If you remotely follow college football, there was a good chance that if someone said to you before the season, “Alabama and Clemson are going to play for the National Championship,” you wouldn’t have been surprised.
After all, they were ranked numbers one and two (the same rankings they entered the Championship with), with Alabama coming in at number one. They had met in now three of the last four national championships.
What nearly no one, not even the most avid Clemson fans, saw coming was the final result.
It was a commonly shared idea among national media outlets that Alabama was the favorite to win. Most pundits picked Alabama, and they were 6.5-point favorites. Some even went so far as to say that with Clemson fielding a true freshman quarterback, it would be an ugly game.
Ugly might have been an understatement.
The Clemson defense dominated from nearly the beginning. In fact, they intercepted Alabama star quarterback Tua Tagovailoa’s third pass and took it all the way back for the score. The Tiger defense held Alabama’s vaunted offense to just 16 points. They held them to 4/13 on third down and 3/6 on fourth down.
The star-studded defensive line (without potential first round draft pick Dexter Lawrence) recorded two sacks and seven tackles for a loss.
And as for that true freshman quarterback, Trevor Lawrence became just the fourth true freshman to ever beat a Nick Saban-led team. The other three? Wesley Carroll, Chris Leak and Herb Tyler. Not exactly a Who’s Who, but the list just got a major upgrade.
Lawrence, who some NFL scouts have heralded as the best quarterback prospect ever, joins the aforementioned three. In a dominant effort, Lawrence completed 20/32 passes for 347 yards and three touchdowns against what was initially a dominant defense. Alabama came in giving up approximately 18.1 points per game, before Clemson decimated them.
Lawrence, the 19-year-old freshman quarterback, vaulted into the history books. Despite not starting until Week 5, he became just the third freshman quarterback to throw for 30 touchdowns in a season, joining Jameis Winston and Sam Bradford. His performance on the highest stage against the best competition motivated Clemson coach Dabo Swinney’s decision to bench former starter Kelly Bryant.
In a post-game interview, Swinney first gave a little shout out to Jesus.
He said, “For me, personally, joy comes from focusing on Jesus, others, then yourself.”
He went on to say, “There ain’t never been a 15-0 team. And I know we’re not supposed to be here we’re just little old Clemson. And I’m not supposed to be here, but here we are and I am. How ’bout them Tigers, man?”
The clinic put on by the 19-year-old quarterback made NFL scouts and GMs, and even fans started getting excited over the prospect of drafting Lawrence in 2021, when he’s eligible. The good news for Clemson fans and bad news for the rest of the college football field: Lawrence can’t leave for two more seasons.
So, if someone tells you, “Clemson is going to win the next two national championships,” don’t be surprised.
*All stats via espn.com. Quotes via bleacherreport.com