Tigers Topple Tide For Title

It was the rematch that most college football fans around the country had been waiting for. It was just a year ago when Alabama claimed the National Championship with a 45-40 win over unbeaten Clemson. This year, the Tigers wanted payback. The Crimson Tide had been perfect this season, going 14-0, but that elusive 15th win would never come. In one of the most thrilling National Championship college football games ever, Clemson walked away with a 35-31 victory. Heisman finalist, Quarterback Deshaun Watson played the game of his life for the title.

What Watson has done over the last two years is quickly going down in the books as stuff of legend on college football. In last years title game, Watson hung 478 yards on Alabama in a five-point loss, Watson calmly led the Tigers back and wore Alabama down with a performance that will cement his legacy as one of the greatest individual players in college football history. This year, Watson finished with 420 passing yards, 43 rushing yards and four total touchdowns, three of which came through the air. And the kicker is, Clemson was contained in the first half.

Alabama's defense came up big, mostly in the first half, to keep Clemson at bay. Guys like Ryan Anderson, Da'Ron Payne and Reuben Foster showed incredible instincts, closing speed and hard hitting in the open field to keep Watson and company contained. But, like any other great player, Watson found a way in the 2nd half to lead his team back. In the 2nd half of play, Watson completed 11 of his 15 passes. None were bigger though, then the two he threw late for touchdowns. The first came early in the 4th quarter. Clemson scored just three plays into the final quarter as Watson threw a touchdown pass to Mike Williams, thus cut the Alabama lead down to 24–21. The biggest pass of all came from Watson at the end of the ballgame. Watson tried to hook up with Williams again late in the game, but Williams was tripped up in the end zone, which resulted in a pass interference call. That call gave the Tigers 1st & Goal with the ball placed on the 2-yard line with six seconds left. On the next play, Watson threw a touchdown pass to Hunter Renfrow with one second left on the clock, thus putting Clemson back in the lead, 35–31. On the ensuing on-sides kick the Tigers recovered to seal the game away and walk away with the national title.

In a very physical football game, both sides lost players to injury. Clemson defensive end Clelin Ferrell and Alabama star running back Bo Scarbrough from the contest no doubt played a huge role in the outcome. With Scarbrough out, Alabama quarterback Jalen Hurts was asked to do more. Hurts went 13 of 31 for 131 yards and a touchdown, which is pretty good. But his low numbers, at least by comparison to what Watson did, shows that the Tide's passing attack was lacking both intimidation and effectiveness. Hurts biggest play was a 30-yard touchdown run with 2:31 left to give the Crimson Tide a 31-28 lead. That was later trashed when Watson found Renfrow at the end of regulation.

Lets not misconstrue the facts, Alabama is a great football team. They are considered one of the best defenses in the entire country and have been the last two years. But consider this. Over the last two National Championship games, Deshaun Watson has totaled 941 yards of offense. This time, it resulted in a national championship. Congratulations to the Clemson Tigers, the CFP National Champions in 2017 in what was a truly fantastic football game!