Derrick Henry, O.J. Howard and Kenyan Drake hit No. 1 Clemson with long touchdowns, and Alabama outlasted dual-threat quarterback Deshaun Watson to win the College Football Playoff championship 45-40 on Monday night.
Advertisement
Alabama won in 2009, 2011 and 2012 with defensive dominance and offensive manhood.
The trademark defense that Alabama rode to the College Football Playoff championship game did not dominate on Monday night against Clemson. Swinney said he thought it was similar to an onside kick Clemson tried against SC two years ago that was reversed.
If you think about it from Saban’s perspective, it wasn’t as big a gamble as it appeared.
What made Nick Saban smile? While some players submitted paperwork by the December 18 deadline, they will meet with their coaches on Wednesday and Saban said he would share with them what he was told by the junior committee and the teams they’ve talked to.
Some want Saban to go back to the NFL. That’s how impressive Clemson was. However, Clemson defied expectations and played Alabama with everything they had, keeping the game alive until the very last play. And Saban was right. Clemson scored on a pass from Watson to tight end Jordan Leggett with 12 seconds left, but Alabama recovered the onside kick.
After a field goal by Greg Huegel cut Clemson’s deficit to 31-27, the Tigers got burned on special teams again. Drove 68 yards in six plays to a TD that made it 45-40.
“I felt at the time we needed to so something to change the momentum of the game”, Saban said of the decision to try what he called a “pop” kick. The result was this wide-open catch for a touchdown. “He’s special, he really is”. Is that something he would have tried earlier in his career?
When I say Howard was wide open he was WIDE OPEN, as in no one covered him. “We did it in practice most of the time”. I had confidence in the players. I don’t think I can wait.
“I’m glad he’s on our team, glad he’ll be back next year”, Swinney said. This wasn’t a Hail Mary. That’s what good coaches do.
Typically by the end of January, Saban said Tuesday, the Tide will begin offseason weightlifting and conditioning while concentrating on their academic responsibilities. “It’s good to be an Alabama fan – of course, I still would be no matter what”, Shirley said, clutching a jersey and magazine that he hoped to get autographed. “We out-gained them. We had 550 yards of offense”. I wasn’t happy about the sacks. They also had seven plays that were 25 yards or more from the scrimmage line, where the Tigers reciprocated with four big plays. Deshaun Watson accounted for 478 yards by himself, 11 more than Vince Young managed in what’s widely considered the greatest performance in the history of college football. “We have a lot of great competitors on this team”. “We dropped some balls and just had some miscues… and it’s hard to beat a team like Alabama if you make those mistakes”. “He did a fantastic job in the game”.
Advertisement
Through the first half, taking Clemson and the points seemed like a great play, as the Tide had shown no signs that they were about to start blowing them out any time soon.
