January 9th: the Clemson Tigers came back from a 14-0 first half deficit to upset the heavily favored Alabama Crimson Tide to win the 2017 College Football Playoff National Championship. The game was played at the Raymond James Stadium in Tampa Florida and was a rematch of the 2016 championship game where Alabama beat Clemson 45-40.
Alabama had gone undefeated in the regular season and were the heavy favorites to win the title with a +6.5 spread over Clemson. They also had four First-Team All-Americans on their roster, while Clemson only had Second and Third-Teams. Both teams dominated their semi-finals match-up with Clemson beating Ohio State 31-0 and Alabama going 24-7 against Washington, to set-up the 2016 finals rematch. Clemson had previously won the title only once, which was way back in 1981.
Alabama took an early 14-0 lead in the game as Clemson's first points would come with only 6 minutes left in the second quarter. The first half ended with Alabama up 14-7. The second half saw Clemson come to life behind the stellar play of their star quarterback, Deshaun Watson who threw for 420 yards and had zero interceptions in the game. After Alabama built a 10 point lead, 17-7, Watson connected to Hunter Renfrow for a 24-yard touchdown to bring them to within 3. Alabama would respond with a 68-yard touchdown from Jalen Hurts to O.J. Howard but Watson would again connect with a teammate to pull back within 3, 24-21.
Clemson took the lead for the first time with 4:38 left in the fourth quarter at 24-28. Alabama responded with a 30-yard touchdown with only 2 minutes left in the game to put them up 31-28. With the game on the line and 1 second left on the clock, Watson would find Renfrow once more for a 2-yard touchdown that would win them the Championship, 35-31. Check out the complete stats and highlights of this historic game on ESPN.
ESPN spoke with Deshaun Watson after the win and asked what he told his team in the final huddle. Watson had this to say: "What I tell them all the time. Don't Panic, its gon' be special, its gon' be great. We built for moments like this, and uh... let's go finish this." (Complete video interview can be found here.) Watson's leadership, maturity and level of play will likely land him in a top 5 spot on this year's NFL draft.
