ATLANTA -- Lane Kiffin stood on the far side of the field in the Georgia Dome on Saturday night, far removed from the makeshift stage near Alabama's end zone and the celebration among players and coaches there.

No. 1-ranked Alabama had just throttled No. 4 Washington to advance to the College Football Playoff National Championship Presented by AT&T, winning 24-7 in Atlanta, yet the Crimson Tide's offensive coordinator wasn’t necessarily overcome with joy.

"We just couldn’t get a rhythm going sometimes," Kiffin told a handful of reporters as coach Nick Saban took the stage to accept the College Football Playoff semifinal at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl trophy. (Editor's note: Kiffin and Alabama announced on Monday that he will be leaving before the Clemson game to assume head-coaching duties at Florida Atlantic.)

Sure, sophomore running back Bo Scarbrough was dominant, rushing for a bowl record 180 yards. But for the most part, Alabama’s offense was a one-man show.

Jalen Hurts, the true freshman quarterback who took the SEC by storm and won the conference’s Offensive Player of the Year honors with 34 combined regular-season touchdowns, had arguably his worst passing game of the season with a career-low 57 yards and no touchdowns on 7 of 14 attempts.

In doing so, he helped prove the theory opposing coaches and players had been espousing on how to best attack Alabama for the past month: Make Hurts throw the football.

You better believe No. 2 Clemson, which beat Ohio State 31-0 and picked off veteran quarterback J.T. Barrett twice, was paying attention.

Maybe it was the long layoff that got to Hurts against Washington.

Or maybe it was the magnitude of the moment.

"I don’t know if he was really pressing," Kiffin said. "You know, I think he would be the first to tell you that he didn’t play great today. But, again, like I said all week, this is a big stage and he’s still a true freshman and this is a really good defense that gives people problems."

In the locker room after the game, Hurts didn’t appear to be bothered at all by his performance. Then again, when has he been rattled by anything this season? He bounced back nicely when he fumbled his first career snap in the season-opener against Southern California, and he handled LSU's Death Valley with the poise of a senior.

Late in the second half against Washington, he said he went to his teammates on the sideline and told them, "Y’all need to believe in me and I’ll believe in y'all. Believe in each other. Trust each other."

He avoided throwing an interception and wound up rushing for 50 yards on 19 carries.

"I rarely get frustrated," Hurts explained. "I just take it as it comes and play ball."

Which is good news for the coaching staff as it begins the next week-plus of preparation for Clemson. The Tigers’ front seven will challenge Hurts with a prolific pass rush that includes linebacker Ben Boulware and defensive linemen Carlos Watkins, Christian Wilkins and Dexter Lawrence.

Kiffin, who said that the game plan against Washington was to be conservative throwing the football, is likely to continue to play it safe with his young quarterback.

If anything, he said he wanted Hurts' lesson from Saturday's game to be, "Just make the easy plays."

"We’re not asking him to win by himself and throw the ball 50 times or something like that," he said. "There are just a few easy plays that he has to make for us to win the next one."

Said Saban: "We have to do a better job at creating balance on offense and being able to throw the ball a little more effectively. And that’s something that we’ll continue to work on."

Hurts thought he’d wind up going to work that very night, ringing in the New Year by watching film with his family, including his father who was his high school football coach.

It all came down to execution against Washington, he said.

And though he’s sure to take some heat for his passing performance, don’t expect that to bother him.

With 14 games under his belt, you’d expect him to be tired of hearing how he’s so young, and even that rolls off his back.

"It doesn’t affect me what they say," he said. "I hold myself to a high standard. I’ll never put a limit on my game. I know what I’m capable of, personally."

His message during the past month hasn’t changed.

"I said after the SEC championship, 'We’re not done,'" he said. "Same here. We still have to finish."