Alabama wins national title 45-40

It needed all its talent and steely resolve.

What the five-time national championship coach is referring to is the turning point in Monday night’s CFP National Championship Game.

It is the 14th NCAA national title for the Crimson Tide, which finished the season 14-1.

It finally broke open on perhaps the boldest call of Saban’s career. Only former Crimson Tide coach Bear Bryant has won more than four national titles during the wire-service era (since 1936).

Clemson took a 24-21 lead on a 60-yard drive, capped by a 1-yard plunge from running back Wayne Gallman. Like Clemson’s Deshaun Watson, Texas QB Vince Young piled up over 400 total yards, but his Longhorns came out a victor when he scored on fourth down in the closing seconds. With ten minutes left into the game, the Tigers attempted the on-side kick, hoping to keep the ball.

Watson led Clemson to a field goal to make it 31-27, and boom – another Alabama big play.

The most glaring of the plays was the onside kick after Alabama tied the game at 24.24. J Howard. Oh, and Kenyan Drake returned a kickoff 95 yards for another score. Derrick Henry plunged into the end zone for his third touchdown of the game to make it 45-33 with 1:07 left.

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney called the game a slugfest and said the Tigers showed great heart. “This program doesn’t take a backseat to anybody”. A pass by Watson to Leggett with 12 seconds left for a Clemson touchdown provided the final 45-40 margin.

Derrick Henry of Alabama running one of his three touchdowns against Clemson.

Alabama is back on top of college football after two straight years without a title. Following USC’s 62-41 loss to Arizona State in 2013, Kiffin was left stranded on the tarmac at a private Los Angeles-area airport and was dismissed as the team’s head coach. They were the best team this year. “I think they gave us everything they had”.

Saban is one of those who doesn’t believe the current system is right as it stands now, saying he felt his players didn’t have as much energy in their 15th game of the season as they’d had in game No. 14, a Cotton Bowl win over Michigan State in a semifinal game. He has won national titles at Alabama with Greg McElroy, A.J. McCarron (twice) and now Coker.

Howard’s receiving yardage is an Alabama record for a tight end and the fifth-most by any Tide player, regardless of position. “I know how that works, you get frustrated, you start messing up plays and then you’re getting other guys hurt”. “We just had three critical errors where we just didn’t do our job”.

The Tide hit Clemson early with Henry, who scored the game’s first touchdown on a 50-yard burst through the middle.

The thrill-a-minute game in the desert delivered a dazzling display of touchdowns, including two long pass plays from Jake Coker, the Alabama quarterback, to OJ Howard. Saban also has prior experience in NFL.

Saban said he loves all his teams, and stopped short of saying this one was his favorite. He actually finished with a higher QBR than Watson (77.7 to 70.9) and made several clutch throws in the second half that helped the Crimson Tide pull away.

The SEC had five – Alabama, Mississippi, LSU, Florida, Tennessee.