After the Clemson offense opened up the College Football Playoff national championship by going three-and-out, the Tigers opened the scoring with a defensive touchdown instead. A.J. Terrell jumped in front of a receiver to take a pass thrown by Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa and returning it 44 yards for an early touchdown in Santa Clara.
The score gave Clemson a 7-0 lead. It was the first time Clemson has scored first against Alabama in the College Football Playoff. Tagovailoa immediately took the blame for misreading the field and missing Terrell in that spot of the field. The good news for Alabama is it did not take long for Tagovailoa to make up for his mistake. Shortly after getting the ball back, Tagovailoa dropped back and unloaded on a deep pass to Biletnikoff Award winner Jerry Jeudy for a 62-yard touchdown to even the game in the blink of an eye.
We have only played three minutes so far, so get settled in. We could be in for a fun night in Levi’s Stadium.