Clemson's Landmark Title Gives Others Hope of Derailing the Alabama Machine

TAMPA, Fla. — An hour after it all went down, after the thrilling, game-winning drive and the magical moment eight years in the making, Dabo Swinney was sitting in quiet reflection while waiting for a live television spot.

He sat in a small chair with his orange sweatshirt soaked from a congratulatory water dunking and his orange hat with the white Clemson "C" pulled down low near his eyes. There were grass stains on the knees of his khaki pants from where he fell in exhilaration at the end of slaying big, bad Alabama. His head was shaking back and forth while he softly mumbled to himself.

This wasn't disbelief. This was destiny.

"God Almighty, we played almost perfect out there," he said through a peaceful, satisfying smile. "With no room for error."

Rejoice, everyone. The wicked witch is dead.

For an offseason, anyway.

As inspiring as Clemson's 35-31 victory over Alabama was, as uplifting as it felt to every other team in college football (and every fan in 49 of 50 states), there is one undeniable truth after the Tigers did the unthinkable and beat the team that has sucked the very life from the sport with its brutally punishing success: Alabama isn't going anywhere.

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Eight months from now, when the 2017 college football season begins, Alabama—the insatiable machine that has eaten college football alive over the last decade—will be on top again. While Clemson painted a championship picture prettier than any of the vivid colors the Gulf of Mexico offered Tuesday morning as the sun rose on a new day in the sport, it's only temporary.

But it is also a blueprint.

All it takes to beat the program with the best coach in the history of the game, with the best players and with the highest-paid coaching staff and the aura of invincibility, is a special concoction of collective effort and belief.

Well, that and a once-in-a-lifetime quarterback, and a defense that wanted redemption, and an elite wide receiver with something to give, and an overachieving wideout with something to prove, and a whole lot of unique leadership at just the right moment.

And let's not forget the perfect plan and a team maintaining a similar, unwavering goal after losing in this game to Alabama last season.

Then maybe you can beat Goliath with one second remaining on the clock and smile wide while everyone wonders how it happened.

There, Michigan. Follow that plan. Hear that, Ohio State and Florida State and Penn State? That's how it's done, Washington, Oklahoma and Auburn.

"You've got to change the narrative now," Swinney said.

Don't kid yourself, though; it's not changing.

Not after Clemson snapped Alabama's 26-game winning streak and prevented coach Nick Saban from winning his fourth national title in six years, and not after the Tigers cemented their spot among the nation's elite. This is still Alabama's world; we're all just trying to find a way to live in it.

Or in some cases, rise above it.

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"That's an incredible program at Alabama," Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson said. "But now we're a championship program, too. There are so many people who made this happen. This is for so many people."

This was for freakish wideout Mike Williams, who missed all of last season after suffering a broken bone in his neck early in the season opener. He didn't play in last year's championship game loss to Alabama and was beside himself about it until the 2016 season began in September.

Williams (6'4", 235 lbs) was a matchup nightmare for Alabama. Even getting dinged in the head in the first quarter—in a clear targeting penalty that wasn't called—didn't slow his production. In the fourth quarter, his two catches on a pair of 50-50 balls fueled the Tigers' final two scores.

"I was a little [groggy]," said Williams, who had eight catches for 94 yards and also drew a critical pass interference call on the last drive that set the ball at the Alabama 2-yard line. "But man, it's the championship game; I'm not coming out. I was fine—and we won."

This was for linebacker Ben Boulware, the emotional core of a Clemson defense that was embarrassed in last year's championship game and—despite losing seven starters—was determined to return to this game and make amends.

By the fourth quarter, as the Clemson offense was racking up 21 points on an Alabama defense that had given up 36 fourth-quarter points all season, the Tigers defense took a stand. It got two three-and-outs and one four-and-out, keeping the offense within striking distance.

AP Photo/David J. Phillip

Boulware stood on a stool in the Clemson locker room after the game, hovering over the other players while defensive coordinator Brent Venables talked about how far Boulware had come and what others on the unit could learn from him moving forward.

"He took this defense, this team, and led them," Venables said of Boulware. "The guy drove people with him. He is uncommon."

This was for Tony Elliott and Jeff Scott, Clemson's co-offensive coordinators who took over for Chad Morris two years ago and made Clemson's sleek offense even better. They hatched a brilliant plan for the vaunted Alabama defense, the unit that was giving up 11 points per game and had scored 11 defensive touchdowns.

You win on the outside against Alabama, they stressed. The Tide's weakness is coverage in the secondary, and Elliott and Scott knew there was a reason Alabama rarely substituted their defensive backs.

"They weren't comfortable with the guys behind the starters," Elliott said.

So Clemson decided to rotate receivers the entire game, forcing Alabama's defensive backfield to cover fresh legs down after down. If Clemson could get to 60 offensive plays by the fourth quarter, the secondary would tire and big plays would come. They got to 60 by the third quarter—and finished with 99.

In the fourth quarter alone, Watson completed passes of 17, 26, 24 and 17 yards against Alabama's tiring secondary—the last two passes on the final drive of the game. The last throw of the game was a simple option sprint-out with six seconds remaining, and those tired legs would be the Crimson Tide's undoing.

Watson rolled right, knowing he had to make a quick decision to preserve enough time for Clemson to attempt a game-tying field goal in case his pass misfired. Hunter Renfrow, the former walk-on who caught two touchdown passes in last year's championship game, separated from defensive back Tony Brown on a designed pick play, and Watson hit him for a touchdown and the win.

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When Renfrow arrived at Clemson three years ago, he couldn't bench 150 pounds. On Monday, he was separating from elite Alabama defensive backs to make the catch of the season.

He was the only Clemson wideout who played all 99 snaps.

"I promise you the defense knew the route he was running," Scott said. "They just couldn't stop it."

This was for Watson and Swinney, the star quarterback and coach connected by the desire to bring Clemson its first national title in 35 years. Watson grew up a Florida Gators fan and wanted to play in Urban Meyer's offense in Gainesville. But when Meyer left, Watson began looking elsewhere.

He found what Tajh Boyd did back in 2009, when Swinney arrived at Boyd's Hampton Roads, Virginia, home and stood in the kitchen of the 5-star quarterback while Oregon coach Mike Bellotti was in the backyard and Ohio State coach Jim Tressel was in the front.

"Dabo told me, 'Look, I don't have the coaching records those guys do, but I promise you my record as a man is unmatched,'" Boyd said. "'Come with me to Clemson and we'll win big.'"

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Where Boyd left off in 2013 after signature bowl wins over LSU and Ohio State, Watson picked up and carried Clemson to unthinkable heights. Swinney made the same sales pitch to Watson but had Boyd's three years of record-breaking numbers (and a few big wins) to back it up.

Once Watson signed with Clemson, Swinney said, "It was only a matter of time before we won it all."

That's what happens when you land a once-in-a-lifetime player. That, more than anything, has been the key to beating Alabama since Saban arrived in Tuscaloosa in 2007.

Tim Tebow hit three third-down touchdown passes—throws Saban still marvels over to this day—to beat Alabama in the 2008 SEC Championship Game. Cam Newton brought Auburn back from a 24-0 deficit in 2010 to win, and Johnny Manziel won in Tuscaloosa with a game for the ages.

All three were dual-threat quarterbacks who could press the Tide defense like few could. In two championship games against Alabama, Watson—who failed to win the Heisman Trophy as Tebow, Newton and Manziel did—accounted for 941 yards and eight touchdowns.

With two minutes to play in Monday night's championship game and Clemson at its 32-yard line and trailing by three, Watson completed six of eight passes for 50 yards. When he stepped in the huddle for the last time of his storied Clemson career, he looked around at eyes as wide as saucers and calmly said, "Let's go win a championship."

"When No. 4 has the ball in his hands," Williams said, "everything is going to be all right."

And finally, this Clemson win was for all those teams trying to find the right formula to make it all happen. The Buckeyes thought they had it two years ago when they won it all, but then Ohio State couldn't win its own division in 2015 with the most talent ever on campus and lost by 31 to Clemson this year when it returned to the playoff.

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So, yes, it's for the Buckeyes and their talented quarterback, J.T. Barrett, if he can return to form. And it's for all those 2017 contenders with elite quarterback play (see: USC, Washington, Oklahoma) and those without (see: Michigan, Auburn, LSU). For those that lack game-changing chemistry (UCLA, Texas A&M) and those that can't seem to get off the field on defense when it matters most (Oklahoma State, Ole Miss).

They've all seen the blueprint now. They all know how to beat Alabama.

Now it's just a matter of finding those right pieces to make it all fit.

"Eight years in the making," Swinney said. "We did something a lot of people didn't think we could do."

The line forms again next September.

With no room for error.

Matt Hayes covers college football for Bleacher Report. All recruiting information from Scout.com unless otherwise noted. Follow him on Twitter: @MattHayesCFB.