Alabama executes ideal surprise onside kick in 4th quarter vs. Clemson

The 2016 college football season is eight months away, and plenty of factors not yet clear will shape the preseason favorites.

Clemson continued to lead at the end of the third quarter, but the Crimson Tide stunned in the fourth with 24 points, including a 95-yard kickoff return by Kenyan Drake.

Watson was about the only one not impressed by his showing.

Sure, it’s cliché. Yeah, you could say that about a few other teams like Michigan State and Oklahoma, but that chip will only truly fit on the shoulder of the ACC champs next year.

Saban’s gamble kept the ball out of the hands of Watson for a bit after he bedeviled the nation’s top defense both passing and rushing.

The Tigers had outgained Alabama overall, even bettering the powerful Crimson Tide and Heisman Trophy victor Derrick Henry on the ground 145 to 138. He broke the Atlantic Coast Conference mark for total yardage held for 13 years by National Football League quarterback Philip Rivers, then of North Carolina State.

Even in defeat, Watson passed his toughest test.

“We stand toe-to-toe with everybody in the country”, Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said. “He’s special, he really is”. In the receiving end, Charone Peake had 99 yards in six catches while Hunter Renfrow added 88 yards and two touchdowns.

Clemson’s T.J. Green (15) tackles Alabama’s O.J. Howard (88) during the first half of the NCAA college football playoff championship game Monday, Jan. 11, 2016, in Glendale, Ariz. He also ran for 73 yards. Derrick Henry plunged into the end zone for his third touchdown of the game to make it 45-33 with 1:07 left. But Watson couldn’t finish the job the way Young did in Pasadena, California. He just didn’t bring home the title.

All of it and more proved necessary to offset Watson, the sophomore quarterback whose coming return next year promises a feast for football eyewitnesses. Asked where he can improve next season, offensive lineman Eric Mac Clain quickly interrupted, “Nowhere”.

But in order to see that, you’ve got to revisit some recent history.

The game was tied 14-all at the half. And – oh yeah – J.T. Barrett will be back to start at quarterback with none of the distractions he faced in 2015 about whether he would be the starter. After Alabama’s Adan Griffith missed a 44-yard field goal, Clemson took over and Watson went to work.

The running clock cost Clemson nine seconds and a timeout.

Watson had surgery last December to fix the ACL in his left knee. Watson said in preparation for the Tide, he watched Alabama’s loss to Johnny Manziel and Texas A&M in 2012. Clemson (14-1) was looking for its first national title since 1981.

For all the talk about Alabama’s intimidating defense and Clemson’s up-tempo offense, special teams got lost in the shuffle. With a national title on the line?

Where do we go from here?