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| Mark J. Rebilas | USA TODAY Sports Images |
While a majority of the nation believed defending champion Alabama would earn back-to-back CFP titles, the Clemson Tigers slowly inched their way toward redemption. The Meyer-Saban rematch had a much different feel this time around as the Tigers took home the gold. While 2016’s heartbreaker ended in a 40-45 Clemson loss, the Tigers propelled themselves back to the top with a 35-31 win. QB Deshaun Watson was the MVP of the game with 36 of 56 completions for 420 yards and three touchdowns. Alabama QB Jalen Hurts recorded a lighter load with only 13 of 31 passes completed for 131 yards and one touchdown.
Alabama scored the only points of the first quarter on their first possession with a 25-yard rushing TD by RB Bo Scarbrough (who is a MAN). Please enjoy this side-by-side comparison of Bo and me when we were both 15 years old.
He collected his second score of the night with a 37-yard rushing TD to increase Bama’s lead to 14-0 in the beginning of the second. Scarbrough had 16 carries for 93 yards and two touchdowns. With half of the second quarter left, Clemson earned their first points of the night via an eight-yard run by Watson. Bama added a quick field goal to their lead in the third quarter but the Tigers responded with a 24-yard TD catch by WR Hunter Renfrow (my personal MVP of the night!). The former walk on’s TD wouldn’t be his last of the night either.
Hurts showed off his passing skills with a 68-yard TD bullet to O.J. Howard to close out the third. The 24-14 score seemed almost impossible for which the Tigers could come back. However, I always say the game’s not over till it’s over and the fourth quarter featured some of the most exciting football I’ve seen in a while. Clemson added another score after star WR Mike Williams caught a four-yard pass in the Bama end zone. Halfway through the fourth, Clemson took the lead with a one-yard rush by RB Wayne Gallman to make the score 28-24. Bama clapped back with a 30-yard TD by the man Hurts himself. But with only six seconds left, Watson threw the perfect two-yard pass to Renfrow in the end zone to cap the game off! I think we all know how happy I am that Clemson won and Bama’s reign is no more (at least for the off season)!
