JOHN ADAMS

John Adams: Championship game summed up ACC's advantage over SEC

John Adams
john.adams@knoxnews.com
Clemson's Deshaun Watson runs for a touchdown against Alabama on Monday in Tampa, Fla.

Clemson didn’t just beat Alabama for the national championship Monday night. It knocked the SEC down a peg, too.

As soon as the national media had finished dissecting Clemson’s upset, it turned its attention to the ACC unseating the SEC as the nation’s best football conference.

There’s no denying it. Not after the ACC won the national championship. Not after it went 10-4 against the SEC this season, including the bowls.

Such a development was unthinkable four years ago after the SEC won its seventh consecutive national championship. Since then, the ACC is 23-20 against the SEC.

Don’t get the wrong idea, though. SEC football hasn’t been in free fall since winning a seventh consecutive national championship in 2012. Alabama has made each of the three College Football Playoffs, and Auburn reached the national championship game in 2013.

Check the recruiting rankings. In the 247Sports’ composite team rankings for 2017, six SEC teams and only one ACC team are in the top 10. Eleven SEC and only four ACC teams are in the top 25.

Also, check the NFL draft. The SEC has had more players taken in the draft in each of the past 10 years. In 2016, 51 players were drafted from the SEC and 26 from the ACC.

But none of that mattered on the field this past season. The ACC was just better.

Quarterbacking had much to do with that.

Before the first pass was thrown, this was projected as a down season for SEC quarterbacking. The projections were on target.

Conversely, quarterbacking was an ACC strength.

Eight ACC quarterbacks ranked in the top 45 nationally in passing yardage. Three SEC quarterbacks were in the top 45.

The NFL should reflect the ACC’s wealth of quarterbacks. Likely draft picks include Deshaun Watson of Clemson, Mitch Trubisky of North Carolina, Brad Kaaya of Miami and Jerod Evans of Virginia Tech. All four declared for the draft with a year of college eligibility remaining.

The quarterbacking disparity was magnified in the championship game. Alabama freshman Jalen Hurts had a clutch run for a touchdown late in the fourth quarter and threw a touchdown pass to a wide-open O.J. Howard. But he was no match for Watson, who completed 36 of 56 passes for 420 yards and three touchdowns. Hurts was 13-for-31 for 131 yards.

Hurts made first-team All-SEC by virtue of his running and poise. He also benefited greatly from the talent around him and carefully designed game plans that rarely forced him outside his comfort zone.

However, he will have to improve as a passer to lead Alabama to a national championship. But there’s plenty of time for improvement.

Next season, he again will be surrounded by skilled, experienced players in every area of the offense.

Quarterbacking should be improved throughout the SEC next season. Tennessee, Texas A&M and Ole Miss are the only teams who won’t return the quarterback who started for most of the 2016 season.

While Ole Miss will lose Chad Kelly, his replacement, Shea Patterson, showed star potential when he subbed for an injured Kelly late in the season. Baylor transfer Jarrett Stidham, who will be eligible to play in 2017 for Auburn, also should boost the SEC quarterbacking.

So maybe the SEC quarterbacking could even be good enough to overtake the ACC.

John Adams is a senior columnist. He may be reached at 865-342-6284 or john.adams@knoxnews.com. Follow him at: Twitter.com/johnadamskns.

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