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SANTA CLARA — Clemson made more big plays. Alabama made more mistakes.
It added up to a stunning 44-16 victory by the Tigers in the College Football Playoff championship game Monday night in front of 74,814 at Levi’s Stadium, giving Clemson its second title in three seasons as the first 15-0 team in modern college football history.
Two first-half interceptions by Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa — last year’s championship game hero — along with a missed PAT and a penalty that likely cost the Crimson Tide a touchdown helped Clemson forge a 31-16 halftime lead.
When freshman Trevor Lawrence threw a 74-yard touchdown to Justyn Ross midway through the third quarter, the Tigers seemingly had control at 37-16.
Lawrence, whose long hair and cool demeanor give him look of a Southern California surfer, threw his third TD pass with 21 seconds left in the third quarter, a 5-yarder to Tee Higgins, pushing Clemson’s lead to 44-16 after 30 unanswered points.
No longer in the huge shadow of Alabama’s Nick Saban, Clemson coach Dabo Swinney improved to 55-4 over the past four seasons.
“Man, just amazing night. This team was special from Day 1,” said Swinney, a former walk-on at Alabama. “Our guys had a clear vision of how they wanted this to go tonight. We took care of the ball, we attacked. Defensively, we bent, we didn’t break.”
Alabama (14-1) squandered three red-zone chances in the second half. The Tide failed to pull off a fake field goal and was stopped short on a pair of fourth-down scrambles by Tagovailoa. But it may not have mattered.
Alabama, seeking a sixth national title under Saban, instead absorbed its worst defeat in his 12 seasons.
“One game does not necessarily define the season. We certainly didn’t play very well tonight,” Saban said. “You’ve got to give Clemson a little bit of credit. They made big plays.”
Tagovailoa threw for 295 yards and two touchdowns before being lifted early in the fourth quarter, but also had just his fifth and sixth interceptions of the season.
He said Clemson wasn’t the primary issue. “We were killing ourselves, by me throwing that interception for a touchdown and not finishing drives for touchdowns,” Tagovailoa said.
Lawrence, so good that returning starter Kelly Bryant transferred early in the season, made throws beyond his years and never appeared rattled by an opponent that had lost only five games in five seasons. He passed for 347 yards and played turnover-free football.
“Trevor Lawrence is a special talent,” Saban said. “He’s playing in a good system and a good scheme. He’s got the right stuff as a person and he’s played phenomenally well for his team.”
“It was just surreal. Even better (than I imagined),” Lawrence said of the experience. “Games like this you’ve got to make big plays. The guys we have definitely did that.”
The pregame fireworks had barely finished when the main event began with a series of explosive plays. By halftime, the Tigers had made most of the noise on the way to a 31-16 lead.
Alabama’s first possession went awry when Tagovailoa faked a handoff then wheeled and threw to his left. But cornerback A.J. Terrell sniffed out the play, intercepted the pass and raced 44 yards untouched for the touchdown just 100 seconds into the game.
Tagovailoa got immediate redemption, delivering a 62-yard touchdown pass to wideout Jerry Jeudy with 12:05 left in the opening quarter.
Ninety seconds later, Lawrence, facing third-and-14, hit Higgins for a 62-yard gain, setting up Travis Etienne’s 17-yard scoring run.
The Tide went 75 yards in 10 plays, with Tagovailoa throwing a 1-yard TD pass to tight end Hale Hentges with 6:23 left. But kicker Joseph Bulovas hit the right upright — his sixth missed PAT try of the season — and Clemson retained a 14-13 lead.
Bulovas converted a 25-yard field goal on Alabama’s next possession for a 16-14 lead two plays into the second quarter. But it was a missed opportunity for the Tide, which had first-and-goal at the 2 before being pushed back by a false start penalty.
Clemson answered with a six-play, 65-yard scoring drive, capped by Etienne’s 1-yard burst into the end zone, putting the Tigers on top for good, at 21-16, with 11:38 left in the half.
The Tide moved past midfield on its next try, only to have Tagovailoa badly miss again on a deep pass to Jeudy that was picked off by cornerback Trayvon Mullen and returned 46 yards to the Alabama 47.
Eight plays later, Lawrence pushed a shovel pass to Etienne, who scored his third touchdown on a 5-yard play that made it 28-16 with 4:38 left in the half.
Greg Hegel kicked a 36-yard field goal with 45 seconds left in the half to make it 31-16.
