Alex Pitman
I'm still in awe of last night's championship game between the Alabama Crimson Tide and Clemson Tigers. In my 19 years of life, I've never seen a Nick Saban coached Crimson Tide squad be manhandled before. We've seen them lose games in the past. Heck, we've seen them lose a championship game. This loss was different. We have never ever seen them lose in the fashion that they did last night. The 44-16 score is not misleading in any way. Clemson earned that win and that score outright. They not only matched Bama's talent and depth (which we've never truly seen before), but they outplayed and out-coached the Crimson Tide. That is what surprised me the most about this game. We've seen some teams with similar talent as Alabama during their reign, or teams that executed a better game plan than them, but we have never seen a team combine both of those factors. That's what happened last night. The Clemson Tigers no longer fear Nick Saban and Alabama and they've earned that right. The players played loose, the coaches were confident in their game plan, and they took control of the game the moment A.J. Terrell picked off Tua Tagovailoa and took it back to the house. Now that the confetti has cleared, the biggest question that remains is this: Is the Alabama dynasty over with?
It's a loaded question that cannot be truly answered with a simple yes or no despite what some other writers are saying today. One loss does not end a dynasty as powerful as this Alabama one. Nick Saban has had a lock on all things college football for almost a decade now. No one has ever been so dominant on the field, in the recruiting circuit, and everything else in between as Nick Saban has. It is unprecedented, but as the common phrase says, "all good things must come to an end". As dominant as Alabama has been, it has to eventually come to an end. It's just the nature of the universe. Dabo Swinney and the Clemson Tigers might be the instrument the universe is using to knock down Nick Saban. When I think of a dynasty, I think of a program that is at the top of everything in their respective sport and does not have any real competition. Alabama has achieved that in the last decade. Yes, they've been beaten before. Yes, there are some years they aren't the number 1 recruiting class. But, there have been no real threats to overthrow them as the top program. Georgia has given them scares. Ohio State has given them scares. Oklahoma has given them scares. Ole Miss have given them scares. None of those teams have ever been a real threat to the dynasty. Each win, whether it was on the field or on the recruiting trail, was considered a David vs. Goliath upset. It was just a one time blip. Nobody will ever be perfect (UCF proved that this year), but Alabama has been close to it that those few hiccups are not given too much thought. Clemson, however, is a different story.
The Tigers have gone toe to toe with Alabama the last few years in recruiting. They have dominated their competition just as much as Bama has in the last few years. In fact, in the last four years, the Tide and Tigers have had identical records, 55-4, and two titles a piece. Alabama now has a challenger. For the first time in Nick Saban's career at Alabama, someone has emerged as legit threat. Last night just proved it. You could argue that the 2016 title game with Deshaun Watson was a fluke and Clemson just got lucky, but there was no arguing about last night. Clemson utterly dominated that game. Clemson is not just as talented and deep as Alabama anymore. They can hang with them mentally which is something no program has ever been able to do before.
So, by my standards of a dynasty, the reign of Alabama, as we know it, is over. Don't misunderstand me. I am not saying Alabama will crumble and collapse and never be successful ever again. There's a good chance they get back to the National Championship game next year because they are still better than everyone else and will be for quite a while. Other than Clemson, and that's the caveat. They are no longer by themselves. They have to share the top of the mountain with Clemson. Clemson isn't ready to take over the dynasty just quite yet, even Dabo Swinney knows that. They are, however, next in line to take over college football. It will take a few years for this to happen. Rome did not fall over night. Alabama will be at the top of college football as long as Saban is there. In 5 or 6 years, however, when Saban is about to retire and Clemson rules the college football landscape, we'l look back at this championship beat down from last night and realize it was the changing of the guard.
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