Clemson wants to ‘leave no doubt’ about who the better team is against Alabama

Clemson isn’t just aiming to beat Alabama in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1. The Tigers are hoping to leave no doubt as far as which team is better.

Clemson and Alabama met each of the previous two seasons in the national championship game and delivered a pair of classic games, splitting the two meetings.

But the Tigers feel like they could have won the 2015 national title and had an easier time winning in 2016 had they played up to their potential. Clemson is hoping it won’t need a last-second touchdown to win this year.

“I feel like we left a little bit of doubt as far as it being a close game. I think that’s kind of mentality and focus that we’re trying to have going into it. We’re trying to leave no doubt. We’re not trying to make it close,” cornerback Ryan Carter said. “We’re trying to win the game and move on. We know it’s going to be a tough game. We know it’s going to be a challenge. But the last two times we’ve played Alabama we’ve left a little bit of doubt as far as a couple of plays that we could’ve made, just little things, so I think that’s one thing we’re trying to challenge each other on is really leave no doubt.”

Some of that doubt from outsiders is due to the fact that Crimson Tide star running back Bo Scarbrough was hurt in the third quarter against Clemson after recording 16 carries for 93 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

Scarbrough certainly got off to a fast start against Clemson, but he did much of his damage early on.

Both of his touchdowns and 71 of his rushing yards came in the first 20 minutes of the game.

Scarbrough’s final nine carries totaled 22 yards.

“We hear that kind of stuff but at the end of the day I feel like we had guys that were hurt, too. You can’t really base a game off somebody getting hurt,” Carter said. “You’ve gotta have guys who are backups ready to step up and make plays. Yeah, we’ve heard that and that is what it is but I feel like it’s still Alabama at the end of the day. It’s still a challenge even without him.”

Leaving no doubt has been a theme for Clemson throughout the 2017 season after the Tigers had several close calls last year, including against Louisville, N.C. State, Florida State and Virginia Tech.

Clemson topped those teams by an average of 16 points this season after winning by an average of less than six last year.

“Last season there was a lot of doubt in how we got to the College Football Playoff and how we won the national championship, whether or not it was a last second tackle against Louisville or the interception in overtime against N.C. State. ... This year, and we’ve done it so far, just kind of leave no doubt,” linebacker Dorian O’Daniel said.

“We feel like they just want to discredit from what we actually did. As a football player you take pride in that kind of stuff. You’re not going to let anyone just sit there and talk about what type of season you had when you know what it took and you’re on the inside looking out.”

Clemson has one more opportunity to leave no doubt this season against a team that it had a close matchup with a year ago.

“There’s a lot of answers that was left out from playing them last year, just saying we didn’t do this, we didn’t do that,” wide receiver Deon Cain said. “This year we just want to go out and answer everything, kill the show, and just come back home with that W.”

This story was originally published December 25, 2017 at 10:05 AM with the headline "Clemson wants to ‘leave no doubt’ about who the better team is against Alabama."