2016 College Football Playoff National Championship presented by AT&T
2nd College Football Playoff National Championship
Alabama Crimson Tide Clemson Tigers (13–1) (14–0) SEC ACC 45 40 Head coach:  Nick Saban Head coach:  Dabo Swinney AP Coaches CFP 2 2 2 AP Coaches CFP 1 1 1
1 2 3 4 Total Alabama 7 7 7 24 45 Clemson 14 0 10 16 40
Date	January 11, 2016
Season	2015
Stadium	University of Phoenix Stadium
Location	Glendale, Arizona
MVP	Offensive: #88TEO. J. Howard, Jr. Alabama Defensive: #4SEddie Jackson, Jr. Alabama
Favorite	Alabama by 6½[1]
National anthem	Ciara[2]
Referee	Terry Leyden (Pac-12)
Halftime show	Clemson University Tiger Band Million Dollar Band
Attendance	75,765
United States TV coverage
Network	ESPN andESPN Radio
Announcers	Chris Fowler (play-by-play) Kirk Herbstreit (analyst) Heather Cox andTom Rinaldi (sideline) (ESPN) Mike Tirico,Todd Blackledge,Holly Rowe andJoe Schad (ESPN Radio)
Nielsen ratings	16.0 (26.18 million viewers)[3]
International TV coverage
Network	ESPN Deportes
Announcers	Lalo Varela, Pablo Viruega, Bernardo Osuna, and Carlos Nava
College Football Playoff National Championship  ← 2015  2017 →

The2016 College Football Playoff National Championship was acollege footballbowl game played on January 11, 2016, at theUniversity of Phoenix Stadium inGlendale, Arizona. The secondCollege Football Playoff National Championship, the game determined anational champion of theNCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) for the2015 season. This was the culminating game of the2015–16 bowl season.

The game was played between the winners of two pre-designated semifinal bowls played on December 31, 2015: the No. 1Clemson Tigers, who beat the No. 4Oklahoma Sooners 37–17 at theOrange Bowl, coached by Dabo Swinney in his 8th season, and the No. 2Alabama Crimson Tide, who shut out the No. 3Michigan State Spartans 38–0 at theCotton Bowl Classic, coached by Nick Saban.

The 13–1 Alabama Crimson Tide won the game, holding off the undefeated Clemson Tigers 45–40 in the fourth quarter. Accompanied by a talented receiving corps, Clemson'sHeisman Finalist quarterbackDeshaun Watson had a historic performance, setting the record for most total yards in national championship game history, with 478 yards (405 passing / 73 rushing) against the nation's third-ranked defense in Alabama, breaking the record previously set byVince Young in the2006 Rose Bowl.^[4][5][6] Following the game, theAP Poll also named Alabama as its top team of the season, giving Alabama their fourth title in seven seasons.^[7][8] Both Clemson and Alabama finished the season 14–1.

University of Phoenix Stadium inGlendale, Arizona was announced as the host site in December 2013, along with 2017 hostRaymond James Stadium. The Arizona Organizing Committee, co-chaired by Brad Wright and Win Holden, hosted the game.

The championship game marked the 16th meeting between the two schools. The last previous meeting was the season opener in the 2008Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game.

Alabama was led by head coachNick Saban. The Crimson Tide playedMichigan State in the semifinals at the2015 Cotton Bowl Classic, winning 38–0.

Clemson was led by head coachDabo Swinney. The Tigers playedOklahoma in the semifinals at the2015 Orange Bowl, winning 37–17.

Source:^[9]

Alabama came off a stellar defensive performance in the semifinal game, and was looking to contain Clemson's QB Deshaun Watson, but Alabama defense was quickly forced into conceding most of the field and stopping Clemson in the redzone. Alabama's offense was stressed at the line of scrimmage by Clemson's defensive line led by Shaq Lawson. Despite being statistically outplayed by Clemson (550 Clemson offensive yards to 473 Alabama) offensively and statistically tied in other areas, Alabama was able to capitalize on three key plays: an interception of Deshaun Watson's pass early in the second quarter, a surprise Alabama onside kick early in the fourth quarter, and an Alabama kickoff return for a touchdown in the middle of the fourth quarter. These plays accounted for 21 points, and Alabama won the game 45 to 40.

Having won the coin toss to start the game, Clemson elected to defer to the second half. Characteristic of Alabama, the offensive opening drive was slow and cautious but notable for utilizing Derrick Henry four times, a change from the semifinal game against Michigan State. Alabama and Clemson would trade punting drives before, on the next Alabama possession, Derrick Henry was utilized three times. On the third run, Derrick found an opening for a 50-yard touchdown run (7-0). However, on the next two Clemson possessions Deshaun Watson used his speed, agility, and elusiveness to sustain drives with a mixture of QB runs and fade routes against Alabama's top-ranked defense. Both drives ended in TD throws toHunter Renfrow (7-14), the latter of which ended the first quarter.

On Alabama's next possession to start the second quarter, despite a promising start in a 29-yard pass toRichard Mullaney, Alabama's offensive line conceded a sack by Kevin Dodd and a tackle for loss on Derrick Henry. Characteristic of Alabama, facing third and long offensive coordinatorLane Kiffin opted for extra field position on a punt with a short throw to Ridley rather than attempting a first down pass. On the ensuing Clemson drive Deshaun Watson was intercepted by Eddie Jackson at the Clemson 42 yard line. The resulting Alabama possession culminated in a 1-yard TD run by Derrick Henry (14-14). After this flurry, both Clemson and Alabama played more cautiously as each of the three following possessions by both teams went no further than 40 yards. Clemson's last possession of the half resulted in a blocked field goal.

Going into the third quarter, Clemson opted to receive the ball but was forced into a quick three and out. On Alabama's next possession, TE OJ Howard found himself open in space for a 53-yard touchdown (21-14). Clemson responded with a mixture of QB runs, pass plays by Deshaun Watson, and key run plays by RB Wayne Gallman on its next two drives to get a 37-yard field goal by Greg Hugel (21-17) and a 1-yard touchdown run by Wayne Gallman (21-24). Both teams were then stalled for three and outs or near three and outs on their next two possessions to close the Third quarter.

On Alabama's first possession of the fourth quarter, Jacob Coker found ArDarius Stewart in single man coverage for 38 yards. This gain, however, did not translate into a touchdown as the offense was stalled by good secondary play from Clemson. Alabama settled for a field goal from 33 yards to tie the game (24-24). On the ensuing kickoff Alabama gambled on a surprise onside kick, executed to perfection by Adam Griffith and caught by Marlon Humphrey. Alabama capitalized almost immediately with another 50+ touchdown pass to a wide open OJ Howard (31-24). Clemson pulled within 4 once again. However, Alabama's defense held in the red zone and forced a field goal from Clemson (31-27). On the ensuing kickoff, Alabama RBKenyan Drake stunned Clemson by taking the ball 95 yards for an Alabama touchdown (38-27). Deshaun Watson quickly answered with an 8 play 75 yard touchdown drive which culminated in a 15-yard touchdown pass to WR Artavius Scott. In attempt to pull within three points of Alabama (and thus within a field goal of tying the game), Clemson attempted a two-point conversion with what morphed into a naked bootleg QB run by Deshaun Watson which was stopped short (38-33). On Alabama's next possession QB Jacob Coker passed the ball in a checkdown screen to OJ Howard who, getting good blocking, ran for 63 yards. With less than 3 minutes left in the game, ran the ball up the middle to convert downs. After a key third down scramble for a first down by Jacob Coker, Derrick Henry, on third down, broke the touchdown plane with the nose of the ball over the top of the goal line pile of players for a 1-yard TD run (45-33). A stellar performance by Deshaun Watson on a 55-second drive culminated in a 24-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Leggett with 12 seconds left on the clock (45-40). Clemson attempted an onside kick but the ball was recovered by Alabama sealing their victory. This was the fourth Alabama national championship win in seven years, its first of the College Football Playoff era, and head coach Nick Saban's fifth overall.

The game was broadcast in the United States by ESPN,ESPN Deportes, andESPN Radio, withChris Fowler andKirk Herbstreit as English commentators on TV, andEduardo Varela and Pablo Viruega as Spanish commentators. In Brazil, the game was broadcast on ESPN Brazil by Everaldo Marques (play by play) and Antony Curti (color commentator). As in 2015, ESPN providedMegacast coverage of the game, which supplemented coverage with analysis and additional perspectives of the game on different ESPN channels and platforms.^[10][11]

An average of 23.6 million viewers watched the game, representing a 29% decrease over the 2015 title game, which was seen by 33.4 million viewers. The game was the sixth-highest-rated broadcast in U.S. cable television history (by contrast, the 2015 game was the highest-rated), and ESPN reported that the game brought the network its third-highest overnight ratings (behind the2010 and 2015 title games).^[12][13]

• College football national championships in NCAA Division I FBS
• Alabama–Clemson football rivalry

• Box score at ESPN.com

• 2015–16 NCAA football bowl games
• 2015–16 College Football Playoff
• Alabama Crimson Tide football bowl games
• Clemson Tigers football bowl games
• 2016 in sports in Arizona
• January 2016 sports events in the United States
• Sports competitions in Glendale, Arizona
• American football competitions in Arizona
• College Football Playoff National Championship

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