Ask Pro Bowl wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins to talk about making those acrobatic one-handed catches, and he's a man of few words. He waves it off as just "instincts," something that he never really thinks about.
Ask Hopkins about his alma mater Clemson's chances against Alabama in the national championship game and he'll give a breakdown of the undefeated Tigers.
"I think Clemson will win on Monday because they have the best player in college football in DeShaun Watson," Hopkins said Wednesday. "Not knocking Derek Henry or anything, but you look at what DeShaun did. I think he exceeded Cam Newton's stats, Johnny Manziel's stats, Jameis Winston's stats as a sophomore, but he didn't win the Heisman. And besides that, I don't think Alabama, when you spread those guys out, that's not the kind of football they want to play, like Texas A&M did when Johnny Manziel beat them. And our defense is stacked. We mirror each other on defense."
DeShaun Watson, 2015 Heisman Trophy finalist and Orange Bowl MVP, has started all 14 games and led the Tigers to a perfect 14-0 heading into the national championship. The second-year quarterback, named the 2015 ACC Player of the Year, has thrown for 3,699 yards with 31 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. He has also rushed for 1,032 yards on 187 carries for 12 touchdowns.
The No. 1 Clemson and No. 2 Alabama will face each other Monday night in the College Football Playoff National Championship with kickoff at 7:30 CT on ESPN.
