College Football Playoff Predictions pt. 1

At first glance everyone is just going to take Alabama to win it all due to them being one of the best college teams this century. But if you follow college football and can look in between the lines you can see something special with the Washington team. Washington is the most well rounded team that Alabama will face all year, including the two other teams in the playoffs. Let me just start with the secondary of the Huskies and wow, they bring this team to life! If you’re looking for the definition of a no fly zone, this is it with Sidney Jones leading the way. I like to compare them to the Broncos or chiefs secondary as they only allow 192.6 yards per game, which is phenomenal. Alabama’s passing attack averages around 224.1 yards a game, which may underwhelm some people, but anyone that knows Nick Saban knows he wants quality over quantity, and Jalen Hurts’ performance is exactly that. We can’t forget about the front seven for Washington, which is overshadowed by the teams secondary. The front line has allowed an average of 123.5 yards per game with a total of 218 sacks. Don’t worry if you’re a Bama fan because the offensive line is powerful and one of the best in college. They have rushed for an average of 247.2 per game and a high average of 5.8 rushing touchdowns a game mainly from the strong rusher in Bo Scarbrough. For Alabama to win they need to score and control this game on the offensive side of the ball by being tough in the trenches and controling the line.  For Washington to win their defense needs to limit early so their secondary can take over the game.

The offensive play of the Huskies has been phenomenal to watch, as they’ve averaged 44.5 points per game. They are an up tempo offense that have great play makers like the quarterback Jake Browning who averages 267.2 yards a game. The pass defense of Alabama is headlined with future top pick Marlon Humphrey and play maker Eddie Jackson who help the team average giving up 184.5 yards through the air per game. Believe it or not this is the weak point of this stout Defense. The rushing for Washington has been inconsistent as they’ve averaged 210.0 yards a game but struggled in the last couple weeks. The strong point of Alabama’s defense is the run as they only allow 63.8 yards per game which is insane. Jonathan Allen is the leader in both dropping the run and getting pressure on the QB. The Huskies need to get the rush game going to open up the passing as the difference maker in this game will be Wide Receiver, John Ross. Alabama needs to stop the run like they do and get constant pressure on the quarterback. Finally the big prediction!! I’m going with Washington defeating Alabama 34-31.

Written by Domenic Buccini