Clemson beat Alabama on a last second touchdown pass from Deshaun Watson to Hunter Renfroe to clinch the Tigers first national title since 1981. 

Here are five thoughts from the game.

By John Sarianides

1. Deshaun Was Dandy: Deshaun Watson got off to a slow start but once he and the rest of the Clemson offense settled in, Watson was superb. He finished 36/56 for 420 yards and 3 touchdown passes. More importantly, he took what the Alabama defense gave him and did not turn the ball over, which has been a problem for him in his career.

Watson declared his intentions to enter the NFL Draft after the game and based on his body of work and his performance last night, I would be shocked if he wasn’t a top ten pick. Watson checks off all of the boxes and if given time to develop, could end up being a solid starting quarterback in the NFL.

2. Mike Williams Was a Beast: Clemson wide receiver Mike Williams wasn’t much of a factor for the Tigers in their 31-0 win over Ohio State but he was the difference for Clemson last night. Williams made several big catches against the best secondary in the country. He caught 8 passes for 94 yards and a touchdown.

Williams struggled at times against Marlon Humphrey or Minkah Fitzpatrick but when the Tigers coaching staff started getting him matched up on Anthony Averett, that’s when Williams had the most success down the field.

Williams will be the first receiver taken in April’s draft and after last night’s performance, there is no doubt in my mind that he is one of the ten best players in the draft.

3. Clemson Solved the Mystery of the Alabama Defense: Clemson was finally able to solve a mystery that 14 other teams before them couldn’t figure out. The Alabama defense. The Tigers wore the Tide down by playing fast and connecting on big plays down the field. Dabo Swinney and his co-offensive coordinators Tony Elliot and Jeff Scott did a great job of finding the best match-ups and taking advantage of them. Case in point. Isolating Mike Williams on Anthony Averett. Williams made two big catches in the fourth quarter that help set up two Clemson touchdowns including the game winner.

Elliott and Scott coached their butts off last night and had a great game plan for a great defense.

4. Losing Bo Scarborough Hurt Bama, Not the Change at O.C: People can talk about the switch from Lane Kiffin to Steve Sarkisian affecting Alabama all they want. All I know is this. Jalen Hurts played better in the national championship game than he did in the semi-final game against Washington.

Losing Bo Scarborough in the second half is what hurt Alabama offensively. Scarborough was running all over Clemson before he got hurt. Alabama’s running back rotation was also an issue. Why run anyone other than Hurts and Scarborough? Instead, Alabama decided to get Damien Harris and Joshua Jacobs touches which didn’t make sense to me. Once Scarborough got hurt, Alabama couldn’t salt the game away in their four minute offense.

5. Dynastic Hiccup: Alabama losing last night is a minor bump in the road for them. The Tide will be the favorites to win it all again next season despite losing several key starters on defense. Jalen Hurts, Bo Scarborough and Calvin Ridley are all back on offense and Alabama will simply re-load on defense.

The Tide currently boast the number one recruiting class in the country. Don’t feel sorry for Nick Saban. He and his staff are already hard at work making sure that what happened last night, doesn’t happen again.