TAMPA, Fla. _ It would take a monumental effort to defeat Alabama for the national championship. Clemson delivered that plus a fantastic finish on Monday night.
The Tigers defeated the Crimson Tide 35-31 in the College Football Playoff championship game in an effort that required two comebacks.
The first took nearly the entire game.
The second occurred in the final seconds.
Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson took over with 2:07 remaining and capped a 68-yard drive with a 2-yard touchdown pass to Hunter Renfrow on a rub route with 1 second remaining on the clock.
One more tick and Alabama would have had its second straight national title game victory over Clemson and Watson would be denied once again after an exemplary game.
But Watson took the shotgun snap, rolled right and found Renfrow.
"It was calm, no one panicked," Watson said of the mood in the huddle when the Tigers took over on the winning drive.
Alabama freshman quarterback Jalen Hurts had given his team the lead by scrambling and scoring from 30 yards to return a lead to the Crimson Tide that they had held almost all night.
Alabama led 14-0, 17-7 and 24-14.
"I knew they wouldn't quit," Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said of his team. "If they focused all night, they'd be OK."
Clemson went ahead with 4:38 remaining when running back Wayne Gallman scored from the 1. Watson's 15-yard tightrope run down the sideline set up the touchdown.
Watson was heroic. A year after amassing 478 total yards in a 45-40 loss, he passed for 420 and three touchdowns and rushed for 43 and another score.
"They made the plays and we didn't," Alabama coach Nick Saban said. "I'm sorry for our team that we didn't finish it better."
Alabama came into the game with the nation's top-ranked defense in terms of points and yards allowed, but it couldn't contain Watson for the second straight year _ and this year the Crimson Tide couldn't finish the job.
The Tigers won the second championship in their history by standing up to college football's strongest force.
Swinney, an Alabama graduate, won his first national title. He's the second to win a national championship as player _ for the Tide in 1992 _ and as a coach. Bud Wilkinson was a champion as a player with Minnesota and coached Oklahoma to three national titles in the 1950s.
The Crimson Tide was gunning for its fifth championship in eight years. Nick Saban looked to join Bear Bryant as the lone coaches with six titles. The quest will have to wait.
Watson started slowly but warmed up in the second half. His 4-yard fade to Mike Williams with 14 minutes remaining pulled the Tigers within 24-21.
Alabama took control early, opening a 14-0 lead on Bo Scarbrough touchdown runs of 25 and 37 yards.
But the Tigers took advantage of a short punt and closed the deficit to 17-14 midway through the third quarter. Watson hit Renfrow on a crossing route for a 24-yard score with 7:10 remaining in the third quarter.
With Scarbrough running strong and the defense playing well, Alabama looked safe from the upset. The Tide had opened a 17-7 lead earlier in the quarter when linebacker Ryan Anderson stripped Gallman and recovered the fumble. Renfrow's tackle from behind saved a touchdown and the Tide settled for Adam Griffith's 27-yard field goal.
Scarbrough left the game after the third quarter because of an apparent injury, and that hurt Alabama when it was trying to milk the clock in the fourth quarter.
Alabama was bidding to extend its run that has already reached dynasty stage.
The Crimson Tide entered Monday's game with four national championships in the previous seven years, a stretch as impressive as any in the game since the first Associated Press poll season of 1936.
In the CFP/BCS era, Miami (Fla.), Florida State, Ohio State and Texas have reeled off long winning streaks but couldn't win more than one national title during their runs.
Alabama entered Monday's game with a 26-game winning streak, second to the Hurricanes' 34 and Seminoles' 29 in the era.
Before the CFP/BCS Nebraska provided the last multiple championship stretch, winning 60 of 63 games and three titles during 1993-97.
The thought was similar dominance would become unlikely with the 85-scholarship limit enacted in 1992. Parity was to rule the landscape.
But Alabama has dominated _ but it couldn't close the deal on Monday.
