I kept waiting for Alabama to come back….
It didn’t happen….
Lot of bettors lost money on this one….
After one quarter of the College Football Playoff national championship game, Alabama had amassed 224 total yards. And a few seconds into the next quarter, the Crimson Tide would take their first lead in the game.
On came Clemson, like an avalanche, and the Tigers didn’t stop until it they had applied a 44-16 beatdown.
This was a stunning conclusion to the season, and it’s natural to wonder if it signals a changing of the guard in college football.
Clemson has now defeated the Crimson Tide twice in the past three years in championship games and Monday’s outcome squares their CFP series after four games.
Clearly, they’ve been the top-shelf programs of recent years, but this outcome was the most dominant.
Although both teams entered the game 14-0, Alabama was top-ranked and a 5 1/2-point favorite. Tigers coach Dabo Swinney contributed to the perception by characterizing his team as inferior to the Tide.
There was Alabama, Swinney said, and the “rest of y’all.”
But Clemson traded punches with Alabama early and pounded it late. The Tigers scored the game’s final 30 points to become the first team among modern major college football programs to finish 15-0. And Swinney may have revealed some true feelings afterward.
“I felt like we were the better team,” Swinney said.
Monday proved Clemson had a better available roster. The defensive line largely lived up to its reputation and the offense line played exceptionally well. Cornerback A.J. Terrell got things started with a pick-six less than two minutes in.
But the game will be remembered mostly for freshman quarterback Trevor Lawrence.
He was the high school star that everyone wanted but Clemson landed. But Lawrence didn’t start immediately. That came in late September, when he replaced Kelly Bryant, who transferred to Missouri.