Alabama leads Clemson late in fourth quarter

His performance was reminiscent of Vince Young’s dramatic effort in leading Texas past USC in the 2006 Rose Bowl for a national title.

It turned to fine trickery.

The Tigers answered with 10 points that gave them a 24-21 lead going into the fourth quarter.

Alabama fans expect a national championship every year, and many consider the other 125 teams in the FBS to be something like a food supply for the beast. Swinney railed at officials after the perfectly executed kick, mostly because a similar play Clemson executed in 2014 against SC was disallowed.

“We have all the confidence in the world in Marlon”, Saban said, who added that he called for the onsides kick because Clemson had “squeezed” its alignment to return the kickoff.

“I made the decision to do it because the score was (tied) and we were exhausted on defense and weren’t doing a great job of getting them stopped and felt like if we didn’t do something or take a chance to change the momentum of the game that we wouldn’t have a chance to win”, Saban said.

Special teams made for a special night for Alabama in its 45-40 win over Clemson in Monday night’s national championship game.

A game with several turns in it had seen another.

Adam Griffith hit a 33-yard field goal, and Saban ordered an onside kick that his team recovered, setting up a 51-yard scoring pass to Howard, giving Alabama the lead for good. He had not caught a touchdown pass this season, and had but 210 receiving yards in nine Southeastern Conference games. The second was a kickoff return by Kenyan Drake that gave Alabama valuable breathing room.

“There were a few plays we didn’t really capitalize on, and I missed some throws”, Watson said.

Clemson went toe-to-toe with the Heisman-winning bulldozer and came away with a draw.

The Clemson defensive line put on a show of its own for most of this one. Howard also had a 63-yard catch to set up a TD.

One prevailing narrative for this game pits Clemson’s star sophomore quarterback Deshaun Watson against Alabama’s rock-solid defense.

Watson’s coach, Dabo Swinney, has been his biggest cheerleader all season. His plan when he gets back to school is to start watching film and start fixing mistakes for the 2016 season.

In a game featuring high-octane offenses with a Heisman trophy finalist in Clemson’s Deshaun Watson and the Heisman victor in Alabama’s Derrick Henry.

“He told us right before we were going out”, Griffith said.

Saban won his fourth national title at Alabama and fifth overall. Saban used them to fuel his team.

The Crimson Tide picked the right time to unveil Howard to the world. Henry had compiled 128 yards by halftime and finished with 158 on 36 carries. It was Henry’s 20th straight game with a rushing touchdown to set a SEC record. Eventually, when he escaped a thicket for 18 yards in the third quarter, he prompted Saban to hurl his headset in frustration.

The Tigers (14-1) were ranked No. 1 coming into the game, and finished second after their first loss of the season. Gallman later left briefly with injury before having a better second half and finishing with 45 yards.

It’s far from the first time Saban has pulled out a timely trick. It came with 10:34 left in the game and, combined with Clemson’s nearly desperate emotion, could have capsized Alabama’s hopes and stained Saban’s reputation. He had done everything he could, throwing for 405 yards and four touchdowns, while running for another 73 yards, but the best player in the country wasn’t enough to take down its best team, as the Tigers fell to Alabama, 45-40, Monday night at University of Phoenix Stadium. Once Jackson slid over and intercepted the pass, Alabama had the ball at the Clemson 42 and, more significantly, it had stemmed the Clemson tide.