For much of the season, Alabama’s defense was heralded as the second coming of the 2009 championship team. It was the best in the country. Teams couldn’t run the ball against it, and its passing games were severely limited by Alabama’s secondary if the front seven didn’t get to the opposing quarterback first.
In the national title game, Clemson’s quarterback, Deshaun Watson, made the best defense in the country look average. He put up 478 total yards with only 73 of those coming on the ground. He threw four touchdowns and only one interception.
He was sacked twice, and that was after Alabama quarterback Jake Coker had been sacked five times.
“We thought, to be honest with you, that we could do a better job against their quarterback than what we did,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said after the national championship game. “He did a fantastic job in the game. We didn’t cover as well as we’re capable of, and we weren’t able to handle him up front with our rushers, and I think they had 80-some plays, and we got tired probably in the second quarter, and once that happened, it was even worse.”
Eleven days earlier, the defense shut out Michigan State in a 38-0 rout at the Cotton Bowl. The Spartans gained 239 total yards. The Tigers had 550 yards of offense.
In both the semifinal and national championship games, Alabama’s special teams made plays. Defensive back Cyrus Jones returned a punt for a touchdown against Michigan State and broke open the scoring of a seemingly tight game.
Alabama recovered a surprise onside kick in the fourth quarter against Clemson when the game was tied.
“I felt like if we didn’t do something or take a chance to change the momentum of the game that we wouldn’t have a chance to win,” Saban said. “Getting that onside kick, I think, did change the momentum of the game. We scored on the big play two plays later, and then we had a kickoff return for a touchdown, too, which was huge. So special teams was really big for us in this game.”
It granted the Crimson Tide an extra possession, and the offense scored two plays later. Running back Kenyan Drake returned a kickoff 95 yards halfway through the fourth quarter to make it a two-score game.
“We didn’t always play pretty in this game,” Saban said. “It probably wasn’t one of our best games when it just comes to flat execution. But when it comes to competing and making plays when we needed to make them, it was probably as good as it gets. I think that’s the kind of competitors that win championships, and that’s probably why we’re sitting here.”
