With an onside kick recovery with seconds left followed by a triumphant kneel-down by quarterback Jake Coker, University of Alabama ascended to the pinnacle of the college football world.

For the sixteenth time in its history, and the first time in the college football playoff era, the Alabama Crimson Tide became national champions. The title marked the end of a championship drought that had hung over Tuscaloosa since the ‘12-’13 season.

Alabama’s championship team was a squad that faced much criticism and doubt after September 19^th, 2015, a day in which the Tide suffered a 43-37 defeat at the hands of Ole Miss. The game was a wild, high-scoring affair, during which it simply felt like the ball did not bounce Alabama’s way. That feeling became extremely apparent on a play where Mississippi’s quarterback mishandled the snap before catching the football and throwing a wobbly pass into a crowd, only to have the ball bounce off an Alabama defender. The ball fell into the waiting arms of Ole Miss receiver Quincy Adeboyejo, who proceeded to take the ball into the end zone for an extremely odd 66-yard score. In addition, Alabama fumbled two kickoff returns, and Coker, who would later leave with an injury, tossed two interceptions.

After a deflating loss that had Alabama on the outside of the four-team playoff picture, the Crimson Tide responded with a dominant eleven-game stretch leading up to the championship, in which Alabama won every game and did so with an astonishing average of 23 points per game. The commanding winning streak featured Alabama ringing in the new year with a 38-0 drubbing of Michigan State in one of the college football playoff semifinals.

Even after these victories, Alabama still faced the daunting task of quelling the undefeated Clemson Tigers, a team led by Heisman Trophy finalist quarterback DeShaun Watson and surefire first round NFL draft selections, including defensive end Shaq Lawson and cornerback Mackensie Alexander. The Tigers had paved their way to both the number one seed and the championship with key wins over North Carolina in the ACC Championship and over Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl.

The championship at University of Phoenix Stadium commenced with a bang after Alabama scored a touchdown during their second possession of the game, approximately seven minutes into the contest. The score, courtesy of Alabama’s Heisman Trophy winning RB Derrick Henry, would set the tone for Alabama’s offense, as three of Alabama’s eventual six touchdowns would come from Henry. Clemson responded to this score quickly with two touchdowns of their own before the first quarter ended, both on connections from QB DeShaun Watson to WR Hunter Renfrow.

The teams went into halftime tied 14-14 after Henry’s second touchdown of the game. The Tigers and the Tide traded scores to make the game 24-24 before Jake Coker easily torched the Clemson secondary, throwing a fifty-one yard touchdown to eventual offensive MVP TE O.J. Howard. The touchdown was Howard’s second of the game, with both touchdowns coming on oddly similar plays in which it appeared Clemson altogether forgot to cover Howard. Clemson could only manage a field goal, lessening a once seven-point deficit to a four-point deficit.

What transpired after the field goal was perhaps the decisive blow for Alabama. RB Kenyan Drake, who because of Derrick Henry had not been much of a staple in the running game, ran laterally from one side of the field and then up the sideline to the end zone—speeding past diving Tiger defenders. This touchdown gave Alabama an eleven-point lead, which would hold up despite two late Clemson touchdowns because of Derrick Henry’s third and final score. Despite a great effort by Watson and the Tigers, the Nick Saban-coached Alabama pulled the victory out.

Seeing Alabama win yet another National Championship begs the question: just how and why is Alabama football this good? When presented with this question, Asha Krishnan ‘17 comments on how “the history of the Alabama football program and the appeal of having a renowned coach like Nick Saban” make Alabama an attractive destination for prospective college football players.

In addition, the differences between the NFL and college football play a huge role; in the words of Sam Paniccia ‘16, “there is no salary cap or any sort of limit that prevents one team from taking all the best players available.”

Alabama returned to the ways of its championship-winning history this year, a trend that Nick Saban and company will want to preserve going into the future.