CFP Championship Game Thread - Clemson vs. Alabama II

[MultiTroll]

Assistant coach Jay Harbaugh son of Michigan coach who is well known butthurt hater of Saban or the actual words of Clemson QB Deshaun Watson?
I wonder who's take on the play we should value more?

“We knew that they were going to play cover zero when we were inside the 5,” Watson told ESPN’s Tom Rinaldi. “And all we needed was a good pick by TE (Jordan Leggett). And TE picked ’em and (Hunter) Renfrow got inside the end zone, and I just threw the ball where we could make sure he caught it. And that’s what he did.
https://www.seccountry.com/alabama/c...ship-pick-play

[Clipper Nation]

Just watched the play again and it still looks to me like Humphrey puts his arms around Scott before Scott can even initiate anything. At most, you could say it was a bang-bang play that wasn't conclusive enough for the ref to call.

Come to think of it, even if there was a "pick," it still would have been legal. You're allowed to set a pick on the defender who's covering you, as Scott was intending to do. Where it becomes illegal is when you set a pick on a DB who isn't covering you in order to free up a teammate. But that's not what happened on that play. Renfrow was wide open because Humphrey yanked Scott to the ground and forced Brown to go around them, not because anyone made contact with Brown (which they didn't).

[The Gemini Method]

Pretty exciting game. I still think the 05 Rose Bowl was more exciting, but for these past 2 CFP le games, it has bee worth the watch. I caught it at a bar where there seemed to be a plethora of Bama fans. There was some heckling between them and the lone Clemson couple. I asked the Clemson fans if they were from the area and they said they were both born in Charleston, S.C. and made their way west for work. I then asked a Bama fan there and he said he was born in San Antonio but was stationed in Georgia. Interesting mix to say the least. I hope next year USC represents.

[Clipper Nation]

A lot of media folks called it a pick. Even Watson, interviewed on the field right after the game, called it a pick. And, of course, pick plays are illegal. They should result in offensive pass interference.

But this one wasn't a pick. It was a legal rub route. Painful as it is for Alabama fans, the officials got it right. Why?

Because the contact came between a receiver and the cornerback who was covering him. That isn't a pick. A pick is when one receiver picks off a defensive back who is covering a different player. The phrase "pick play" comes from basketball. In basketball, players set a pick, which is legal, obviously, if the player setting the pick isn't moving at time of contact. But basketball players don't pick guys who are covering them. They pick players who are covering a teammate, which allows that teammate to run free.

So back to the game-deciding play. Renfrow was in the slot to the right, and Artavis Scott was lined up to his right. Alabama was in man coverage. Tony Brown was covering Renfrow, and Marlon Humphrey was on Scott. When the ball was snapped, Watson rolled right. Scott, the receiver out wide, released inside, or to his left. Humphrey tried to cut him off, pressed him, trying to not allow the inside release. The two collided and Scott fell to the ground. If Renfrow had not been lined up on the same side, nobody would have called it a pick. Just a collision between a receiver and the cornerback who was covering him.

But Renfrow was in the slot, running an out route. And because he anticipated the collision – or rub route – he slid underneath it, as he is supposed to do. Brown had no choice but to go around the collision, allowing Renfrow to slide to the right front corner of the end zone wide open and Watson found him for the easy score.

Now, was the offensive team, in this case Clemson, trying to cause commotion? Absolutely. Is the play designed to have Scott and Humphrey collide, forming a barrier of sorts? Definitely. And if the play is executed properly, the inside receiver slips under it – actually runs in front of the two colliding players – and the defensive back covering him must run behind the play, or over the top. He can chase him to the inside, but he still would have to go around the collision, making him even further behind. The result is the receiver usually is wide open.

Clemson executed it to perfection. It was a rub route that caused a collision that the defensive player couldn't get around, yet at no time did an offensive player pick off a defender covering someone else.

Many times, officials get confused and call a pick play in this instance, even though they shouldn't. Credit this crew for knowing the rules – even if many fans and media don't – and keeping their flags in their pockets.

http://gridironnow.com/hunter-renfro...-td-rub-route/

[Clipper Nation]

Bottom line: rub routes are legal, they're in every team's playbook and they're a staple in goal-line situations in both college and the NFL. Every coach es up a storm when it's done to them, but pretty much every coach runs these same types of plays whenever they get the opportunity. Clemson ran a legal play and executed it almost flawlessly.

[DMX7]

I turned the game off because I thought the game was over...

[Thread]

^ Bend over. You'll think the in' game was over...

[Thread]

Here's what I lodged on the ESPN Boards:::"Sometimes you have to give. Saban could not do that and instead made an example of Kiffin afterall. He, no (we) found out the most cruel way that you can't always put yourself above all others. Not every single time. There was no need to throw shade on Kiffin as he stood in his own shaft of sunlight in his new job. He had already paid you back, no (us) back for taking him off the scrap heap of life where (they'd) left him to die. I so hope Saban will learn this lesson and be it so fortunate that Sarkisian stands in a similar shaft of light you'll remember this night turned to morning."

[Avante]

What a mobile QB can do to the big guys is what we saw last night. He wore them out.

Funny how the real star was a little white receiver.

[MultiTroll]

Here is what a mobile QB can do for you:

[DMX7]