“Ah, that’s a pretty significant amount”, Saban said. The leadership on this team has been fabulous. “I’ve never been prouder of a group of young guys”. Legendary coach Frank Leahy is the only other coach to win four national titles in a seven-year span. “We’ve got the right ingredients from a toughness standpoint, talent standpoint, and then just, again, the will to win and the culture that we have in our program”.
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Watson completed 30 of 47 passes for 405 yards, four touchdowns and an interception and ran for a team-high 73 yards and while it wasn’t enough to win the National Championship, it was enough for the third-place finisher in the 2015 Heisman vote to cement his status as the favorite for the 2016 season.
Whether it’s bringing in Lane Kiffin as an offensive coordinator or calling for a “pop kick” in the fourth quarter of a national championship game with the scored all tied up, Saban showed that he’s not afraid take chances or go against the grain.
Watson and walk-on Hunter Renfrow connected for two touchdown passes to give Clemson a 14-7 lead at the end of the first quarter, but Henry tied it up with a 1-yard plunge. “Getting that onside kick, I think, did change the momentum of the game”.
“He’s special. He really is”, Swinney said.
“So it was a combination of mistakes”, he said. “That was obviously a huge momentum play”.
O.J. Howard runs past Clemson defenders for 1 of 2 touchdowns. But right before the game could be handed over to Bama, Watson and his Tigers scored a touchdown making it 38-33 with less than 5:00 min left on the clock.
Less than a minute later, Alabama took the lead with an easy pitch and catch touchdown from QB Jake Coker to OJ Howard thanks to broken coverage by the Clemson secondary.
Five catches, 208 yards. When that alone couldn’t do it, it was up to one gutsy trick to help win the fourth national title of the Saban dynasty.
There was just one problem (well, two problems, if you don’t like that this is what representatives discuss when the floor is open) – Sewell got the name of Alabama’s best player wrong. With the Tigers focusing on Henry, Howard was left running free several times. On his “Way-Too-Early Top 25” for next season, ESPN’s Mark Schlabach ranked Clemson first, with Alabama trailing at second.
Even with an entertaining championship game that offered suspense, drama and an all-time individual performance, the College Football Playoff title game couldn’t match last year’s ratings.
Saban’s own players agree the decision was a brilliant one: “Desperate times call for desperate measures”, said Alabama center Ryan Kelly.
Monday night football’s college championship game was a back-and-forth battle between the two teams.
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Watson led Clemson to a field goal to make it 31-27, and boom, another Alabama big play. The true sophomore and ACC Player of the Year had more than 4,100 passing yards and more than 1,100 rushing yards – a duel-threat ability that created problems for opposing defenses all season.
