The third time as national champion was truly a charm for Clemson University.
In dethroning Alabama 44-16 Monday night at Levi Stadium, the Tigers reached rarified air in college football. 
They not became the first team to defeat a Nick Saban-coached Crimson Tide squad by more than 14 points, but finished with a perfect record of 15-0. 
The last college football team to win 15 games in a game was Penn in 1897. The NCAA single-season record is 16 co-shared by Yale, which did it twice in 1889 and 1894, and Chicago in 1899. 
“I’ve got to congratulate Clemson,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said. “They did a very, very good job. Their quarterback’s really good. Their skill players are really good.” 
Clemson broke open a closely-fought first quarter by outscoring Alabama 30-3 the rest of the way. In fact, the Tigers scored 30 unanswered points after falling behind 16-14 with 11:38 left in the second quarter following a 25-yard field goal by Joseph Bulovas.
Running back Travis Etienne capped two scoring drives in the second quarter with a 1-yard touchdown run and a 5-yard receiving TD to go with a 17-yard scoring run in the first quarter. He finished with 91 total yards. 
Following a 36-yard field goal by Greg Huegel to make it 31-16 at the half, Clemson freshman quarterback Trevor Lawrence threw 2, 3rd quarter touchdowns to Justyn Ross of 74 yards and Tee Higgins of 5 yards. 
Lawrence finished 20-32 passing for 347 yards, 153 of those yards on 6 catches by Ross, and was named Offensive MVP.
Defensively, Isaiah Simmons led the Tigers with 9 tackles. Defensive back A.J. Terrell had 8 tackles, including a 44-yard interception return of Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa for the game’s opening score. 
Defensive tackle Albert Huggins of Orangeburg-Wilkinson, who started the past 2 games following the suspension of Dexter Lawrence, had 5 tackles. 
Clemson defensive back Trayvon Mullen, who had a 47-yard interception return of Tagovailoa to set up one of Etiene’s scores, was named defensive MVP. 
“I felt like we had the better team,” said Clemson head coach Dabo Swimmey following his second national title.  “I felt like our leadership, our will to win, I could just sense it. Our guys made plays. We came in with the mindset that we were going to attack and we did the whole night.”