CFP National Championship 2016: Early Comments for Clemson vs. Alabama

Talk around the national championship game between the Clemson Tigers and Alabama Crimson Tide has already begun in the wake of the College Football Playoff semifinals.

How could it not? 

The bracket has produced two of the most dominant teams in recent memory, with Clemson smashing its way through Oklahoma in 37-17 fashion with eyes now on a coveted 15-0 mark. Alabama's supreme focus avoided a letdown like last year by pasting Michigan State, 38-0.

Call it the perfect matchup, the unstoppable object, the immovable wall, etc. The CFP has done its part, now the wheels begin to churn toward the fateful conclusion in the desert on January 11. Here's a look at the early chatter surrounding the contest.

Chasing Perfection

The Clemson offense, led by sophomore quarterback Deshaun Watson, is historic in more ways than one.

Watson has completed 68.2 percent of his passes this year with 31 passing scores and another 1,032 yards and 12 touchdowns on the ground, matching the 12 from lead back Wayne Gallman, who tallied 1,482 yards of his own.

Clemson's right on the cusp of becoming the ninth team in history to boast 4,000 passing yards and 3,000 rushing yards in a season, though the real focus for coach Dabo Swinney is on 15-0.

“August 3rd, when we started the season, I gave them shirts that said ‘Dream the Dream,'” Swinney said, according to the Associated Press (via CBSLocal.com). “And I said ’15 for 15,’ with the message being let’s make them print 15 tickets this year, somehow, some way."

Joe Skipper/Associated Press

It's hard to doubt the Tigers. Just ask Oklahoma, which sat stupefied as Watson accounted for 332 total yards and two scores, with Gallman adding 150 and two of his own in the blowout.

Understandably, the Tigers don't lack for confidence going into a game in which many might consider them the underdog.

"Our team has shown heart, had guts all year long, and it's amazing to me that I told them, 'You ain't favored to win the damn game, but we ain't no underdog,'" Swinney said, according to FoxSports.com's Bruce Feldman. "Nobody believes in this team except these guys, and they just got a great heart, and it showed tonight."

The underdog role fits the Tigers, 14-0 mark or not. This is the program known for "Clemsoning" in past years, coughing up rough outings against inferior competition, a mental barricade usually preventing the team from competing with the best of the best.

Not anymore.

“We’ve known what people say about Clemson, but we also know what kind of team we have, what kind of heart we have,” Watson said, according to Matt Hayes of SportingNews.com. “We know who we are. Maybe it’s time everyone else starts finds out.”

In a fitting turn of events, Clemson can make history and fully put to bed any unjustified doubt about its status against one of football's modern dynasties.

Finding the Focus

One season ago, Nick Saban's yearly crop of NFL-ready talent looked lost, perhaps dreaming more of draft position than upending Ohio State in the semifinal. Everyone knows how that turned out.

Feel free to ask Michigan State if Saban allowed his team to go into this year's semifinal with anything less than laser-sharp focus.

There's only one way to answer. Alabama sent a message, exorcising the demons of last year in the 38-0 rout, getting a 25-of-30 mark with 286 yards and two scores from Jake Coker under center and 75 yards and two scores from Heisman Trophy winner Derrick Henry despite the elite Spartans defense.

For Saban, focus wasn't an issue this time out, as he told Teddy Greenstein of the Chicago Tribune: "But this year's team was totally focused on the game. I mean, I let them decide their curfews (each night) — 12 o'clock, 12 o'clock, 11 o'clock, 11 o'clock. The whole time we were here, it was total focus on winning the game."

Still, this is an odd position for Alabama, a program needing identical focus as it attempts to next dissect, understand and eventually stop the nation's most potent spread offense. Defensive lineman D.J. Pettway told the media his unit would make changes in practice in an attempt to prepare for the Tigers' speed.

“We practice different,” Pettway said, according to USA Today's Paul Myerberg. “We do more fast-paced stuff. I feel like we’re in pretty good shape. And the good thing is we get to rotate. Rotating really helps us a lot.”

Call it uncharted territory for both sides. Clemson's looking to use the underdog role to avoid past mistakes, and Alabama's making sure to credit the opposition as much as possible to keep focused.

Saban didn't have any doubts about his team keeping the focus over an extended break, as he told Paul Newberry of the Associated Press: "Clemson is a great team, undefeated, a great program. I'm sure our guys will be motivated, trying to do the best they can to play the best they can in the game. It's a great opportunity for them. I'm proud as hell of them to get where they are."

It's early in the process, but neither team spent much time after semifinals wins celebrating.

Call it a championship trait from both ahead of a meeting between two teams that embraced weaknesses of years past to make it to this point. Expect more talk on the buildup to what has the early makings of a classic. 

Statistics courtesy of ESPN unless otherwise specified.