is up to the task. “I’d love to be the lawyer on that one, because you know what, ain’t never been a 15-0 team”. The other one reads, “M&M Hardware, the best hardware store in town”. At the ACC Kickoff in July, he talked about the way Clemson’s program had grown into one of the best in the conference – a conference that he described as the most complete league in the country. The phrase has gone down in the books as Swinney’s coaching philosophy. Can’t wait to go against him, the guy’s probably a top 10 draft pick. When Tom Causey was hired as Pelham’s football coach a year ago, Swinney got in touch.
Alabama freshman quarterback Blake Barnett will play the part of Watson during scout team drills, and true freshman Jalen Hurts (part of the 2016 recruiting class) is already on campus and able to practice with the team.
“I knew about Clemson, but I started kind of intimately learning about Clemson through Woody McCorvey and Ellis Johnson and Chip Davis and Danny Pearman and Curley Hallman”, Swinney said. “We’re the biggest Alabama fans you could ever meet”. I mean, Nick Saban is Nick Saban.
We’re going to give it all we’ve got.
Dave Smith, who publishes Pelham’s city news magazine, put Swinney on the cover as a hometown hero after the 2012 season, but he isn’t rooting for Clemson against ‘Bama. The Tide can win a fourth one under Saban to show the dynasty is still alive and kicking in Tuscaloosa.
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“I’d say if he continues on that track, he’d be a logical choice to step in and continue the winning tradition at the Capstone”, said Smith.
