Alexander’s tall task: Shut down Shepard
One outlier can be found on Notre Dame wide receiver Will Fuller’s otherwise sterling game log from an All-America junior season. Clemson, Oct. 3. Two receptions, a season low. Thirty-seven receiving yards, likewise a low during the regular season.
The Tigers’ 24-22 win came in a downpour, true, and against a young Notre Dame quarterback, DeShone Kizer, unfamiliar with Clemson’s decided home-field advantage. Yet Fuller’s performance can be tied more closely to the play of sophomore cornerback Mackensie Alexander, the boldest member of a defense brimming with confidence entering Thursday’s Orange Bowl against Oklahoma.
“I’m like Floyd (Mayweather Jr.),” Alexander said. “I can be a little brash, a little cocky. I put in the time to do that. I take my time with this sport. I love playing cornerback.”
The Cotton Bowl between Alabama and Michigan State might be defined by between-the-tackles toughness. The Orange Bowl, meanwhile, will be decided not at the line of scrimmage but from sideline to sideline and end zone to end zone.
Clemson led the Atlantic Coast Conference in passing yards per game.
Oklahoma ranks second among Power Five programs in passing yards per attempt.
Both teams use speed, tempo and spread-offense formations to keep defenses off balance, and both rely on winning individual matchups at the offensive skill positions.
There are many such matchups in play Thursday, but none looms larger than Alexander against Oklahoma wide receiver Sterling Shepard, the team leader in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns.
Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield’s favorite target throughout the regular season, Shepard has be- come even more productive during the Sooners’ charge into the Playoff. In his last five games, Shepard has made 47 catches for 652 yards.
Alexander’s plan is to remove Shepard from Oklahoma’s offensive equation — a task easier said than done, even for one of the elite cornerbacks in college football.
“This is a game of performance,” Alexander said. “I’m not going to sit here and sell you a dream. I could come out here and say some crazy stuff, but for what? You have to go out and perform.”
Oklahoma has its own all-conference cornerback in Zack Sanchez, but Clemson’s receiver corps presents a different sort of challenge: The Tigers unit lacks a clear-cut star but has nearly unparalleled depth.
In other words, Clemson could still move the football effectively should Sanchez shut down one potential pass-catcher. With Shepard such an irreplaceable option, Alexander might be able to slow down not just Oklahoma’s top receiver but also the Sooners’ entire offense.
“Going to be a battle right there,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said. “That’s what you expect. There’s no weaknesses on either one of these teams.”