Wildest moments from Alabama’s national title game victory

Congratulations! It’s official, Alabama is the new NCAA champion!

“I think special teams may have been the difference in the game”, Saban said.

The only drawback? Watson and the Tigers couldn’t pull out a victory, falling to Alabama 45-40 in the national championship game Monday night. Saban’s bold choice allowed Alabama to score 10 points without handing the ball back to the irresistible Deshaun Watson, and those 10 points carried a frantic night for Alabama. So I’m not surprised it turned out to be a great game, tied three times before Alabama finally put previously unbeaten Clemson away in the fourth quarter. The Tide doesn’t stretch across the entire field when it lines up for kickoff coverage, leaving space open on the right side. The Tigers were sleek and fairly relentless themselves.

So here is cause for worry for the Clemson faithful: two of its best defenders are tending to injuries, and it seems likely that neither will be at 100 percent – and that’s the best-case scenario.

On the ensuing drive’s second play, quarterback Jake Coker found a wide-open O.J. Howard for his second touchdown of the night, a 51-yard strike that put the Crimson Tide up 31-24 with 9:45 to play, a lead it never surrendered.

“O.J., quite honestly, should have been more involved all year long”, coach Nick Saban said.

The Tide didn’t trail after that but the Tigers weren’t beaten.

Drake took the kickoff following a field goal that narrowed Alabama’s lead to four points and raced along the sideline as the Crimson crowd stood and cheered him on.

Heisman trophy victor Derrick Henry was the star of the show, going for 158 yards on 36 carries for three touchdowns. For the first time in the game, a team had a two-score lead, and the breathing room belonged to Alabama at 38-27.

That onside kicked stunned the stadium and Clemson, and brought a big grin to the face of the country’s most serious coach. By ripping off six absolutely huge plays, majority because Clemson was busier shooting their own dicks off than playing smart football. “So it was combination of mistakes”.

The game was characterized by dynamic offense and wild plays.

The Alabama Crimson Tide and the Clemson Tigers gave us a College Football Playoff National Championship Game that we will remember forever.

Alabama, which lost in last season’s playoff semifinals, was not done exerting its special teams superiority after the onside kick.

Watson played a spectacular game – completing 30 of 47 passes for 405 yards, four touchdowns and one interception.

Tonight’s game will mark the 16th meeting between the schools in football with Alabama holding a commanding 12-3 lead.

The Crimson faithful were waving their shakers as the national championship trophy presentation was being set up on the field.

But not on Monday, not against the program that has now won more national titles than not over the past seven years. It’s their first national title since defeating Notre Dame in 2013.

The Tide won big games all year by putting the burden on Henry to close out opponents.

It was Saban’s toughest championship run during his time in Tuscaloosa. Saban hunted down this victory like a big-game hunter.

“Initially it felt like a dream”, he said after the game, “and I tried to tell everybody to wake me up because I thought it wasn’t real”.