In a championship season there are always those moments, the turning points if you will, that define a champion. This past football season, Clemson had perhaps more than most on its way to its first national championship in 35 years.

You can point to Jadar Johnson’s two knocked down passes at Auburn. Louisville’s James Quick running out of bounds a yard short of the first down when it looked as if he might have scored had he cut the football back inside. NC State’s missed field goal as time expired in regulation that would have knocked off the Tigers in Death Valley and of course the loss to Pittsburgh and then what happened after it. These are the snaps shots of what led to Clemson to a national championship.

Great Scott!

After blowing a 28-10 halftime lead, Clemson find itself trailing after Louisville scored 26 unanswered points to take a 36-28 lead with 7:52 left in the game. The Tigers had turned the ball over three times in the second half and the defense was exhausted from being on the field the entire half. Clemson was in need of a spark, and Artavis Scott provided one. Following Lamar Jackson’s 11-yard run that gave the Cardinals’ their eight-point lead, Scott took the ensuing kickoff from his goal line and returned it 77 yards to the Louisville 23. Two plays later, quarterback Deshaun Watson hit Mike Williams on a post and Williams carried the Louisville defender into the end zone for a 20-yard touchdown. Scott’s return ignited the Clemson bench and the 83,000 plus in Death Valley. The defense got a stop on the Cardinals’ next series, and then Watson guided the Tigers on an 85-yard scoring drive which he capped with a 31-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Leggett with 3:14 to play in the game. Louisville drove the football to the Clemson 12-yard line and faced a fourth-and-nine with 39 seconds to play. Jackson found Quick in the flats where it appeared he might score, but for some reason he cut to the outside instead of the inside where defensive back Marcus Edmond pushed him out of bounds a yard short of the sticks with 33 seconds to play, securing the Tigers’ 42-36 victory.

Bambard goes wide right

NC State had the win right there. Four Clemson turnovers, one returned for a touchdown, three others forced when the Tigers were about to score, put the Wolfpack in position to kick a 33-yard field to win the game on the last play of regulation. Earlier in the game, Bambard missed a similar field goal when his kick from about the same distance hit the right upright. He then had another kick blocked to stymie another scoring opportunity. So there were no guarantees for the NC State kicker when he lined up for the potential game-winning kick with three seconds left. His kick went wide right as time expired, sending Clemson into a celebration and the game into overtime. In the extra period, Watson found Scott for a 10-yard touchdown to put the Tigers on top, and then Edmond intercepted Ryan’s Finley’s pass in the end zone on the Wolfpack’s first play of overtime to secure a 24-17 victory.

Watson leads Tigers to first win in Tallahassee in 10 years

Trailing 28-20 entering the fourth quarter at Florida State, Watson guided the Tigers on three scoring drives, including the game-winner with 2:06 left in the fourth quarter. Clemson pulled within two points with 11:30 to play when running back Wayne Gallman went in from two yards out. After the defense made a stop, the Tigers needed eight plays to regain the lead when Greg Huegel connected on a 46-yard field goal with 5:25 to play. The Seminoles’ grabbed the lead back on their next possession when running back Dalvin Cook went in from eight yards out with 3:23 to play for a 34-29 lead. But Watson was not done. He quickly guided the Tigers back down the field and needed just five plays to go 75 yards to put Clemson back on top. Again it was Leggett he found for what turned out to be the winning touchdown. Leggett was wide open due to a blown assignment in the secondary and the big tight rumbled the remaining 34 yards for the game winner, stretching out and using his left arm to keep himself in the air long enough to get the football over the pylon with 2:06 to play. The Seminoles drove into position to possibly tie the game, but a penalty and a couple of Clemson sacks secured the Tigers’ 37-34 victory. The win was Clemson’s first in Tallahassee in 10 years and put it in control of the ACC’s Atlantic Division.

The Tigers did not ‘Blewitt’

Pitt’s Chris Blewitt made a 48-yard field goal with six seconds left as Pittsburgh stunned No. 2 Clemson, 43-42, in Death Valley. His field goal ended the Tigers’ 21-game home winning streak, which at the time was the nation’s longest. It was also Clemson’s first regular season loss in almost two years. However, the loss did not end Clemson’s national championship aspirations. Later in the day, No. 3 Michigan and No. 4 Washington also lost, as Iowa made a last-second field goal to stun the Wolverines and Southern Cal went to Washington and beat up the Huskies. It marked the first time since 1985 the No. 2, 3 and 4 teams lost on the same day. Clemson dropped no further than No. 4 in the College Football Playoff Poll the next week. The Tigers demolished Wake Forest and South Carolina the following weeks and then beat Virginia Tech in the ACC Championship game to earn the No. 2 seed in the playoff, setting the stage for the final leg in their national championship run.

Watson to Renfrow

Alabama thought the ball was going to Mike Williams. Why not? He was the Tigers’ best defender and is a potential top five pick in April’s NFL Draft. So what did Clemson do? They ran a rub route on the opposite side and went to the one guy who has been a throne in Alabama’s side the last two years in the national championship game. With six seconds left, Clemson wide receiver Hunter Renfrow got himself open and was wide open in the end zone where Watson found him for a two-yard touchdown with one second to play, lifting the Tigers to a 35-31 victory and a national championship. Alabama had taken a 31-28 lead with 2:07 to play following a Jalen Hurts’ 30-yard touchdown run. But the Crimson Tide left too much time on the clock for Watson and the Clemson offense. College football’s best player drove the Tigers 68 yards in nine plays, while teaming up with Williams, Renfrow and Leggett for some big-time plays and throws. In the end, the Tigers found themselves knocking on the door to greatness and that is when a former walk-on became one of the biggest heroes in Clemson history.

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