High Tide: Special teams lift Alabama to title

When it was over, the confetti on the ground and another trophy raised in the air, Alabama coach Nick Saban had only one thing left to do.

Deshaun Watson kept Clemson even into the fourth quarter before ‘Bama went bonkers with a 24-point fourth quarter.

Renfrow broke out when he caught a 35-yard touchdown pass in the Orange Bowl, but the walk-on from Myrtle Beach established himself as a key part of Clemson’s roster by making the only two Clemson touchdowns of the first quarter.

“Obviously, they’ve been a great champion”, Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said of Alabama. “Four national championships, I mean, that’s an incredible accomplishment”. “We didn’t seem to have the juice like we had against Michigan State [38-0 win in national semifinals]”.

“I’ve been waiting 10 years and seven days for this”, Kiffin said to Los Angeles Times reporter Gary Klein.

Watson threw his third touchdown pass to make it 38-33 with 4:40 left, and then Alabama, after a 63-yard catch and run by Howard put Alabama at the Clemson 14, went back to Henry, its workhorse Heisman Trophy victor.

The Tigers battled to the end.

Two plays later, Coker found Howard on a 51-yard touchdown play and Alabama led for good, 31-24, with 9:45 to play.

If Alabama’s strategy this season was to ignore Howard all year to unleash him in this game, well, I guess it was the right call! He called for a high-bouncing onside kick that Tide defensive Marlon Humphrey caught over the shoulder at midfield. The TV cameras caught Saban with a big grin on the sideline.

“The way they lined up”, the coach said, “it was available to us”. “Sometimes he was open and we didn’t get him the ball, but I think the last two games have been breakout games for him in terms of what he’s capable of and what he can do”. We weren’t doing a great job of getting them stopped.

Derrick Henry carried 36 times for 158 yards and three TDs, a 50-yarder and a pair of 1-yard runs.

He wasn’t able to get untracked much in the second half, but quarterback Jake Coker connected on scoring passes of 53 and 51 yards to Howard after the break. He rushed for over 2,000 yards with 25 touchdowns this season.

Alabama’s fireworks on offense were enough to offset a brilliant effort from Watson, who dazzled with his arm, his legs and dizzying improv skills. Watson also had 73 yards on 20 carries.

The Crimson Tide (14-1) became the second team in college football’s poll era, dating back to 1936, to win four titles in seven seasons. The Alabama schedule was considered the nation’s most hard in the pre-season, and it turned out to include 13 bowl teams.

A 33-yard Adam Griffith field goal with 10:34 to go in the game would tie the game for Alabama, but the Crimson Tide would snatch momentum away immediately.

“This was all about this team”, Saban said of his latest title.

Watson led Clemson to a field goal to make it 31-27, and boom! When that alone couldn’t do it, it was up to one gutsy trick to help win the fourth national title of the Saban dynasty. 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 really a good athlete, and he’s improved tremendously as a player this year. It’s that simple. Clemson made a series of blunders that simply can’t happen in a national championship game against a team like Alabama.

Swinney and the Tigers end the year with a 14-1 record. “A couple of those special teams plays were momentum plays”.

In the end, the Tigers (14-1) just couldn’t keep up with the huge chunks of yards Alabama gained throughout the evening, especially in the final quarter.

Alabama running back Kenyan Drake (17) returns a kick off for a touchdown during the second half of the NCAA college football playoff championship game against Clemson Monday, Jan. 11, 2016, in Glendale, Ariz.