What they’re writing: National media react to Clemson’s epic victory over Alabama
In another game for the ages, Clemson delivered a game-winning touchdown with one second left to win the national championship and hand Alabama its first loss of the season.
It was as heartbreaking for the Crimson Tide as it was exhilarating for the Tigers and there were plenty of reactions to go around.
Alabama entered the game as a juggernaut that seemed virtually unstoppable. Clemson arrived in Tampa, Fla., determined to avenge last year’s loss and prove its worth among the nation’s top programs.
The comeback victory flipped the narrative and confirmed the unexpected. After the Tigers’ national championship win, we decided to take a look at what the national media had to say about the Tide, Tigers and MVP Deshaun Watson.
Pete Thamel – Sports Illustrated
The win caps an epic career for Watson, who finished 32-3 as a starter. Watson committed to Clemson out of Gainesville, Ga., as the top-ranked dual-threat quarterback in the country and dedicated his entire career to lifting Clemson back to the national elite. He is known for his archer-like touchdown celebration of launching a bow-and-arrow. And with that drive, he pierced the soul of Alabama, staggered its dynastic run and entrenched himself in Clemson lore.
Alabama lost so much on that last-second touchdown. It failed to win back-to-back titles, failed to win an unprecedented fifth national title in eight seasons and ended a 26-game winning streak that had some wondering if its dominance was bad for the sport.
Nicole Auerbach – USA TODAY Sports
We’ll never know what would have happened if (Lane) Kiffin called the game, and if that might have magically turned true freshman quarterback Jalen Hurts into a great passer. But Nick Saban’s big gamble — firing Kiffin and bringing in Steve Sarkisian as the offensive coordinator a week before the title game — didn’t pay off. Alabama’s offense was unimpressive, which it’s been multiple times this season without mattering — due to that terrific defense. But against a team as potent as Clemson, you’ve got to have enough weapons to win a shootout.
He’s still celebrating, I guarantee it.
Whatever time you’re reading this on Jan. 10, 2017, Dabo Swinney is still smiling, still hugging, still talking, still reveling in Clemson’s incredible, 35-31 dethroning of Alabama in a College Football Playoff championship rematch – an all-time classic that was decided at the literal last second. He almost assuredly has not slept. He may or may not still be wearing the orange sweatshirt and khakis that were soaked in the postgame Gatorade bath, with grass stains on the right knee of the pants from being tackled to the Raymond James Stadium turf by members of his coaching staff.
“How ’bout it?” Swinney chirped at a reporter walking by while the coach was waiting to appear on ESPN’s “SportsCenter,” well after 1 a.m. “How ’bout it? Little ol’ Clemson!”
No, he has not stopped. There is no interrupting Dabo’s Clemson party. Heck, it may rage until next August.
Martin Fennelly – Tampa Bay Times
Clemson wanted another crack at the dynasty.
Watson, who was so spectacular last season against Alabama in the title game, with 478 yards of offense and four touchdown passes, started slowly but was spectacular again when it mattered.
It was a Clemson kind of story. Swinney’s Tigers came so far to get here, dodging disaster early in the season, games they probably should have lost (N.C. State most notably) then overcoming a loss to Pittsburgh. By playoff time, Watson and the Tigers were roaring and destroyed Urban Meyer and Ohio State in a semifinal.
All along, they wanted another shot at No. 1.
They wanted Alabama.
Beat the best and be the best.
A fantastic end to a fantastic game has given the college football world a new true king. Mighty Alabama was dethroned by having its superb defense vanquished against the very team it sought to “dominate” as cornerback Minkah Fitzpatrick proudly stated earlier this week.
Brad Senkiw – Greenville Online
Welcome to immortality, Dabo Swinney and Deshaun Watson.
And welcome to the 2016 national championship.
History was made, legacies fulfilled and a trophy hoisted by Clemson for the first time in 35 years as the Tigers knocked off vaunted Alabama 35-31 on Monday night at Raymond James Stadium when Watson found Hunter Renfrow for a 2-yard touchdown pass with one second remaining.
Alabama was a juggernaut this season, to be sure, but Swinney clearly defined the challenge before his players – and his confidence in them – when he said before the game that in his mind, ‘no other team can beat Alabama; I think we’re the only team that has a chance to.’
They did.
Andy Staples — Sports Illustrated
Before the game, Clemson coaches showed their players a clip from Rocky II. After a brutal fight, Rocky Balboa and Apollo Creed land punches simultaneously and fall to the canvas. An exhausted Rocky rises just ahead of a 10-count and claims the title. “That’s kind of how it was tonight,” Swinney said.
As confetti rained on the field, linebacker Boulware put it more emphatically. “IF YOU WANT TO BE THE BEST, YOU’VE GOT TO BEAT THE BEST!” he screamed. “AND WE’RE BACK! AND WE’RE THE BEST NOW! WE’VE GOT THAT BELT!”
If we’re lucky, these two will play for that belt again in Atlanta next year.
On Clemson’s controversial “pick play”
The outside receiver on the play runs a quick slant, and the outside cornerback initiates contact and grabs him. This forces the inside cornerback to take a circuitous route to cover the inside receiver, who initially fakes inside, only to quickly cut outside. He is wide open. The throw is perfect. Clemson dethrones the Tide.
It was never going to be easy. Championships never are. Alabama knew that after surviving Clemson to win it all last year, and now the Tide knows the other side of it. The 26-game winning streak is gone, as are so many players who made so many plays during their storied careers.
History will judge them as champions themselves, but the last chapter will say they came up one play short and one second shy. There’s no shame in that, but there is pain, and a parting memory that won’t fade anytime soon.
Paul Newberry – Associated Press
In a sequel that proved to be even more of a blockbuster than the original, Deshaun Watson and the Tigers went to the 59th minute and 59th second of the national championship game to finally topple one of the greatest dynasties in the history of sports Monday night.
In a game for the ages, against an opponent as vaunted as any before it, Clemson elevated itself to the most rarefied of positions Monday night in the national title game: to a spot not just among fellow national champions but, more remarkable, among the elite of the elite…
They say to be the man you gotta beat the man. Well, Clemson did just that, pushing aside an Alabama team that many argued was at least on paper the greatest in college football history and, in doing so, branded itself among the new elite in college football.
Alabama does not dabble in moral victories, but there is truly no shame in losing to this Clemson team. The Tigers are built very much in the same image as the Crimson Tide and are among the few teams capable of hanging with Alabama, let alone beat it.
Nationally, Alabama is still at the pinnacle of college football. It just has a little bit of company.
Right now, we’re all just hoping this epic matchup turns into a trilogy.
