“I think I aged a little bit tonight”, Alabama coach Nick Saban said. Saban is now 64 years old, so he likely could not get an National Football League coaching job if he waits much longer. “But”, he said, “from a program standpoint, from a philosophy standpoint, helping these young guys develop as people”, including being educated, “is what college football is all about”. And on SI.com, Pete Thamel writes that “Saban’s savvy led to the Tide’s fourth national title in the last seven years, a stunning run of dominance in the modern era that begs a question that once would have been considered sacrilege: Is Saban the best coach in college football history?”. I look back to 1998 at Michigan State, and we were going to Ohio State to play the No. 1 team in the country.
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Facing the stout Alabama defense, Watson threw for 405 yards and four touchdowns, adding 73 more yards on the ground.
Among the potential players to declare are tight end O.J. Howard, Heisman Trophy-winning running back Derrick Henry, safety Eddie Jackson and defensive lineman A’Shawn Robinson and Jonathan Allen. “He’s got great toughness, great heart, a great mind for the game, and just made some huge plays all the way to the end”. On Monday night, thanks in part to a great set of skills and in part to narcolepsy in the Clemson secondary, Howard finished with 208 yards on five catches and two long touchdowns. “But then we followed it up with a bust for a touchdown”.
“So it was a combination of mistakes”, he said.
After a field goal by Greg Huegel cut Clemson’s deficit to 31-27, the Tigers got burned on special teams again.
While the Heisman victor didn’t exactly have his way with Clemson otherwise (at least by his standards), he did finish with 158 yards and three touchdowns on 36 carries. His biggest play of the game though and one that may be the biggest play of his career was a 61-yard catch in the final minutes of the fourth quarter. In total, he completed 16 of 25 passes for 335 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. The result was this wide-open catch for a touchdown.
The game turned when Saban had the guts to call for an onside kick with the scores tied at 24, and the Crimson Tide recovered with 10:34 on the clock.
Still, the Tigers led 24-21 after Wayne Gallmans one-yard run with 4:48 left in the third quarter capped a nine-play, 60-yard drive. Only former Alabama coach Bear Bryant with six has more.
Clemson’s dream of a flawless season was buried in an avalanche of big plays by Alabama. Coker took a knee and Alabama was back on top after two years of not making it to the national championship. Kickoff coverage, which also hampered Clemson this season, cost the Tigers as Kenyan Drake returned a kick 95 yards for a score.
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“This whole dynamic of how do we keep a healthy bowl system, which I think is great for college football, it’s a lot of positive self-gratification for a lot of players who had a good season”, he said, “and the national interest that we have in a playoff, which sort of overwhelms the importance of all the other bowl games”.
