The 2018-19 NCAA College Football season produced two worthy finalists and the dominant teams in college football faced off in the Championship game at Levi’s Stadium, California.
Alabama Red Tide were making their fourth consecutive appearance in the Championship game, making them the dominant team since the College Football Play-Offs replaced the Bowl Championship Series in 2014, while their opponents Clemson Tigers had managed three.
But while the finalists were familiar, there was something different about this Championship game. Both teams were undefeated in fourteen games on their way to the final, which meant that the winner would be the first team since 1897 to win fifteen games in a single season.
In the end, that honour went to Clemson, who were the underdogs going into the final. In fact, according to the implied probabilities on the bigbetbookmakers.com site, Alabama, who edged out the Georgia Bulldogs and the Oklahoma Sooners en route to the Championship game were the overwhelming favourites to be crowned the kings of college football. But their dominance was ended by a Clemson team with an equally impressive 14-0 record.
Both teams had suffered losses in personnel ahead of the Championship game. Clemson had three players suspended due to failed drug tests, while Alabama were also without three members of their roster for the big game, due to NCAA violations. But it was the Tigers who were better able to cope without their missing players, recording a stunning 44-16 victory over the Red Tide, handing coach Nick Saban his biggest loss at Alabama since he took over in 2007.
But Clemson’s strong performance wasn’t a complete surprise, in fact their form going into the Championship game was arguably more impressive than their opponents’. The Tigers had beaten Pittsburgh Panthers 42-10 in the ACC Championship Game, and then crushed Notre Dame Fighting Irish 30-3 in the Cotton Bowl to earn their place in the showpiece event.
The first quarter of the Championship game was fairly even. Cornerback A.J.Terrell pulled off an interception and returned it 44 yards for Clemson to take a 7-0 lead, but three plays later, Alabama were level when Tua Tagovailoa made up for his error by finding Jerry Jeudy for a 62-yard touchdown. Travis Etienne for Clemson and Hale Hentges for Alabama added further touchdowns and at 14-13 at the end of the first quarter, only a missed kick from Joseph Bulovas separated them.
Alabama made a good start to the second quarter, and Bulovas gave them a 16-14 lead with a 25-yard field goal inside six minutes, but that was to be Alabama’s last scoring action of the game. Running back Etienne ran in two more short-range touchdowns and Greg Huegel added a field goal to make the half-time score 31-16, and third-quarter scores from Justyn Ross and Tee Higgins gave Clemson a commanding 28 point lead. At the start of the fourth quarter, Alabama had a first down on the Clemson 27-yard line, but couldn’t convert it and the Tigers were able to manage the game from there, seeing out the victory to claim the Championship title and make history in the process.
