The dominance of Clemson and Alabama over the college football world continued in 2018. In 2015-16, the Tigers and Crimson Tide played for the national championship, with each winning one. In 2017, Alabama beat Clemson in a Playoff semifinal, en route to a crown. In the 2018 college football season, they did it one more time, again for the national championship. And Clemson again returned the favor and captured the title.
It was the best defense in the nation that led the way for the Tigers, with defensive linemen Clelin Ferrell and Christian Wilkins each earning All-American honors. But the offense wasn’t far behind. They had an All-American of their own in the trenches with Mitch Hyatt. Travis Etienne ran behind that line for 1,658 yards and a stunning 8.1 yards-per-carry. And a freshman quarterback named Trevor Lawrence threw for almost 3,300 yards, produced a TD-INT ratio of 30/4, and had big play targets in Tee Higgins and Justyn Ross.
Clemson opened the season ranked #3 in the polls and was rarely challenged. They turned back their two toughest regular season tests, 41-7 over N.C. State in October and 27-7 against Boston College in November. The Tigers thrashed Pitt 42-10 in the ACC Championship Game to complete their undefeated campaign and return to the College Football Playoff.
Alabama was in a stacked SEC that put four teams in the New Year’s Six major bowl games. The Crimson Tide had an explosive offense, with Tua Tagovailoa pulling the trigger at quarterback. Tua completed 69 percent of his passes for over 11 yards an attempt. His TD-INT ratio was 43/6, and he had All-American receiver Jerry Jeudy as his prime target. A balanced running game included Damien Harris and Josh Jacobs running behind All-American lineman Jonah Williams.
The Tide defense was good, although at 12th nationally in points scored, it wasn’t as dominant as in years past. Even so, defensive lineman Quinnen Williams won the Outland Trophy and Deionte Thompson was an All-American in the secondary.
Alabama got a challenge in the SEC West from LSU, where linebacker Devin White won the Butkus Award and Grant Delpit was an All-American defensive back. Nick Brosette keyed the offense with 1,000 yards rushing. Believe it or not, what held the Tigers back was a passing game where Joe Burrow was the quarterback and Justin Jefferson the leading receiver. Burrow hadn’t yet developed into what he would become a year later, and was a little on the erratic side.
Georgia and Florida set the tone in the SEC East. The Bulldogs had the nation’s best defensive back in Thorpe Award-winner Deandre Baker. A powerful running game was keyed two 1,000-yard rushers in D’Andre Swift and Elijah Holyfield. Jake Fromm was at quarterback, with a 30-6 TD/INT ratio, and a 9.0 yards-per-attempt average. As for the Gators, they overcome some spotty play at quarterback with a balanced running game and a defense led by pass-rusher Jachai Polite and Chauncey Gardner in the secondary.
Alabama was ranked #1 to start the season and dispatched a ranked Texas A&M team, 45-23 in September. The Tide churned along undefeated, pointing to their November 3 date with LSU. The Tigers started at #25 in the polls, but beat up on eighth-ranked Miami 33-17 to get the season off and running. Before September was out, LSU nipped Auburn 22-21. And in mid-October, with Georgia having risen to #2 in the rankings, the Tigers blew out the Bulldogs 36-16.
But this division still belonged to Nick Saban and Alabama. The Tide hammered LSU 29-0 and went on to close out an undefeated regular season. Georgia bounced back and seized control of the SEC East when they pounded Florida 36-17, and then comfortably beat ranked Kentucky 34-17 a week later.
LSU and Florida would get major bowl invites, to the Fiesta and Peach respectively. Alabama and Georgia would square off in Atlanta. The Bulldogs, ranked #4, had to win to keep their Playoff hopes alive. The Tide might have been able to survive a loss and still get in, but were in no hurry to find out.
A year earlier, when these teams played for the national title, Saban had pulled starting quarterback Jalen Hurts and replaced him with Tua to key a rally. In this game, he did the reverse. Hurts was called in off the bench and he rallied Alabama to a 35-28 win. They were going to the Playoff. Georgia settled for a Sugar Bowl invite.
In a season with so many great quarterback performances, no one was more electrifying than Kyler Murray at Oklahoma. Murray completed 69 percent of his passes, threw for over 4,300 yards, averaged 11.6 per attempt, and had a 42/7 TD-INT ratio. Anything else? He also ran for 1,000 yards. Murray won the Heisman Trophy, leading the most potent offense in the country.
Murray’s weapons included All-American receiver Marquise Brown, and CeeDee Lamb, who racked up over 1,100 yards. In the running game, Kennedy Brooks and Trey Sermon combined for 2,000 more yards. Was there anything the Sooners couldn’t do? Try defense—they ranked a woeful 101st in the nation in points allowed.
On the first Saturday of October, that defense came back to bite OU. Texas won the Red River Rivalry game 48-45. The Longhorns had an efficent, mistake-free quarterback Sam Ehlinger and a good receivers’ combo of Lil’ Jordan Humphrey and Collin Johnson.
Texas now had the inside track in the Big 12, but they had defensive issues of their own. The “Horns lost 38-35 to Oklahoma State and 42-41 to West Virginia. Oklahoma began moving back up the ladder. In late November, the Sooners won a wild 59-56 decision over West Virginia. That got them to fifth in the polls and a rematch with Texas in the Big 12 Championship Game.
Oklahoma took advantage of that second chance, 39-27 and made the Playoff. They were paired up with Alabama. The Longhorns still got a Sugar Bowl nod to play Georgia.
Notre Dame was the polar opposite of Oklahoma. The Irish didn’t have big stars—their most notable starters were All-American defensive back Julian Love and running back Dexter Williams, who got close to a 1,000 yards. They switched out quarterbacks, going from Brandon Wimbush to Ian Book. But Notre Dame played steady defense.
And that defense kept putting up wins. The Irish beat Michigan 24-17 and Stanford 38-17 in September. Notre Dame knocked off Virginia Tech, 45-23 in October. They went to Yankee Stadium in November and hammered a good Syracuse team, 36-3. When all was said and done, the Irish were undefeated, and ticketed to play Clemson in the Playoff.
Ohio State and Michigan were both ranked in the top 10 to start the season and both had Playoff aspirations in the Big Ten. The Buckeyes got a spectacular year from quarterback Dwayne Haskins, who completed 70 percent of his passes, rang up over 4,800 yards and threw 50 touchdown passes against just eight interceptions. Parris Campbell was a top target, and Ohio State could also pound people on the ground with both J.K. Dobbins and Mike Weber.
Where the Buckeyes struggled was on defense, in spite of the presence of pass-rushing end Chase Young and his 10 ½ sacks. Ohio State also went through some turmoil, with head coach Urban Meyer suspended for three games over allegations he had covered up domestic abuse by an assistant coach.
The Buckeyes made an early statement when they buried #15 TCU 40-28 in mid-September. But two weeks later, they needed a miracle to escape Penn State with a 27-26 win against a Nittany Lion team that would be fairly pedestrian. On October 20, Ohio State’s defensive issues came home to roost in a 49-20 beatdown at the hands of Purdue.
Michigan bounced back after their early loss to Notre Dame. Jim Harbaugh’s team was led by running back Karan Higdon, who ran for almost 1,200 yards. The Wolverines buried Wisconsin 38-13 in October, although this Badger edition would be uncharacteristically mediocre. Michigan knocked off in-state rival Michigan State 21-7, and then torched Penn State 42-7.
When the regular season finale arrived, the Wolverines were up to #4 in the polls. But they couldn’t slow down Ohio State’s offense. The Buckeyes rolled up a 62-39 shootout win, and then took care of Northwestern in the Big Ten Championship Game. Ohio State went to the Rose Bowl. Michigan still got a Peach Bowl nod to play Florida.
The Pac-12 race came down to the Apple Cup rivalry between Washington and Washington State. The Huskies did it with the fifth-best defense in the nation, led by All-American linebacker Ben Burr-Kriven. Washington had a 1,200-yard rusher in Myles Gaskin, although a mistake-prone year from quarterback Jake Browning left the offense a mediocre 89th nationally.
Washington State, by contrast, was throwing the ball all over the place. Their innovative head coach, the late Mike Leach, found Gardner Minshew as his quarterback. Minshew completed 71 percent of his passes and threw for almost 4,800 yards.
Washington started the year ranked #6, although a quick loss to Auburn dimmed any national hopes the Huskies had. They later lost to Oregon in conference play. Washington State was able to beat the Ducks, and the Cougars were up to #7 in the polls when they faced Washington in the regular season finale. But the Huskie defense came through, delivering a 28-15 win. A week later, Washington sealed the Pac-12 crown by beating Utah in the championship game and getting a Rose Bowl bid.
Central Florida was coming off a magical 2017 season where they went undefeated and won the Peach Bowl. In spite of a coaching change from Scott Frost to Josh Heupel, the Knights again went undefeated and got the major bowl spot reserved for the “Group of 5” conferences. The “Gabriels” were the key. Dillon Gabriel was the quarterback and his top target was Gabriel Davis, who caught 72 passes for over 12,00 yards. UCF’s key regular season win was a 38-13 blowout of ranked Cincinnati in November, followed by a 56-41 win against Memphis in the American Conference title game. Central Florida would go to the Fiesta Bowl.
On the bowl undercard, Washington State won a good Alamo Bowl matchup with Iowa State, 28-26, and finished in the national top 10. In the major bowls, Florida and LSU both defended SEC honor well. The Gators hammered Michigan 41-15 in the Peach, while the Tigers handed UCF their first loss in two years, 40-32 in the Fiesta. Georgia, on the other hand, didn’t bounce back from the Alabama loss—Texas beat the Bulldogs 28-21 in the Sugar. In the Rose Bowl, Urban Meyer coached his final college game for Ohio State, beating Washington 28-23.
There was not a lot of anticipation for the Playoff semifinals, with everyone expecting Clemson and Alabama to simply take care of business. That expectation proved accurate. The Tigers steamrolled Notre Dame 30-3 in the Cotton Bowl. The Crimson Tide jumped out to 28-0 lead on Oklahoma by early in the second quarter and closed out a 45-34 win.
Thus, the showdown the college football world had been pointing to was here. Clemson and Alabama, playing in San Francisco for the national title. For much of the first half, the game was living up to the hype. The Tide led 16-14. Then, the Tigers unloaded.
Clemson scored 17 straight points to get control of the game by halftime and they never let up. Lawrence played a virtually perfect game, while Tua made some mistakes. The final was 44-16. That the Tigers had won the game was a mild surprise. That they had done it like this was shocking. Clemson ended the 2018 college football season as a decisive national champion.