The result was this wide-open catch for a touchdown.

"Getting that onside kick, I think, did change the momentum of the game", said Saban, who pocketed his fifth national championship - four coming at Bama - as a head coach.

"Well, we had the same play against SC past year, and we caught the ball and they took it away from us, said that we didn't have an opportunity, didn't give them - no matter what, they have to have an opportunity to catch the ball", Swinney said. The Tigers are in good hands, and Watson didn't have to say what we're already thinking. Despite Mackensie Alexander and Shaq Lawson turning pro, this is a team built for the long haul and Clemson has arrived as one of the premiere programs in college football.

Schlabach also pointed out that Clemson's schedule appears "more manageable" than it was this season, though the Tigers will be tested with a road game against Florida State. Recognizing that Alabama's ship was taking on water, he went into scramble mode to save it. He played against type.

Saban's own players agree the decision was a brilliant one: "Desperate times call for desperate measures", said Alabama center Ryan Kelly. It's hard to calculate how much that meant, but Coker was 7 for 12 in the second half for 253 yards. "And I felt like if we didn't do something ... we wouldn't have a chance to win".

Saban's gamble worked. Junior kicker Adam Griffith hit the ball off the tee perfectly and Alabama's Marlon Humphrey, a redshirt freshman who was selected to the freshman All-SEC team, recovered it right after it traveled the required 10 yards.

The two teams scored 40 points alone (five touchdowns, two field goals) in the fourth quarter, with some form of scoring occurring on each of the final seven possessions of the game. Kenyan Drake broke free and streaked down the sideline for a 95-yard kickoff return touchdown. But Watson kept finding a way to scamper free and get a first down or big gain with his feet.

Watson gave the Tide all it could handle, throwing for 405 yards and four touchdowns, and conjured up memories of Vince Young's miraculous performance for Texas in the 2006 Rose Bowl that derailed Southern California's dynasty. So it was an instructive night for those who think Stanford's Christian McCaffrey was the only deserving Heisman candidate. Duffy Daugherty's Michigan State team also was unbeaten and ranked No. 2.

"It won't be 34 years before we're going to be back, I promise you that", he said.

Monday's game, at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, pitted the winners of the semifinal games in the second College Football Playoff.

A night where he rushed for 158 yards and three touchdowns proves he has done everything on the college level and it's time to move on. "It's 60 minutes of the game and then the 10 minutes in the locker room after the game that you remember for the rest of your life, and what you accomplish actually even transcends your life because they put a plaque up that this team won the national championship".

Last year, the four-team playoff replaced the Bowl Championship Series in which the top two teams were selected to play in the final game.