It needed all its talent and steely resolve.
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Alabama scored four touchdowns of over 50 yards in its 45-40 College Football Playoff National Championship Game win over Clemson on Monday night.
The FSU football account sent out the following tweet to their 175k followers Monday night after Coker and the Crimson Tide won a thrilling game against No. 1 Clemson.
It finally broke open on perhaps the boldest call of Saban’s career.
Alabama had the ball at the 50 and two plays later… Several times Alabama’s highly lauded defense had him trapped, absolutely. A daring on side kick with the score tied 24-all led to an Alabama points explosion, with quarterback Jake Coker throwing for two long touchdowns to tight end O. He scrambled nine times that produced six first downs and kept Clemson in the game with 207 yards rushing and passing.
After a field goal by Greg Huegel cut Clemson’s deficit to 31-27, the Tigers got burned on special teams again. “But I also thought we’d get a chance for big plays against them because of the way they play”. J Howard. Oh, and Kenyan Drake returned a kickoff 95 yards for another score.
Howard caught two huge touchdown passes, in addition to making a key third-down grab late in the fourth quarter that set up ‘Bama for the Derrick Henry touchdown that made it a two-possession game.
“O.J., quite honestly, should have been more involved all year long”, Tide coach Nick Saban said. “This program doesn’t take a backseat to anybody”. “Getting that onside kick, I think, did change the momentum of the game”.
Unfortunately for the Tigers, the onside kick failed and Alabama was able to take a knee and clutch Nick Saban’s fifth National Championship victory.
After a loss to Ole Miss earlier this season, the media destroyed this team. Or so they thought.
Its Alabamas fourth consecutive win over a No 1-ranked team in the Associated Press poll, a streak that dates back to 2011.
It was executed perfectly, Alabama scored shortly thereafter, and never looked back. Clemson didn’t fold. Watson’s 11-yard touchdown pass to Artavis Scott cut the Tide lead to 38-33 with 4:40 to play.
The sophomore, who finished third in the Heisman Trophy voting, had 478 total yards against a loaded Tide defense that was the toughest in the country and bested Young’s 467 yards against the Trojans. But Watson couldn’t finish the job the way Young did in Pasadena, California, and win the national title. “We just had three critical errors where we just didn’t do our job”.
ESPN, who agreed to pay .64 billion over 12 years to get the broadcasting rights for the College Football Playoff, used the opportunity to have wall-to-wall coverage of the game on a number of their channels and online platforms to get a return on that investment.
It’s far from the first time Saban has pulled out a timely trick. Undoubtedly, it proved to be one of the more entertaining National Championships of recent years with both teams leaving everything on the field.
Schlabach also pointed out that Clemson’s schedule appears “more manageable” than it was this season, though the Tigers will be tested with a road game against Florida State.
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Kiffin, as many remember, was victim of an ugly fallout at the University of Southern California, where he served as head coach for four seasons. There is another wave ready to roll. “I’m always anybody’s fall back for a ride”, the head coach said.
