Crimson Tide tames Tigers in thriller

Alabama winning Monday night’s College Football Playoff national title game over Clemson, 45-40, assured the second-seeded Crimson Tide (14-1) another trip to the White House in Washington, D.C.

Against that backdrop, here are some questions and answers in the wake of Alabama’s 45-40 victory over Clemson in Monday’s College Football Playoff national championship game.

In a game marked by huge chunk plays offensively (Alabama had three touchdowns on offense of greater than 50 yards apiece), it was two special teams plays that allowed the Crimson Tide to seize control of the game.

Clemson’s impressive numbers against Alabama’s tight defense were mostly contributed by Tigers quarterback Deshaun Watson, who passed for 405 yards and four touchdowns and rushed for 73, tallying 478 total yards, the most ever recorded in a national title game. Coker hit O.J. Howard for touchdowns of 53 and 51 yards in the second half, with each putting Alabama ahead. Kenyan Drake returned the kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown to extend the Tide lead to 38-27 with 7:31 on the clock.

Saban won his fourth national title at Alabama and fifth overall.

Alabama and Clemson spent most of the night trading punches in an offensive fireworks show few saw coming.

“When you play players like (Watson), the whole team has to win”, Saban said. Did that game whet your appetite for the 2016 season opener against Alabama in Arlington, Texas?

Schlabach also pointed out that Clemson’s schedule appears “more manageable” than it was this season, though the Tigers will be tested with a road game against Florida State. But with Alabama nabbing the title, its name is attached to a historic win for the school and its coach, Nick Saban. We don’t even want to think about it.

The most glaring of the plays was the onside kick after Alabama tied the game at 24.24. He directed a drive that ended on a field goal before giving Clemson its last lead of the game, 24-21, after directing a 60-yard touchdown drive.

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.

Watson, who finished third behind Alabama’s Derrick Henry and Stanford’s Christian McCaffrey in the Heisman Trophy voting, had carried the Tigers all season.

Trying to become the first FBS team to go 15-0, Clemson did not crumble under the force of Alabama’s might. He finished the game with 335 yards passing, two touchdowns, and no interceptions. That said, Clemson has quarterback Deshaun Watson returning and that alone might be enough to be atop next season’s preseason polls.

Alabama’s biggest concern? If cornerback Marlon Humphrey would catch the ball.

Yet there he was completely uncovered on a 63-yard touchdown pass up the right sideline early in the third quarter that gave the Crimson Tide a 21-14 advantage. (Come the second half, bigger moments would arrive in a flurry.) Watson was so splendid he made a great defense look awful.

“I would say it’s bad coaching on my part that he didn’t have the opportunity to do that all year long, because he is a really good athlete and he’s improved tremendously as a player this year”. It was a No. 1 vs. No. 2 game, and USC was loaded – with two Heisman winners in running back Reggie Bush and quarterback Matt Leinart.