Last week college football crowned a new champion when the top two teams in the country went head to head in a game for the ages.
No. 4 Deshaun Watson celebrates after Clemson wins the national championship.
The Clemson Tigers bested the Alabama Crimson Tide 35-31 to earn the program’s second ever national championship. It was a worthy rematch to last year’s title game in which Alabama came out on top against Clemson.
The game had everything a football fanatic could ask for in the final game of the year. After a closely contested first half in which both defenses seemed to be on top of their game, the offenses broke out in the second half and traded scores for most of the fourth quarter. One of the big stories of the game was Alabama’s vaunted defense that some claimed may be one of the best in college football history, but they ran out of gas by the end of the game and allowed the Tigers to score late for the winning touchdown.
Heisman runner-up Deshaun Watson almost single handedly won the game for Clemson finishing the game with totals of 420 passing yards and three touchdowns in the air to go along with 43 rushing yards and another score on the ground. The last touchdown of his was the biggest when he hit TE Hunter Renfrow in the end zone with 0:01 left on the game clock, giving Clemson the win.
It was an impressive drive to win the game and the defining moment in the Clemson star’s college career. Just moments before he got the ball it looked like Alabama might win after their freshman QB Jalen Hurts drove them down the field for a go ahead touchdown. It is one of the most exciting national championship games to date.
Alabama was looking to continue their winning ways under coach Nick Saban. A win in this game would have given them their fourth championship in six years, an unprecedented number. It would have solidified them as a dynasty (a hard feat to accomplish in college sports) and Saban as one of the greatest college coaches of all time. Despite the loss Alabama still has much to look forward to. They are perennial favorites to win the championship and still have a good core of players who will be back next year.
This game featured a slew of future NFL players, some of whom are likely to be stars. Alabama alone has players such as Defensive Lineman Jonathan Allen who will be a top 5 pick when he declares for the NFL draft. On Clemson’s side Deshaun Watson will be taken in the first few rounds in the upcoming draft along with his receivers Artavis Scott and Mike Williams.
Overall the title game gave football fans exactly what they asked for in the final game of the season, a matchup between the two best teams, who battled down to the very last second. They were able to create a game that will be in people’s memories for a long time.
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