Move aside Ohio State, the Alabama Crimson Tide are your new College Football Champions. The Crimson Tide edged out the Clemson Tigers by a score of 45-40.
But before we get into the details, lets see how both teams got to the Championship game.
Starting with Clemson, this tigers team was different than any other team that the university has ever fielded. Last season, Quarterback and Heisman Trophy finalist, Deshaun Watson tore his ACL in a practice and completely set them back. A plethora of critics asked many questions during the preseason about how Watson’s knee would be, or how they could replace the players that Clemson lost due to the NFL draft. But, Clemson was resilient and hungry. They knew this team would be successful. Head Coach Dabo Swinney, who ironically once played and coached for the Crimson Tide, fielded a team that beat 16th ranked FSU, 10th ranked UNC, and also 4th ranked Notre Dame.
Having paved a way to the college football playoff, the Clemson Tigers had to play The Oklahoma Sooners who barely made it into the playoff. The Tigers had to go against a high scoring Oklahoma offense, led by Walk-on Quarterback Baker Mayfield. Clemson ended up winning that game by a wide margin of 37-17.
Clemson was now in the championship.
The Crimson Tide came into the season being already favorites to take one of the four treasured playoff spots at the end of the year, but after an early season loss to 15th ranked Ole Miss, Alabama’s playoff hopes grew thin. But, Nick Saban’s Crimson Tide won over the playoff committee and proved to them that they deserved a spot in the playoff. Alabama went on to win games against 8th ranked UGA, 9th ranked Texas A&M, 2nd ranked LSU, 17th ranked Mississippi State, and 18th ranked UF.
Jake Coker and Heisman Winner Derrick Henry put the team on their backs and carried them to the College Football Playoff and also a #2 ranking in the polls.
Alabama was red hot and the the tide was definitely rolling.
To get to the final, the Crimson Tide had to go against the machine called Michigan State. Alabama picked the entire Michigan State team apart, annihilating them by a wide margin of 38-0.
The big stage was set, Clemson VS Alabama, the ACC against the SEC for the trophy of trophies: the National Championship.
In the first quarter, Tide Running Back, Derrick Henry, took a 50 yard run to the house to give Alabama a 7-0 lead. But, Clemson responded by putting two straight touchdowns on the board to give Clemson a 14-7 lead at the end of the first.
In the second quarter, defensive stops caused Clemson and Alabama not to score until Clemson let through another Derrick Henry run to tie up the game for Alabama.
In the second half, it was the battle of the two heavyweights. Clemson put up another 26 points with three touchdowns and two field goals to put their total tally up to 40 points. But, Alabama responded with a Kenyan Drake kickoff return and a won onside kick to score over 31 points in the half. They were also led by three Derrick Henry touchdowns to bring the title back to Tuscaloosa.
Clemson was edged out by a total score of 45-40.
Step aside Bear Bryant, Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide won their 4th title in 7 years, as this solidifies his coaching career at Alabama to become best coach to ever don the white and red.
Many people have already called this game one that will never be forgotten. Both teams are well deserving of their spots at the National Championship, but Alabama seized the day.
