Clemson enjoyed a breakthrough year in 2015, reaching the four-team College Football Playoff and then advancing to the national championship game against Alabama. The Tigers came up short in that game. But in the 2016 college football season, Clemson finished the job—they again reached the Playoff, they got another shot at Alabama, and the Tigers got sweet revenge with a thrilling title game victory.
Deshaun Watson led the Clemson offense, throwing 41 touchdown passes and for nearly 4,600 yards. Watson also ran for over 600 yards. His prime target was Mike Willliams, who racked up 98 catches for 1,361 yards. Wayne Gallman led the running game with over 1,100 yards. That offensive weaponry, combined with a defensive unit that ranked in the top 10 nationally, put Clemson back in the hunt.
Florida State was still a highly regarded challenger. The Seminoles had elite talent at running back and defensive line, where Dalvin Cook and Demarcus Walker were All-Americans. Tarvarus McFadden was a playmaking defensive back, with eight interceptions. And while Deondre Francis had his shortcomings at quarterback, he played mistake-free football.
Both Clemson and Florida State were ranked in the top four to open the season. The Seminoles made a Labor Day statement, beating 11th-ranked Ole Miss 45-34. But less than two weeks later, disaster hit FSU. Louisville had a dynamic quarterback named Lamar Jackson. With a 30/9 TD/INT ratio, an average of over 8.7 yards-per-attempt, and an amazing 1,571 yards rushing, Jackson would win the Heisman Trophy. And in mid-September he led Louisville to a stunning 63-20 demolition of Florida State.
Two weeks later, the Cardinals took a shot at Clemson. But the Tigers were up to the challenge and got a 42-26 win. In late October, Clemson nipped Florida State 37-34 in their head-to-head battle. Even though the Tigers were upset on November 12, 43-42 by Pitt, that was just a bump in the road. Clemson got into the ACC Championship Game at 11-1 and ranked #3.
When the Tigers beat Virginia Tech 42-35, Clemson would be returning to the Playoff. Florida State, on the strength of a 31-13 beatdown of Florida in the season finale, still got an Orange Bowl invite. Louisville, after rising as high as #3 in November, had faded down the stretch and was left out of the major bowls.
Alabama was loaded for a run at a repeat title. The Crimson Tide dominated the postseason awards. Defensive tackle Jonathan Allen won the Lombardi Award. Defensive back Adoree Jackson captured the Thorpe Award, and he was joined in the secondary by the ballhawking Minkah Fitzpatrick. The linebackers were insanely good. Rueben Foster won the Butkus Award, while Ryan Anderson and Tim Williams combined for 35 tackles-for-loss. The Alabama defense was the stingiest in the country. And the offense? They merely had the Outland Trophy winner up front in Cam Robinson and Jalem Hurts at QB. Hurts ran for 954 yards and managed games well.
The Tide were #1 in the country to open the season and they kicked it off by blasting a good USC team 52-6. Two weeks later Alabama survived Ole Miss 48-43. The Crimson Tide beat ranked opponents in Arkansas, Tennessee, and Texas A&M by a combined 131-54 over three weeks in October. In November, Alabama sealed the SEC West by beating division rivals in LSU and Auburn.
The SEC Championship Game, against a fairly pedestrian Florida squad seemed like a formality, and it was. The Tide routed the Gators 54-15 to return to the Playoff.
It was a year where the SEC wasn’t particularly deep. LSU and Tennessee, despite preseason top 10 rankings, didn’t play up to expectations. Auburn had a potent running duo, with Kamryn Pettway and Kerryon Johnson combining for over 2,100 yards. The Tigers finished 8-4, but that was good enough for runner-up status, and that qualified them for the Sugar Bowl.
The Big Ten was deep in contenders. Ohio State and Michigan both began the year in the national top 10. The Buckeyes would produce the nation’s third-best defense, with All-American defensive back Malik Hooker intercepting seven passes. J.T. Barrett was a versatile quarterback who knew how to avoid mistakes, and Mike Weber ran for over 1,100 yards. Ohio State made a September statement when they rolled past Oklahoma, 45-24.
Michigan was led by the country’s second-best scoring defense, a unit that had All-Americans in strong safety Jabrill Peppers and corner Jourdan Lewis. The offense had an All-American of their own in tight end Jake Butt. While quarterback Wilton Speight was a game manager, the Wolverine offense still ranked #11 nationally in points scored. The Wolverines struck for a key conference win against eighth-ranked Wisconsin in October
Speaking of Wisconsin, the Badgers were right behind Michigan and Ohio State defensively, coming in fourth in points allowed. The great edge rusher T.J. Watt led the way, with 11 ½ sacks and 15 ½ tackles-for-loss. Corey Clement keyed a vintage Wisconsin ground game with nearly 1,400 yards, running behind All-American offensive lineman Ryan Ramczyk. Instability at quarterback held the Badgers back, as they lost close games to Michigan and Ohio State. But Wisconsin still beat LSU, eventually won the Big Ten West, and reached the conference championship game.
Penn State wasn’t on anyone’s radar. An early loss to Pitt did nothing to alter that perception and the Nittany Lions’ loss to Michigan didn’t attract much national attention. But Penn State would gain momentum as the season went on. Trace McSorley was a big-play quarterback, averaging 9.3 yards-per-attempt and Chris Godwin averaged 16.6 yards-per-catch. But the offense ultimately flowed through Saquon Barkley, who ran for nearly 1,500 yards.
On October 22, the Lions were unranked. That night in Happy Valley, they upset Ohio State 24-21 and changed the shape of the conference race. Penn State, Michigan, and Ohio State all reached their season finales with one conference loss apiece.
The Buckeyes and Wolverines were ranked 2-3 in the polls and their season-ending showdown in Columbus was for a Playoff spot. The non-conference loss to Pitt had taken the Nittany Lions out of the Playoff equation, but they could still win a tiebreaker with Ohio State for the Eastern Division title.
In one of the great games of a historic rivalry, Ohio State and Michigan went two overtimes. The Buckeyes, aided by a hotly disputed fourth-down conversion, pulled it out 30-27. Penn State beat Michigan State and took the division, even as Ohio State remained higher ranked in the national polls.
The Nittany Lions went on to win a come-from-behind thriller over Wisconsin in the Big Ten title game, 38-31. When the dust settled, Ohio State was still chosen for the Playoff. Penn State went to the Rose Bowl. Michigan was sent to the Orange Bowl to play Florida State. Wisconsin would go to the Cotton Bowl.
The Pac-10 opened the season with Stanford highly regarded and ranked #8 in the initial polls. But it was Washington who started rising. The Huskies had a Big Three of quarterback Jake Browning (43/9 TD-INT ratio), running back Myles Gaskin (1,373 yards) and wide receiver John Ross (81 catches/1,150 yards). Washington had a well-balanced defense. And on September 30, the Huskies obliterated Stanford 44-6.
Washington went on to defeat good teams in Utah and Washington State. They rose to #4 in the polls. In the Pac-12 Championship Game, the Huskies blew out Colorado 41-10 and were chosen for the College Football Playoff.
Elsewhere in the conference, USC overcame a slow start. That season-opening blowout loss to Alabama was followed by defeats to Stanford and Utah. But the Trojans got it turned around. They had their own Big Three of quarterback Sam Darnold, running back Ronald Jones and wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster. In November, USC handed Washington their only regular season defeat, 26-13. The Trojans won their rivalry games over UCLA and Notre Dame to close the season. Even though USC couldn’t catch Colorado in the Pac-12 South, it was the Trojans who got the call for the Rose Bowl.
Oklahoma opened the season with their usual high expectations and were ranked #3 to start the year. Baker Mayfield was nothing short of electric, completing 71 percent of his passes for an astonishing 11.1 yards-per-attempt, and posting a 40/8 TD-INT ratio. All-American wide receiver Dede Westbrook racked up over 1,500 yards and had a no-less-astonishing 19.1 yards-per-catch.
OU could put up points with anyone, but they had serious defensive shortcomings. A loss to Houston in the season opener was followed by the aforementioned defeat to Ohio State. But in the run-and-gun Big 12, Oklahoma was much more at home. They got big late-season wins over Baylor, West Virginia, and Oklahoma State, scoring 139 combined points in the process. It was enough to secure the Sooners a conference championship and get them a Sugar Bowl bid.
The New Year’s Six lineup of major bowls was filled out by Western Michigan. Coached by P.J. Fleck, the Broncos had an explosive offense. Zach Terrell threw 33 touchdown passes against just four interceptions and averaged 9.4 yards-per-attempt. Jarvion Franklin ran for over 1,300 yards and Jamuari Bogan added 953 more. Wide receiver Corey Davis was an All-American, catching 97 balls for 1,500 yards.
Western Michigan beat bowl-bound Northwestern early in the year and added a win over another Big Ten foe in Illinois. The Broncos rolled through MAC play undefeated. When Houston and other contenders in the American Conference fell by the wayside, Western Michigan was the last one left standing in the “Group of 5” midmajor conferences that were guaranteed a major bowl slot. The Broncos were ticketed for the Cotton Bowl to play Wisconsin.
The run of major bowls began with a thriller in the Orange Bowl. Florida State nipped Michigan 33-32, lifting the Seminoles into the final top 10. On New Year’s Eve, the Playoff doubleheader was anticlimactic. Alabama delivered a workman like 24-7 win over Washington in the Peach Bowl, while Clemson systematically dismantled Ohio State, 31-0 in the Fiesta Bowl.
A New Year’s Day tripleheader began with Wisconsin churning out a 24-16 win over Western Michigan and ended with Oklahoma comfortably beating Auburn 35-19. Into between those two pedestrian games was a Rose Bowl classic. Penn State and USC traded blows back and forth in a shootout. The Trojans got the last word and won 52-49.
All of that was the appetizer for what happened down in Tampa, as Clemson rematched with Alabama for the national title. For much of the night, the Tide seemed in control. They had leads of 17-7 and 24-14 in the third quarter. When Watson rallied the Tigers to a 28-24 lead, Hurts answered right back with a clutch drive that put Alabama ahead 31-28 with just over two minutes to go.
But Watson had one more answer of his own. He orchestrated a drive down to the two-yard line. With time for one more play before having to settle for a tying field goal, Watson flipped a touchdown pass to Hunter Renfrow. In a classic ending to what was turning into a classic rivalry, Clemson had a 35-31 win and a national championship.