After beating Washington 24-7, Alabama secured their spot in the College Football National Championship game giving them a chance to win their fifth title in the span of eight years.

The undefeated Crimson Tide will play against Clemson on Jan. 9, at the Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida.

The two teams will be facing off for the second year in a row, giving Clemson a chance for redemption after last year’s 45-40 close loss.

With Alabama’s stifling defense scoring 11 non-offensive touchdowns this season, it’s safe to say they are the best in the league. This means Clemson’s offense must find a way to move the ball without a turnover. If Clemson wants a chance to win this game, they cannot lose the ball.

Last week’s game against Washington Alabama’s offense was definitely off. Quarterback Jalen Hurts was sacked three times so the offensive line really needs to work this week on doing their job and protect their QB, giving him time to throw the ball.

Hurts has really taken people by surprise. Even though he is a true freshman, he is able to take charge of his team, think fast and fix mistakes quickly. A lot is at stake for him during this game. He has a chance to be the second true freshman quarterback in history to lead his team to the National Championship. However, the offense has one setback. Offensive Coordinator Lane Kiffin has resigned from his position and on Jan. 2, Head Coach Nick Saban announced that former USC and Washington Head Coach Steve Sarkisian will replace Kiffin and be play-caller for the title game.

The main thing Clemson’s defense needs is to play like they did against Ohio State and focus on stopping the Alabama run game. They need to capitalize on any mistakes made by Alabama’s offense and if possible try to put Alabama in third and long situations

To win this game, Clemson is going to need to score touchdowns and not rely on field goals. Leading Clemson’s Offense is Deshaun Watson. He led the Power Five Conferences with 63 completions of 15 or more yards in the air. As one of the best dual threat quarterbacks in the country, he must play mistake free football to have a chance at victory.

Other players the Tide needs to look out for are RB Wayne Gallman, CB Cordero Tanskerly and WR Mike Williams. However, Clemson needs to watch out for Hurts, DL Jonathan Allen, DE Tim Williams, DB Minkah Fitzpatrick and RB Bo Scarborough.

It’s not going to be an easy win for either team. Clemson has something to prove since they lost against Alabama last year’s Championship so they will be coming back with vengeance. It will be a tight game all four quarters but I believe Alabama will pull through and come out on top, winning their 17^th National Championship title.