Minkah Fitzpatrick 29 was the leader of Alabama's hard hitting defense in 2017 tense national title game Alabama took the lead with 2:31 to play only to see Clemson storm back The Tigers scored a touchdown with one second to play to win it 35-31 So the Tide went into 2017 looking for revenge Sophomore quarterback Jalen Hurts was coming off a great season Hurts had thrown 23 touchdown passes as a freshman On defense the Tide were led by future National Football League NFL first round draft 6 pick defensive back Minkah Fitzpatrick
Alabama once again tore through DON'T WASTE the regular season Its only loss came A FAILURE on the road against No. 6 Auburn The loss to Clemson in the 2016 But that didn't prevent the Tide from national title game weighed getting a berth in the CFP It was not heavily on the Tide Shortly after going to be easy though Alabama the game Saban reminded his got the fourth and final seed That team Don't waste a failure He meant playing the No. 1 team in the was telling his players to take the country with a spot in the national opportunity to learn from the loss championship game on the line That If they didn't learn from it they could make the same mistakes team was Clemson It was the third again Don't waste a failure year in a row they had met in the CFP became the motto of Alabama's In the 2015 national championship 2017 championship team Alabama started slow but closed fast scoring 24 points in the fourth quarter The next year Alabama jumped to a 14-0 lead before eventually losing In 2017 Alabama started fast again Hurts threw a 12 yard touchdown pass in the first quarter But the Tide led just 10-3 at half Then to open the second half Hurts fumbled Alabama limited the damage to a Clemson field goal But the Tigers were threatening Then Alabama turned the tables First defensive tackle Da'Ron Payne intercepted a pass After Alabama drove to the Clemson 1 yard line Payne got to finish off the drive Alabama brought him in as a receiver and the 308 pound Payne caught a touchdown pass On the next play from scrimmage Alabama linebacker Mack Wilson 7
DRAFT SUCCESS picked off another pass and returned it for a touchdown The 24-6 lead was Close to 300 Alabama players all they would need The Tide upset have been drafted by NFL teams Clemson to move on to the national The 2018 draft was no different Alabama set a school record with championship game 12 players selected over the draft's This opponent would be familiar seven rounds Four of those players as well Alabama and Georgia were were taken in the first round longtime Southeastern Conference But the loss of so much talent SEC rivals But they'd never faced didn't affect the Tide much They each other with this much at stake reloaded and were back in the CFP the next season Early on Alabama failed to rise to the occasion The first half was a disaster Hurts completed just three of eight passes Georgia took a 13 o lead into the half Saban decided to make a bold move He replaced Hurts with freshman Tua Tagovailoa Tagovailoa hadn't played much in 2017. But he looked like an experienced pro against Georgia He threw a touchdown pass on Alabama's second possession of the second half Then with time winding down in the fourth quarter he threw another to tie the game at 20 sending it to overtime Georgia kicked a field goal on its first possession That meant a touchdown would win it for Alabama But disaster struck on the first play Tagovailoa took a sack for a 16 yard loss He needed to recover On the very next play he looked to his left and saw wide receiver 8
Freshman quarterback Tua Tagovailoa saved the day for the Crimson Tide DeVonta Smith streaking toward the end zone Tagovailoa threw it deep and hit Smith perfectly in stride for the touchdown It was the seventeenth national championship for Alabama Five of them came under Saban who had earlier won a national title with Louisiana State University LSU The record six national titles tied Saban with Alabama legend Paul Bear Bryant Bryant was royalty to Alabama fans When he retired in 1982 few fans thought anyone could ever come close to matching his legacy But Saban brought Tide point And there was no sign the winning was going to end anytime soon 9
