Tide Turner: Gutsy play helps Alabama 45-40 win over Clemson for national title
By Ralph d. Russo, AP College Football Writer
With
10:34 left in the fourth quarter and Alabama
having just tied the game at 24-24, Coach Saban took a chance to try to keep
the ball away from Watson. He called for an onside kick called Pop Kick from
Adam Griffith and Alabama
defensive back Marlon Humphrey caught it over the shoulder at midfield.
Tide turned.
"It was tough. It really was," Coach Saban, who now
has more national titles than every other coach but Bear Bryant, the man who
first made Alabama
synonymous with college football greatness.
"I made the decision to do it because the
score was (tied) and we were tired on defense and weren't doing a great job of
getting them stopped and 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,"
Moments later, Alabama took back the lead for good. For the
second time, Clemson (14-1) lost track of the tight end Howard in coverage and
Jake Coker hit him in stride deep for a 51-yard touchdown to make it 31-24 with
9:45 left.
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