Tide Battles Tigers for
National Championship

| published January 12, 2016 |

By Thursday Review staff writers

It was a tough battle, arguably the hardest fought game the Crimson Tide has faced this year, but in the end Alabama defeated Clemson in an epic, thrill-a-minute donnybrook. The final score: Alabama 45, Clemson, 40.

Though Alabama went into the game the favorite of some analysts, Clemson coaches and players clearly had other plans. Still, the Tide prevailed in what may have been one of the most intensely fought championship games in recent history.

The victory gives Alabama clear title to the National Championship, and kept Clemson and Tide fans glued to their televisions to the very end of the high-scoring, offensive game. It makes Alabama only the second team since 1936 to win four championships in seven seasons.

The Clemson-Alabama matchup was nothing like the Tide’s New Year’s Eve clobbering of Michigan State, which resulted in a 38-0 blowout and a crushing defeat for the Spartans. Monday’s game in Glendale, Arizona went the full distance, and required both teams to summon their innermost determination and grit.

The momentum of the championship battle may have hinged upon a complex and risky trick play with just over 10 minutes left on the clock, when—shortly after Alabama tied the game up—Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban called for a high-bounce onside kick, a risky gamble which paid off when Alabama’s Marlon Humphrey recaptured the ball. This gave Alabama the opportunity to reclaim the lead with a 51-yard touchdown pass, at which point there was still more than nine minutes left on the clock.

Clemson scored again, bringing the score to 31-27, meaning anything could happen. And it did. On the kickoff return Kenyan Drake ran the ball back some 95 yards for a touchdown, giving Alabama a clear edge. Still, the clock ticked off, and Clemson was not about to be subdued by the feat. Clemson’s marvel of a quarterback, Deshaun Watson, threw another touchdown pass, making the score 38-33. Then, with only four minutes and change left on the clock, the game was still anyone’s guess.

Using its most reliable yardage machine—Derrick Henry—Alabama moved the ball downfield and scored again, bringing the score to 45-33. With only a minute and seven seconds remaining on the clock, Clemson continued to wage war, scoring again, this time closing the gap to 45-40. In a game that close, a single minute is an eternity, especially for two teams as gifted as those found in Clemson and Tuscaloosa.

But Clemson’s best gambit failed; an onside kick spun out of bounds, giving the Tide control of the ball and what was left of the clock, and effectively ending the hard-fought game. Final score, 45-40.

A check of social media throughout the second half reveals that fans on both sides of the battle lines thought that victory was within reach, but also that the intensity and the excitement was almost too much to bear at times. With only about a minute left on the clock, one Alabama fan posted this message on Facebook, which sort of summed up the attitude of fans on both sides: OMG, just wet my pants….for the third time….in thirty minutes.

Related Thursday Review articles:

Crimson Tide Unleashes Tsunami Against Michigan State; Thursday Review staff; Thursday Review; January 1, 2016.

Panthers Fail to Topple Dolphins’ Landmark Record; Keith H. Roberts; Thursday Review; December 28, 2015.