One step separates Alabama from a 15-0 record, consecutive national championships, consideration as college football's best team ever and further confirmation as the greatest dynasty in modern college football.
It will be a tough, treacherous step.
Coaches who have faced or studied Alabama and Clemson agree that Clemson will pose by far the biggest test Alabama has faced this season when the teams meet in the College Football Playoff National Championship presented by AT&T (8 p.m. ET on Monday, ESPN/ESPN App). Those same coaches don't expect a repeat of last year's title game, which featured 85 points and several wild twists, but they expect another tightly contested contest that goes down to the final minutes.
Here's what coaches are saying about Alabama and Clemson before they step on the championship stage in Tampa, Florida.
Alabama's 24-7 win over Washington in the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl reinforced two things to coaches. The Tide's defense is terrifyingly good, and the Tide's offense can look surprisingly ordinary.
"How do you score on their defense?" a Power 5 coach asked this week.
"That could be the best defense ever," a defensive coordinator who faced Alabama said. "The best defense of all time."
Senior linebacker Reuben Foster is the player coaches repeatedly singled out for his play during the season and in the Washington win. The Tide are sturdy up front and dynamic in the back end, but the linebacker combination of pass-rushers Ryan Anderson and Tim Williams, with Foster patrolling the middle of the field, gives opponents almost nowhere to go.
Despite Alabama's upgrade in overall defensive speed this season, an offensive line coach who faced the Tide said wider run designs can be more effective against Foster than trying to overpower him. Clemson's Wayne Gallman ranked 17th in the Power 5 in outside runs with 691 yards, as 63.6 percent of his rushing production and 12 of his 16 rushing touchdowns came on such runs.
Tigers quarterback Deshaun Watson also can attack with his feet, as he had 475 rush yards on outside runs this season and 49 rush yards on scrambles against Alabama last year. Watson's overall ability should concern Alabama, which surrendered 478 total yards and four pass touchdowns to the Clemson quarterback last year. Watson is one of only two quarterbacks -- Ole Miss' Chad Kelly is the other -- to truly fluster the Tide's defense the past two seasons.
"The better quarterback of all four [playoff] teams is Deshaun Watson," a Power 5 defensive coordinator said. "That's why I think Clemson's got a chance."
Watson's ability to attack downfield looms large, especially with top wide receiver Mike Williams on the field (Williams missed last year's championship game with a neck injury). Watson went 5-of-11 for 134 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions on throws of 20 yards or more downfield against Alabama in last year's title game.
"Clemson can throw eight deep balls and probably come down with four of them," an SEC assistant said. "They can generate big plays more than other teams Alabama has played."
The only concern with Watson is the potential for interceptions, the area that has doomed so many quarterbacks against Alabama this season. Watson has thrown 17 interceptions on 523 attempts entering the game, as opposed to 12 on 444 attempts before last year's championship. He threw an interception on his first attempt in the semifinal against Ohio State and threw another first-half interception in the end zone.
Ohio State did nothing with those takeaways. Odds are, Alabama will make Watson pay. The Tide have a non-offensive touchdown in 10 of their 14 games, including last week, when Anderson's pick-six gave Alabama a 17-7 lead right before halftime.
"That changes the whole game," an offensive assistant who faced Alabama said. "That's what Alabama has done so well all year long. If Clemson can keep them from doing that, yeah, they can do some stuff."
Watson's matchup with the Alabama defense typically would dominate the pregame discussion, but there's just as much attention on Alabama's offense and Clemson's defense. Alabama's coordinator switch from Lane Kiffin to Steve Sarkisian has created an element of mystery in the game. Coaches are split on how Sarkisian's rushed return to playcalling will impact an offense and a freshman quarterback, Jalen Hurts, coming off a largely ineffective performance against Washington.
"Sark and Lane have been together for a long time," a Power 5 defensive coordinator said. "They've won national championships together at USC. They think alike, and [Sarkisian has] been in the building. So you've got to call plays that are easy for Jalen. I think Sark's going to be energized and want to come up with a good plan for the offense. I actually think it's a great move by Saban."
The coach added that while analysts -- the role Sarkisian has held for the past few months at Alabama -- aren't supposed to coach players, their proximity to the team gives them unique perspective. But an ACC coach said Alabama's staff shakeup gives Clemson a better chance, especially with the Tigers' defense surging after a historic shutout of Urban Meyer-coached Ohio State. Coaches think Clemson's defensive line will be the best Alabama has seen. An ACC head coach and offensive coordinator both raved about freshman tackle Dexter Lawrence -- "Freak of nature," the coordinator called Lawrence -- and noted that Christian Wilkins continues to wreak havoc despite switching from tackle to end this season.
Alabama has leaned on its run game all season -- 59.1 percent of its yards have come on runs and 61.1 percent of its plays have been runs -- and likely will do so again against Clemson. Sophomore Bo Scarbrough gashed Washington for 180 yards and two touchdowns on only 19 carries. While Alabama leads the FBS by a wide margin in yards per rush allowed (2 YPR allowed), Clemson ranks 19th (3.51 YPR).
"They zip and zap their D-line a ton, and they blitz and they do all of this stuff, so it's going to cause some negative plays," a Power 5 defensive coordinator said of Clemson. "But if Alabama hits a run, they're going to hit some [big] plays on them."
If the two strengths offset, Hurts will need to spark the passing game against Clemson's secondary, which an ACC offensive coordinator describes as "pretty good" but likely the weakness of the overall unit. Washington took Alabama wide receivers Calvin Ridley and ArDarius Stewart out of the game -- they combined for one catch -- and Hurts completed only 7 of 14 passes for 57 yards. Clemson's secondary isn't as smothering, but cornerback Cordrea Tankersley can handle Ridley or Stewart and safety Jadar Johnson has become a major playmaker this season.
The Tigers also undoubtedly will devote more resources to Alabama tight end O.J. Howard, who had 208 receiving yards and two touchdowns on only five catches in last year's title game.
"Nothing against Hurts, but he's such an average quarterback in terms of a ball thrower," said a defensive assistant who faced Alabama. "To say that's the best team ever, I don't know about that with the quarterback. No way."
Before Clemson's appearance in last year's playoff semifinal against Oklahoma, an ACC head coach told Insider that the Tigers' kicking game was a glaring weakness. "They're really, really below average," the coach said then. "It could kill them." The kicking game did doom Clemson, but not until the following game against Alabama, which had a 95-yard kick-return touchdown and recovered an onside kick in the fourth quarter with the game tied at 24-24.
Clemson players and coaches said Dabo Swinney made special teams a major emphasis during the offseason and several ACC coaches, including the one who pointed out the issues last year, acknowledged the improvement. But Alabama still could have an overall edge on special teams.
"Our kickoff team is walk-ons and small linebackers and defensive backs," an SEC assistant noted. "[Alabama's] is full of five-star linebackers."
An ACC head coach said that special teams is still Clemson's weakest unit.
Coaches acknowledge Alabama's seemingly bottomless pool of elite players and its unmatched understanding of what it takes to win championships. Tide coach Nick Saban simply doesn't lose these types of games.
But coaches both inside and outside the SEC also think if Clemson can avoid the major mistake, especially a non-offensive touchdown allowed, the Tide will be in trouble.
"I'll be surprised if they don't win," an ACC offensive coordinator said of Clemson. "I know Alabama's defense is great, but Clemson's offense is good enough to score some. We'll see. It will be fun to watch."