Alabama head coach Nick Saban gets doused after the NCAA college football playoff championship game against Clemson, Monday, Jan. 11, 2016, in Glendale, Ariz.
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The Alabama coach took one of the biggest gambles of his career in the fourth quarter of Monday night’s national championship game against Clemson. He overruled the existing call and ordered up a play that would change the game: an onside kick.
The Tide (14-1) dealt Clemson (14-1) of the Atlantic Coast Conference its first loss of the season in putting the title back in the hands of an SEC team after a two-year absence from the league claiming college football’s ultimate prize. Marlon Humphrey recovered and two plays later Coker hit tight end O.J. Howard for a 51-yard touchdown.
The onside kick was run to such precision that even the usually scowling Saban smiled-as he was after Alabama beat Clemson, 45-40, in a game as classic as they come.
Alabama has won four of the past seven national titles, matching an identical run by Notre Dame from 1943-49.
Sophomore Watson is all that and, thanks to the NFL’s draft-entry rules (a player must spend three seasons in college before turning pro), he will be back for another run at the championship in 2016.
The Tigers went for two points for the first time this season, but Watson’s scramble was cut short of the goal line. Clemson’s onside kick went out of bounds.
But the Crimson Tide were rolling hard as on the next kickoff, Kenyan Drake ran the ball back for yet another Alabama TD, putting them up 37 -27. “But like Coach Swinney said, there were a few plays that we didn’t really capitalize on, and I missed some throws, we dropped some balls, and just had some missed miscues”.
Key players to watch tonight are Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson and how he does against the tough front-seven defensively for Alabama, and Crimson Tide Heisman Trophy winning running back Derrick Henry. “But there were a few plays we didn’t capitalize on”. Derrick Henry plunged into the end zone for his third touchdown of the game to make it 45-33 with 1:07 left.
Mindful of his image as an eternal grouch, Saban grinned widely and said, “I’m smiling!”
Alabama unleashed tight end O.J. Howard as a weapon to complement Henry’s power running.
But it was another incredible Alabama special-teams play that buried a previously undefeated Clemson. For Alabama coach Nick Saban, it is his fifth national championship, leaving him only one short of former Tide coach Bear Bryant for the most all time.
With a rusher coming into his face, Jake Coker threw a looping pass off his back foot with a defender at his knees down the right sideline to a covered ArDarius Stewart.
For all Watson’s heroics, an interception by defensive MVP Eddie Jackson at the Clemson 42 shifted the momentum and set up the tying touchdown with 9:35 left in the half.
His final score came with 1:21 left following a 63-yard Coker-to-Howard pass play. Let’s not ignore Kiffin’s offensive sets that allowed a receiver to get behind the Tiger secondary for big plays. Howard scored on a 53-yard pass in the third quarter and a 51-yarder in the fourth quarter. He had the guts to call it with barely 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter and the game tied.
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Surprisingly, the game was still far from over as Clemson put two more touchdowns on the scoreboard before the final whistle sounded. Henry had compiled 128 yards by halftime and finished with 158 on 36 carries.
