Clemson finishes No. 2 in final AP poll behind No. 1 Alabama

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Saban won his fourth national title at Alabama and fifth overall. All of its power.

The Alabama Crimson Tide brought home their 4th national title in the last seven years last night with a 45-40 defeat of the Clemson Tigers.

A year ago when Ohio State routed OR 42-20 to win the national championship, the Buckeyes emerged from the game feeling as if they wouldn’t have had enough left if there had been another round of the playoffs.

A daring on side kick with the score tied 24-all led to an Alabama points explosion, with quarterback Jake Coker throwing for two long touchdowns to tight end O.

Howard’s second score came after defensive back Marlon Humphrey recovered a high-bouncing onside kick toward the right sideline. There was no stopping Drake this time as Alabama took a lead it wouldn’t relinquish.

Deshaun Watson certainly did his share for Clemson.

“But championship football is a game of a few plays, and that’s really what this one came down to, just a few plays”, he said.

Drake’s return was the second significant special teams play in the final 11 minutes of Alabama’s win. Henry plunged into the end zone for his third touchdown of the game to make it 45-33 with 1:07 left. But Watson kept finding a way to scamper free and get a first down or big gain with his feet. Clemson’s onside kick went out of bounds. On the Tide’s next possession, OJ Howard, who finished the game with 208 receiving yards, took a Coker screen pass 63 yards to the Clemson 14-yard line, which set up the game-winning score by Henry.

Alabama joins Notre Dame, which won four titles from 1943-49. And on SI.com, Pete Thamel writes that “Saban’s savvy led to the Tide’s fourth national title in the last seven years, a stunning run of dominance in the modern era that begs a question that once would have been considered sacrilege: Is Saban the best coach in college football history?”.

“That was a huge, huge play in the game because I felt like we had all the momentum and were getting ready to get the ball back”, Swinney said of the once-unbeaten Tigers. I can’t speak about Bear Bryant because I wasn’t around during his time, but in this day and age, there is no one more dominant than Nick Saban and his Alabama football program.

The game was close through the first minutes of the fourth quarter, when Alabama kicked a field goal to tie the game at 24.

“All the stats don’t really matter to me”, Watson said. Clemson’s defense had the chance to hold firm and bail out its special teams but allowed the long touchdown to Howard just two plays later.

It’s far from the first time Saban has pulled out a timely trick. To that end, the College Football Playoff National Championship game didn’t look like a normal Alabama game on Monday night.

“The one thing I’ve always said is I’ve been a part of a team since I was 9 years old”, the 64-year-old Saban said Tuesday. He finished the game with 335 yards passing, two touchdowns, and no interceptions.

Clemson coach Dabo Swinney didn’t disagree.