Last year, Clemson had the opportunity do something no team in college football has done – go 15-0.
After three quarters in the College Football Playoff Championship Game against Alabama, it looked as if Clemson was going to just that. Wayne Gallman’s one-yard run with 4:48 to play in the third quarter, gave the Tigers a 24-21 lead, a lead they carried into the fourth quarter.
But thanks to a brilliant onside-kick call from Nick Saban and a 100-yard kickoff return from Kenyan Drake, the Crimson Tide scored 24 fourth-quarter points to beat the Tigers, 45-40, ending the perfect season and the quest for the program’s second national championship.