It’s the one game college football fans have been waiting for: The Alabama Crimson Tide will face the Clemson Tigers for the College Football Championship and it’s going to be epic.
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There’s only one game left in the college football season.
“I thought we should have won”, Watson said.
But Watson was intercepted by Eddie Jackson out of Boyd Anderson (Fort Lauderdale Lakes), setting up Alabama’s tying score when Henry dove in from the 1 to make it 14-14.
The kickoff came only minutes after an onside kick set up Coker’s 51-yard touchdown pass to O.J. Howard to put the Tide ahead 31-24.
Clemson was poised to win this national title and make Oklahoma look not so bad for losing 37-17 to the Tigers in the Orange Bowl.
“I think special teams may have been the difference in the game”, Saban said. Coker is no great shakes at quarterback, but Kiffin dialed up enough unorthodox calls to spring the big plays. He connected on scoring passes of 53 and 51 yards to Howard in the second half. Howard and Heisman Trophy victor Derrick Henry punished the Tigers for big plays all night.
His performance was reminiscent of Vince Young’s dramatic effort in leading Texas past USC in the 2006 Rose Bowl for a national title.
There was a very well-written article a few days ago by sports agent Donald Yee about how Clemson and Alabama should boycott the championship game (please take some time to read this- it’s incredibly insightful), but it appears tonight the game shall go on, and a victor will be crowned the best team in the country.
Quarterback Deshaun Watson’s 24-yard touchdown pass to tight end Jordan Leggett with 12 seconds remaining brought Clemson within a score but the ensuing onside kick went out of bounds.
Clemson’s Wayne Gallman, left, tries to get past Alabama’s Maurice Smith (21) during the second half of the NCAA college football playoff championship game Monday, Jan. 11, 2016, in Glendale, Ariz. That play shocked because it’s the kind of thing a coach does when he isn’t sure his team is better than the other side.
Watson, the Clemson sophomore, tap-danced around the tankerships on Alabama’s line and picked apart the Crimson Tide’s secondary to the point that Clemson was eyeing its first national title since 1981. We’ll see if we can reload and go do it again.
Watson finished with 405 yards passing, the most any quarterback has hung on the Crimson Tide this year. Clemson came up with two TDs and 14 points in the first quarter of Monday’s title game.
The Alabama Crimson Tide won the National Championship Monday night, and Heisman Trophy victor Derrick Henry scored three touchdowns to lead Alabama to the win.
ALABAMA: Kenyan Drake 95 kickoff return. Renfrow beat two defenders to get to the ball.
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As it turned out, the championships by Florida State in 2013 and Ohio State in 2014 were just an interruption, not the end of an era. Though Swinney’s team fought brilliantly all night, it could not overcome the loss of star cornerback Mackensie Alexander, who left the game in the second quarter with a hamstring injury and whose absence was felt as Alabama completed long pass after long pass. Coker finished 16-of-25 for 335 yards and two touchdowns.
