It’s going to take a special set of circumstances for a National Championship Game to lay claim to being better than what we saw in Pasadena in 2006. The Tigers and Crimson Tide continued to go back-and-forth and went back into the lockers tied up at 14.
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A mental mistake cost Clemson at the start of the second half as Coker found Howard wide open for a 53-yard touchdown pass. Howard lined up behind a receiver on the play, and Clemson blew the coverage, leaving Howard to streak down the sideline untouched for the score.
Clemson coach Dabo Swinney argued with the officials that the kick was against the rules and the outburst may have distracted his team as it allowed a 51-yard touchdown pass two plays later.
Heisman Trophy-winning running back Derrick Henry sealed the outcome with a one-yard touchdown run with 1:07 remaining, stretching Alabama’s lead to 45-33.
Alabama coach Nick Saban drew on his inner Sean Payton and then did the most remarkable thing. Watson was able to extend the play time and time again with his feet, either keeping for a run or setting up a typically accurate pass. He threw for 407 yards and four TDs, ran for 73 yards, and was pitching until the bitter end.
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.
Where would Bama be right now without the fourth-quarter heroics of PK Adam Griffith, who perfectly executed an onside kick that preceded the go-ahead touchdown? “That’s all I wanted was to contribute and held this team get here, and I’m glad we did”. “Like I say, we out-gained them”.
Coker, a senior, threw for a career-best 335 yards on 16-of-25 passing with two touchdowns.
Nick Saban’s magic tricks: A It’s always a treat when a coach as outwardly conservative as Saban pulls a rabbit out of his hat.
Watson said his expectation was that Clemson would defeat Alabama.
“There weren’t many people early in the season that thought this team could do it”, Saban said. He rushed 50 yards for the game’s first score in the first period and leapt 2 yards for another in the second quarter.
The Crimson Tide (14-1) became the second team in college football’s poll era, dating back to 1936, to win four titles in seven seasons. Maybe that’s because Howard entered the game without a touchdown and was averaging 11.9 yards per catch.
With 10:34 left in the fourth quarter and Alabama having just tied the game with a short field goal, Saban took a gamble to try to keep the ball away from Watson and the Tigers.
The stars came out as they usually do on a night when Alabama needed them, but you don’t win a national championship with your Heisman Trophy running back alone. I thought we needed to do something that was going to change the momentum of the game. Kenyan Drake, who’s endured a broken arm and leg in his final two seasons, raced 95 yards for a touchdown on a kick return that gave the Tide 17 points in just over a three-minute span.
The Tigers came up short in their bid for a national title, but Watson said the stats don’t mean anything, and he isn’t concerned about awards – he’s concentrating on getting his team to Tampa, the site of next year’s championship game.
Alabama beat Clemson 45-40 in Monday night’s College Football Playoff National Championship, giving the Crimson Tide their fourth title in seven seasons.
Clemson came in as the only undefeated team in the country.
“I’m not really thinking about it right now”, he said.
It was Saban’s toughest championship run during his time in Tuscaloosa. “He’s special, he really is”. “Again, 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”. Coker took off for a four-yard carry on third-and-three to pick up the first down.
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Henry, the Heisman victor, had two touchdowns.
