A Classic End To The College Football Season

I love college football. Always have.

The NFL is great too, but I favor the unpredictable college games with less experienced players often surprising us.

A year ago Alabama gave coach Lou Saban his fourth national championship.

On Monday night Alabama was one second away from winning again but Clemson scored and prevailed for its first national championship in 35 years. A 45-40 loss last year. A 35-31 victory this time.

The Clemson coach, Dabo Sweeney played on Alabama’s 1992 championship team. Alabama fans still have a lot of respect for him.

I’m not making this up. This really happened.

It’s being said last year’s game was a classic but this one was better. I agree.

I’d be happy to see USC or UCLA qualify for next season’s championship game but I wouldn’t mind seeing Alabama and Clemson meet again to see who gets two out of three,

Alabama has a great defense and was in control with an early 14-0 lead. But nothing is certain in a game with such high caliber teams.

The Clemson quarterback, Deshaun Watson, is going to enter the NFL draft and should be the first or second player selected. He passed for more than 400 yards in both last year’s championship game and this one. What a talent.

His 6-foot-3 receiver, Mike Williams, is great too. Makes one-handed catches with a defender on his back. Also declaring for the NFL.

If this was a movie it would have been hard to follow the plot. Too unlikely. But it really happened and it’s a game that ill be remembered for a very long time.

I liked what Clemson coach Sweeney said after the game. His respect for Coach Saban was obvious. He said that Alabama was the best team in the country until the last second. He was right.

I’ve heard that some Alabama fans said if they had to lose they were glad it was to a former Alabama guy.

The day after this game the final AP rankings came out. They had USC No. 3 in the country.

I’m already looking forward to next season when USC freshman sensation quarterback Sam Darnold will be playing and so will UCLA’s highly regarded quarterback Josh Rosen, who’s recovering from a shoulder injury that shortened his season.

Who will be better? Stay tuned.