So your headline is incorrect it is the fourth time they are meeting . Four in a row as a matter of fact.
https://afoolsworkneverends.blogspot.com/2019/01/tuscaloosa-sweat-lodge-alabama-crimson.html
That's a link to this long-time Crimson Tide fan's blog post on the massacre.
Clemson emphatically eradicated all the crowing after Alabama's victory over Oklahoma in the NCAA CFP game on December 29 over the alleged injustice of the Heisman Trophy being awarded to Oklahoma's QB rather than Alabama's QB.
Now that we've dispensed with that overblown issue, readers who do not follow through with NYT's link to John Branch's 2013 Pulitzer Prize-winning Snow Fall will have missed the most significant contribution from this story.
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Love the unpredictability of sports. As a strong an LSU fan, seeing Bama humiliate the tigers in Baton Rouge Led me to believe this the best Tide team in years if not ever. But a cascade of mishaps by Bama and Clemson’s accumulating successes and breaks and everything changed. Good to see unpredictability back in college football.
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The sports commentators who bought into the "Bama is the best" narrative just can't let it go. Now they tell us, Clemson is equal to the Tide. No, SEC fanboys, Clemson is 1A and Bama, Ohio State, etc. . are 1B. The center of excellence in college football is in Clemson SC, not Tuscaloosa. Dabo has built a program that has passed Alabama on several levels.
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The article pinpoints when the game changed. Alabama was marching to its third TD and had a second down from the goal line. They line up in a screwy formation and go offsides. They have to settle for a FG. From that point on, it's a different game. Clemson makes big plays while Alabama doesn't.
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I guess Alabama didn’t belong on the same field as Clemson.
Just like Notre Dame
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“Clemson has built itself into a deep shadow of Alabama’s program”
I don’t care about either team, but, please, stop the overwriting.
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Four teams for the CFP is a laughable number. Expand the pool and see a true play off. Its frustrating for fans to see worthy schools sitting on the sidelines.
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@Lynn
Sorry, but an expanded playoff wouldn't have opened the door to more worthy contenders - it would have lead to more blowouts of the pretenders.
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Having attended a Big 10 school I can only sigh and wonder what if.
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Have read a number of quotes from 'Bama players implying that they gave Clemson the win. Wake up gentlemen! Clemson out played you in every category. The better team without question won last night.
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Where did you read this?? This is not true.
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@JRR ... Georgia players made similar comments when they lost to Texas on Jan. 1.
@Hillary
I don't expect losing players to be eloquent, but the Alabama QB kept saying that that they (Clemson) didn't do anything special but they (Alabama) simply didn't "execute". The problem I guess when you always win is that you can't accept losing graciously.
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Congrats to Clemson, but Alabama was probably not the second best team in the country. This is a direct result of the polling system that is biased in favor of SEC teams.
America needs more interregional games earlier in the season before anyone is anointed as the #1 team in the country. There is bias in polling as we have seen with Duke in Basketball, where a Duke team that has not played any highly ranked teams or away from home was jumped over a Michigan team that thrashed defending champion Villanova on the road and then North Carolina in the ACC/Big10 Challenge. Duke has been playing weak teams at home and was rewarded by the poll over an undefeated team that has won against tougher teams and on the road. The same kind of bias happens in football polling.
We never see Alabama, Georgia and LSU coming up north playing in the cold in late season games and when they play out of conference it is often against much weaker teams.
Any day Alabama loses it is a great day for America and any day an SEC team gets handed it's but on nation TV it is even better.
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@David Gregory
What about the team that Alabama had to beat in order to reach the title game. Wasn't Notre Dame ranked high enough to be considered one of the top college football teams in the U.S.?
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Alabama played Oklahoma. Clemson played Norte Dame.
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@scsmits
Alabama didn't play Notre Dame, they played Oklahoma.
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unrelated to this article: But did anyone notice the size of the glove on the Eagles player that blocked Cory Parker's field goal?
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@NJK8 Ever notice the size of Treyvon Hester's hands?
This article was as well crafted as the Clemson team's superb work! Thx, Ben.
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We all know about CTE and the professionalization of college sports. Can Clemson just enjoy the moment?
The Tigers were the better team last night. I kept expecting Alabama to come roaring back, as they have done in the past, and Saban tried to change the momentum (and score) with some trick plays that failed, but it was Clemson's game, from beginning to end. These young men played their hearts out.
There was an article in the WSJ yesterday that was, in part, about how the wildly successful Saban treats his coaching staff vs how Dabo treats his coaching staff. It's worth reading: 'The Rivalry That Shouldn’t Be: How Clemson Competes With Alabama', on WSJ.
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It’s great to see a passionate coach leading a passionate group of coaches and players to the heights of any sport. I’m proud to have been able to have seen the game, and who knows we may be in for a rematch next year.
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I have seen Alabama run up the score time and again against lesser opponents, humiliating opponents in the need to demonstrate Alabama's supreme dominance. What a pleasure it was to see Clemson with the opportunity to score another touchdown in the last minute of the game, and choose not to do so. Clemson also wins the national "class act" award.
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As an Eagles fan, I have a lifelong appreciation for the underdog. Clemson showed the one characteristic that separates the underdog that wins from the (more typical) underdog that gets stomped: they just didn't believe it. Alabama, even after the pick-6, looked like they thought the game was just a bit of a nuisance they had to endure before the coronation.
That attitude had "evolved" by the late second quarter, but the recognition by the Tide that they were in a game, that undefeated only referred to the past, came too late.
I did like the dignity with which both teams handled the outcome. I'd want my son to watch it.
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Clemson University in Clemson, SC has a relatively unsullied reputation and elevates the perception of South Carolina as a decent place to work, live, raise a family and get a good college education. Football coach Dabo Swinney has high moral expectations for his players and staff adding to this university's image. Success begets success and this championship will enhance recruiting - bringing more luster to the school, the town and the upstate of SC.
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@R. Anderson
Seriously - you thinks this reflects on anything more than Clemson's ability to put together a fantastic Fortune 50 Football machine/enterprise. I enjoy college football and living in Ohio have long witnessed the industrial complex power of the Ohio State Buckeyes, Univ. Michigan, Notre Dame & of course lead by Alabama..., Texas, Oklahoma, USC, the elite list goes on.
Clemson has put together a dominating - amazing machine in college football - but to claim this reflects on a high moral standard is taking it a bit too far. Welcome to the world of the football team being more important than the university. You guys have a great football team - congrats!
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@Jimi I have been following Clemson, both the University and the football program for a number of years and I invite you to learn a little more about the culture of both so that you may have an opportunity to re-think your conclusions. This is a special place.
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@Charlie
Yes, Clemson has built a special section of it's campus for the football players.
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I still don't know what is "National" about this game. The only true "national" game in college football is Army v. Navy or Air Force. Ho hum for the "champions."
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Any of those three teams would be thumped by Clemson or Alabama. Nice idea, but the national championship is intended to determine the best team in the country, not be ceremonial.
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@Mark
What you wrote is not true.
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Congrats, Clemson! Now for the big test: Can it beat undefeated PRINCETON?!!
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@MCH Not in SAT scores!
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I predict a Tiger victory.
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Second biggest winner last night? Poor, maligned Notre Dame who only lost by 27.
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I am so happy for Clemson. The game was fun to watch. Not a tide fan, so for them to loose this game is great to me.
The half time show was epic too.
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Two schools receive millions of dollars in profit. The players are compensated with free tuition for degrees that most of them will never receive most of the players have suffered brain damage many will have lifelong musculoskeletal injuries
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@Douglas Zeiger Actually, upwards of 80% of the student athletes get their degrees at places like Clemson. Higher at Notre Dame. And I'd love to know your source for "most have suffered brain damage". But most malcontents can't and don't want to see overwhelming positives.
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@Charlie
The Clemson players won 15 games this season. This is about 4-5 games more than teams played a generation or two ago. Big time college football is full time job--year round--who is kidding whom about them being dedicated students with rigorous class loads?
In contrast, my freshman son goes to a college (not a football factory) and has four standard classes (Calc, Chem, Geology, & American Literature). He does weight training (2x a week) and in on the gym climbing club (2-3x a week). I constantly remind him that school comes first and not to overdo it on the "other" stuff.
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Watching Clemson outflank Alabama throughout this game was absolutely thrilling and satisfying to see. I found it completely obnoxious and boring to see Alabama year after year rise to the top and never have a worthy contender except in recent years Ohio State and now Clemson. Go Tigers!
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What, please, is the 4 year graduation rate for these students? What special services are devoted to seeing to their special needs as student/athletes? Why do these two ‘institutions of higher learning’ devote so much time/money/effort to being the NFL’s minor leagues & training grounds?
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@Lewis Sternberg 84% of Alabama football players graduate with degrees, some in less than 3 years like Jalen Hurts, and many go on to earn graduate degrees. Saban is working to build younger men of character who learn how to follow through and when they do not, as happened last night, to learn the lessons and own defeat with great and humility.
A strong athletic program creates financial resources that then result in academic opportunities for other students through scholarships and enhanced academics.
While it isn't perfect it is not as dire or jaded as some choose to make it.
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@Lewis Sternberg School football has always brought entire communities together to cheer for a common goal which is no small feat considering our individual differences. The graduation rate for football players and other athletes at Clemson has been high for years. College football players are not paid but get athletic scholarships and most U.S. college coaches are not making mega millions. Clemson has a group of alumni (IPTAY) who give their own money
to fund sports (their blood runs orange). No taxpayer dollars are used to fund Clemson sports or I would be very unhappy.
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@R. Anderson. But Clemson spent $38.4 million on salaries last year and $16.7 million in scholarships. Sounds like 'pro" sports to me. In every way but paying the players.
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Wow - incredible performance by a freshman QB under contract for only free credits to Western Civ 101, Calculus Level 1 and all you can eat cafeteria food. Someday those endorsement deals could amount to something though!
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