In Alabama Football fandom, RTR means “Roll Tide Roll.”

In Monday night’s national championship game, it meant “Roll Tigers Roll.”

The Clemson Tigers pitched a second-half shutout and destroyed the defending champs, 44-16, a very un-Alabama-like score, the worst of the Nick Saban Era. Or if you want to put it in a Monday night perspective, the Nick Saban Error.

Hey, it wasn’t like the frog jumping up and whupping everyone in biology class. Clemson was ranked No. 2 and really good and one year removed from a loss in the semifinal game against Alabama. They were also just two years removed from a national championship win against Alabama.

These two were the undisputed creme of the football crop.

But Monday night, with Alabama a 5-to-6 point favorite, Clemson Alabamaed Alabama. Whupped ’em in every way you can whup em. Only the most optimistic Clemson fan expected a 4-touchdown victory. This Designated Writer co-founder had Climpson by a prayer, and won his post-season Bowlfest pool. But all month, I was praying for a one-point win.

Four touchdowns? It’s a national championship miracle.

Truth is, there were a lot of good football men out there. But Clemson, a team that had the ball only 10 minutes the first half and still lead, was the better team on this night by far. And probably better coached, since Alabama keeps losing assistants at a high rate each year.

Whatever the reason, Clemson was playing the whole game as if the score was 0-0 .Once Justyn Ross, a Clemson receiver who grew up in in Alabama, made a third-and-12 one-handed catch in the third quarter that led to ANOTHER Clemson touchdown, the party was over.

Ross and quarterback Trevor Lawrence, the Player of the Game who helped account for 482 yards of offense on just 63 plays, teamed for a couple of third-quarter receptions that iced the Tide.

Both are freshmen.

The last team to go 15-0 in college was, as you know, the Penn Quakers. In 1897. What a season it was! But Climpson has managed to top that because if the Climpsons, 15-0 as the Quakers were, tangled with the 1897 Penn team, i imagine Clemson would be the favorite. Sort of because I believe the Climpsons would be stronger and faster and have better coaching and better equipment, but also because all of the Climpson players would be alive. No matter the line, I’ve got to bet on Climpson.

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