Clemson vs. Alabama: Latest Comments Ahead of CFP National Championship 2017

There is plenty to say about a rematch—and one with a championship at stake, no less—before the Clemson Tigers collide on Monday with the Alabama Crimson Tide in the College Football Playoff National Championship.

Rest assured that the players and coaches have done most of the talking in the buildup to the game. Given its status as a rematch, much of Clemson's discourse has centered on revenge. For Alabama, it is focused on the lessons learned after hardly escaping against these same Tigers one year ago. A timely onside kick was perhaps the only thing that prevented a complete role reversal this week.

Alas, Alabama sits in the champion's chair, while Clemson looks to usurp a dynasty.

Date	Time (ET)	Location	Watch	Live Stream
Monday, January 9	8 p.m.	Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, Florida	ESPN	WatchESPN

After last year's experience and seemingly improving this season, Clemson doesn't lack confidence. 

Head coach Dabo Swinney has gone as far as to suggest the Tigers are the only team in the nation capable of knocking off the Crimson Tide, according to NFL.com's Chase Goodbread:

"

These are the two best teams, and to be honest with you, I don't think there's another team out there that's capable of beating Alabama. I think we're probably the only team that has a chance. We've got a solid chance. But we've got to go toe to toe. Whoever is (Muhammad) Ali, whoever is (Joe) Frazier, it's two great guys battling it out.

"

While that's not the craziest quote to come from Saturday's CFP media day, Swinney might just be right.

The Tigers played Alabama to a 45-40 result in last year's title game, getting 405 yards and four touchdowns from Heisman Trophy candidate Deshaun Watson. Clemson's offense hasn't changed much this year, whereas the big improvement came on the defensive side of the ball. The Tigers shut out Ohio State in 31-0 fashion last week, making a much anticipated CFP semifinal a knee-slapping affair.

Alabama isn't taking the Clemson defense lightly. New offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian, who is now manning the job after Lane Kiffin left to coach Florida Atlantic University, talked about the tough challenge, according to the Orlando Sentinel's Alicia DelGallo:

"

We need to be sound. We need to understand what they're trying to do. They've got an extremely athletic defensive line. They knock balls down on the line of scrimmage. They can pressure the quarterback. Then with the multitude of coverages they have in the back end, the athleticism that they have, they pose a lot of challenges.

"

As one can tell from the overtures thus far, Alabama has an almost cautious approach to this matchup. This tends to happen when a team trots out a freshman quarterback in a title game. Jalen Hurts threw 22 touchdowns and ran for another 12 during the regular season; however, he didn't face a defense comparable to Clemson's and doesn't bring much in the way of big-game experience to Monday's affair, at least in comparison to his counterpart.

If Clemson's defense is in the spotlight, Alabama's defense should be right there next to it, elbowing for room. Alabama head coach Nick Saban has reloaded brilliantly once again, as evidenced by only two opponents scoring more than 16 points on the unit all year.

The word "brand" continues to come up in pregame conversation. Alabama's brand is the hard-hitting defense capable of steamrolling the SEC into submission. Clemson isn't intimidated by it one bit. However, what's more interesting is Tigers leader Ben Boulware suggested Monday offers a chance for Clemson to build a brand of its own.

“I think we’re just now building our brand,” Boulware said, according to the Associated Press (h/t News 2). “For a long time, we haven’t been that good. We were very inconsistent. We weren’t ever really a part that have national championship conversation up until the past couple of years."

The brand for Alabama hasn't changed. In fact, the biggest talking point for the Crimson Tide has been simple—consistency.

Many have focused on Kiffin's unprecedented departure ahead of the title game. It has let perhaps the most underrated storyline of the game fall well off the radar—defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt isn't going anywhere.

Last year, while the Crimson Tide let Clemson run wild for 40 points, then-defensive coordinator Kirby Smart had spent the days leading up to the game preparing for it while trying to build his coaching staff at Georgia, where he was pegged as the next head coach. One can see why Saban waved Kiffin goodbye rather than let him stay for the title game.

Pruitt doesn't have the same dilemma, and the players aren't shy about it. Defensive lineman Tim Williams offered AL.com's John Talty a telling quote.

"Yeah, there's a difference. We feel like he's not going anywhere," Williams said. "That's our coach, and he's with us. He's with us. He used to play here; he's a football guy. He used to play (defensive back) here. A guy like that you want to learn from."

Saban's next-man-up philosophy on his coaching staff isn't the only change—he wants his players to be fresher for the rematch.

"We're actually practicing a little less for this game than we did a year ago," Saban said, according to Talty's colleague, Michael Casagrande. "We try to cut back, go with spider pads sometimes. We're going to practice in pads for two days for this game and that's it."

Clemson's learning from its mistakes after last year's loss and Alabama's altering its approach before the contest based on the near-upset are exactly what fans should have expected from the nation's top two programs. 

The slight modifications and rather reserved talking points ahead of the showdown point to another quality encounter. Only one question remains ahead of the rematch: Which brand, fueled by learning from the first dance, comes out on top?

Statistics courtesy of ESPN.com unless otherwise specified.

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