Alabama Beats Clemson 45-40 in Exciting End to College Football Season

Once beaten Alabama and undefeated Clemson met in the College Football Playoff Championship game on January 11th, and this one will go down as one of the best post season college football games ever.

This game had a little bit of everything. After tying the score 24-24 and with 10:34 left in the fourth quarter, Alabama coach Nick Sabin decided to try something unexpected. Sabin had his team kick an onside kick, which was recovered by Alabama. The play turned the tide for the Crimson Tide. When the dust had settled, Alabama emerged as a 45-40 winner in a back and forth game.

The fourth quarter was almost a game unto itself; Alabama scored 24 points and Clemson 16. Alabama’s Derrick Henry rushed for 158 yards and three touchdowns. Henry was counted on to be a big part of the offense, but the Tide had an unlikely hero in tight end O.J. Howard. Howard had five receptions for a whopping 208 yards and two touchdowns. Those two scores were his only ones this season. Clemson’s do it all quarterback Deshaun Watson did it all: he passed for 405 yards and four touchdowns, plus he was Clemson’s leading rusher with 73 yards.

Alabama has now won four National Championships in the last seven years. Sabin has been the coach for all four of them. He also won a national championship with LSU in 2003.