Alabama National Champions: Crimson Tide Win A Classic

Alabama wins the national championship over Clemson in a classic

College Football Playoff National Championship: Alabama 45, Clemson 40

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On second thought, maybe this postseason wasn’t so bad after all.

The national championship game was so thrilling and so incredibly entertaining from start to finish that it basically erased the memory of a mediocre first 40 games of the bowl season. Yup, that good.

Bama-Clemson had it all … and then some. The offenses showed up, especially Tiger QB Deshaun Watson, who did one heckuva Vince Young impersonation. The defenses did, too, particularly Clemson DE Kevin Dodd, whose salary ask rose significantly over the last two weeks. In the end, though, it was the special teamers and a criminally underutilized tight end that helped lead the Crimson Tide to its fourth national title under Nick Saban in the last seven years.

Where would Bama be right now without the fourth-quarter heroics of PK Adam Griffith, who perfectly executed an onside kick that preceded the go-ahead touchdown? Or Kenyan Drake, who answered a Clemson field goal with a 95-yard kick return for a score that would prove to be pivotal in the 45-40 win?

And then there was O.J. Howard, the uber-talented tight end who’d gone 32 consecutive games without a TD … and then promptly scored a pair on five catches for 208 yards in an HD display of his potential as a playmaker.

The Tide flat-out had more answers when it mattered most, even on a night when the defense was uncharacteristically vulnerable and quiet and Derrick Henry struggled to locate much running room, save for an early 50-yard score. The Tide won the wild last frame, with a championship final kick befitting a program that’s been here before.

Clemson? Yeah, no moral victories. No one in that locker room will be looking for one right now. But the Tigers delivered a terrific effort, far better than many expected. And they did so on a night that two of their premier defensive players, CB Mackensie Alexander and DE Shaq Lawson, were at less than full strength.

There was nothing fluky about this game for Clemson. The Tigers proved they belonged with the mightiest program in the nation, taking it to Bama and coming within one quarter of football from winning a first national championship since 1981. It’ll go down as another building block for Watson and Dabo Swinney and the rest of a program that returns enough young talent to be right back in this position a year from now.

The bowl season as a whole? Forgettable. It’s a good thing most fans will only remember this capper to the campaign that was 2015, an edge-of-the-seat instant classic that’ll set the national championship standard for future games to chase.