It was the first time in the Nick Saban era that Alabama won the National Championship, but didn’t cover the spread. Prior to the championship game, Alabama had a record of 13-1, and Clemson was undefeated with a record of 14-0.
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It finally broke open on perhaps the boldest call of Saban’s career.
Adam Griffith executed the onside kick and Marlon Humphrey recovered to get Alabama the ball back with the game tied at 24-24 in the fourth quarter. Overnight ratings for the Alabama-Clemson game were down 15 percent from last season, according to the Sports Business Journal.
Faced with the toughest challenge he ever has faced in a national championship game from Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson, Saban did the same thing.
“We stand toe-to-toe with everybody in the country”, coach Dabo Swinney said. This will be a match, or mismatch, between one of the most relentlessly self-sustaining football programs in recent memory against a Trojans team that will bring a new quarterback, two new coordinators, and a defensive line that will need some major protein-shake intake to look like it belongs on the same field. They scored a touchdown with 12 seconds left and tried an onside kick. Coker took a knee and after a two-year drought that felt like eternity in Tuscaloosa, Alabama was back on top. But even at No. 2, one-loss Alabama (Ole Miss got the win in September) is still the seven-point favorite, according to Las Vegas oddsmakers. But Saban will remain their coach in one way or another whether they are in Tuscaloosa or elsewhere in the fall of 2016.
“Great play by them, it was a great kick”, Swinney said.
The desperation onside kick failed, and Clemson’s Cinderella aspiration for its first national title in 34 years fell short as Alabama took a knee in victory formation. The -6.5 denotes the fact that the Tide must win by seven points or more for people who bet on Alabama to cash their winning ticket. But Watson couldn’t finish the job the way Young did in Pasadena, California, and win the national title.
“I aged a little bit with this”, Saban said.
“If you’re missing a block, you’re definitely not going to get the ball if you’re pouting about it. You’ve just got to be a good team player and play hard every down so that’s what I continued to do”.
The title is Saban’s fifth overall; only three other college football coaches have five or more national titles. With the Tigers also buckling down against Heisman Trophy victor Derrick Henry late in the game, the gamble came at just the right time.
Clemson, sparked by Watson’s dazzling running and often precise passing, had 550 yards of offense. Howard was the offensive player of the game with five catches for 208 yards, including a 63-yarder that set up Alabama’s final score.
The lead did not last long, with Clemson tying the game up at 7-7 moments later when Watson fired a flawless pass to Hunter Renfrow in the left corner of the end zone for a 31-yard touchdown on the ensuing drive after Alabama took the lead.
Some want Saban to go back to the NFL.
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The Tigers had won 51 consecutive games when leading after three quarters but couldn’t hold on against Alabama after taking a 24-21 lead into the final period.
