Alabama ends Clemson's perfect run, wins 4th national title in 7 years

When Jake Coker scrambled for a first down with 2:09 left in the game, Dabo Swinney slowly walked back to his end of the sideline. Head down, he removed his headset. It was over.

Alabama is, once again, the best in the country after a 45-40 win in the College Football Playoff National Championship.

Clemson is just another one-loss team.

In their pursuit of perfection, the Tigers, racking up 550 yards on offense, played well enough to win on most nights, but not Monday. Deshaun Watson's 405 yards passing broke Matt Leinart's record of 365 in the 2005 Rose Bowl. His four touchdowns should've been good enough, too.

Instead, he finished second, and watched Derrick Henry finish first, again.

The Heisman Trophy winner led his squad with 158 yards and three touchdowns. One was a 50-yard score, the other two were 1-yard punches.

Saban's team returns to No. 1 for the fourth time in seven years after a two-year hiatus, joining Notre Dame (1943-49) as the second team in history to do so.

Swinney's squad was prepped to shut down Henry - mission accomplished, sort of.

After exploding for his huge first-quarter run, Henry was kept in check. Instead, Alabama's heroics came from Kenyan Drake, O.J. Howard, and JK Scott. The Tigers shut down Henry, but they didn't have a game plan in shutting down everyone else.

Does defense win championships? Maybe. But Alabama's offense happened in the clutch, over and over again, and Clemson just wasn't up to snuff.

Here's what you need to know:

• With his first-quarter touchdown, Henry has ripped off a rushing score in 20 consecutive games. He also earned his fifth 50-yard touchdown run of the season, tied for most in the FBS.
• When Clemson answered back, it was only the second touchdown allowed by Alabama in the first quarter this season.
• Coming into the game, there were a few glaring stats, such as the fact that Clemson hasn't beaten Alabama since 1905. It'll remain that way, for now.
• If the Tigers came out on top, the unlikely hero would've been Hunter Renfrow. The walk-on had two touchdowns all season, but notched three in the College Football Playoff as he torched former five-star recruit Minkah Fitzpatrick in the title game.
• The loss also snaps Clemson's streak of 51 straight wins when leading after three quarters.
• In terms of individual numbers, we mentioned earlier that, although Henry accounted for 18 points, the stars were everywhere else for Alabama.
• Jake Coker played like Jake Coker, tossing two touchdown passes for 335 yards.
• Drake returned five kicks, but none bigger than a 95-yard return for a touchdown, as he finished the day with 196 return yards.
• The junior tight end Howard was also a beast, notching a game-high 208 receiving yards and two touchdowns on only five catches.
• We also mentioned the punter, Scott, because on seven punts, he reached 297 yards (his longest was a 52-yard boomer), including three punts within 20 yards of the goal line.

Play of the Game

Thankfully, this wasn't an easy decision. The championship game made up for what can otherwise be described as a boring bowl season. In this contest alone, there were numerous plays that could've taken the cake. When it came down to it, we went with the onside kick.

With the score tied 24-24 after a game-tying field goal, the Crimson Tide risked giving Clemson possession near the 50-yard line with an onside pooch kick. Instead, it was kicked to perfection. Alabama scored a touchdown on the ensuing drive and never relinquished the lead.