Alabama junior tight end Irv Smith (82) gets past the Arkansas defense during their early October game in Fayetteville. Smith has 40 catches for 667 yards and seven touchdowns this season going into Monday night’s national title game against Clemson.As soon as Alabama and Clemson became January rivals in this College Football Playoff era, a subplot was birthed featuring O.J. Howard, a Crimson Tide tight end at the time, and current Tigers receiver Hunter Renfrow.
Howard and Renfrow quickly became the top weapons for their teams, with the two combining for 12 receptions for 296 yards and four touchdowns in Alabama’s 45-40 triumph in the championship game of the 2015 season. Howard had touchdown catches of 53 and 51 yards, with the latter giving the Tide the lead for good at 31-24 with less than 10 minutes remaining.
The two totaled 14 catches for 198 yards and three touchdowns in the title rematch of the 2016 season, with Renfrow’s 2-yard touchdown reception from Deshaun Watson with one second left catapulting Clemson to a 35-31 triumph. Howard had a 68-yard touchdown late in the third quarter to give the Tide a 24-14 lead.
That would be Howard’s final game at Alabama, but current tight end Irv Smith hopes to have similar productivity Monday night, when the No. 1 Tide (14-0) and the No. 2 Tigers (14-0) meet for the national championship at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.
“He made a bunch of plays in those games, so it’s motivation for me,” Smith said about Howard in a news conference this week. “I want to go out and have a big game, too. It was cool to see him do that, but I feel that it’s my time now.”
Smith, a 6-foot-4, 241-pound junior from New Orleans, had one catch for 6 yards in last January’s 24-6 win over Clemson in the Sugar Bowl national semifinal that was dominated by the Tide defense. Renfrow was held to five receptions for 31 yards.
Renfrow began his Clemson career as a walk-on from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, but has 184 career catches for 2,123 yards and 15 touchdowns. The 5-foot-10, 185-pounder also enters Monday’s game as a college graduate and having been engaged since March to a Clemson homecoming queen.
“He’s a great representative of everything we want our program to be about – grit, heart, toughness, perseverance, belief, character and class in everything that you do,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said. “He’s just an amazing young person. I mean, he’s what makes college football special, and I’m glad we’ve got him for one more game.”
When asked this week about his college finale against the familiar foe, Renfrow said: “I’m just going to try and be my best. I’m really not going to put too much thought into this. I’m going to attack it just like every other game.”
Smith had just 14 catches for 128 yards last season, but he has flourished this season as a prominent target in Tide coordinator Mike Locksley’s offense, totaling 40 receptions for 667 yards (16.7 per catch) and seven touchdowns. His yards and average surpass what Howard ever accomplished in a single season, with Howard now two years into an NFL career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Whether a banner season for Smith could be capped by a Howard-like showing against Clemson remains to be seen, but he would love the opportunity.
“Our quarterbacks and Coach Locksley have done a great job of finding ways to get me the ball so I can make plays,” Smith said. “Coach Locksley talked before the season about getting the playmakers the ball, and I knew I was one of those guys.
“We ran the ball a lot in our last game, so I didn’t run too many routes, but now it’s the national championship. If you’re not fired up for that, then I don’t know what to tell you.”
Suspensions upheld
Clemson will be without junior defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence on Monday, with the All-Atlantic Coast Conference performer remaining suspended after testing positive for ostarine along with tight end Braden Galloway and offensive lineman Zach Giella. The three were suspended for last Saturday’s 30-3 drubbing of Notre Dame in the Cotton Bowl national semifinal.
The university announced Thursday afternoon that its appeal to the NCAA had been denied, but the trio will travel with the team to California today.
Tide tidbits
Third-year Alabama offensive line coach Brent Key is reportedly headed to Georgia Tech, his alma mater, after Monday night’s game. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Key will have the same role under new Yellow Jackets coach Geoff Collins with the potential of having the added title of assistant head coach. Fifth-year senior outside linebacker Christian Miller (hamstring) was working off to the side again during Thursday’s portion of practice that was open to the media. Junior running back Josh Jacobs was not spotted at practice.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.