Reliving the night Alabama won its 16th national championship

It was the night everyone has been waiting for. It had been three years since the Alabama Crimson Tide had been in the national title game and three years is a drought for Alabama fans.

The road to the championship was not easy, especially when you have to replace 10 starters on offense and five starters on defense. On September 19th, Alabama lost to Ole Miss and many fans believed the Alabama’s dynasty was dead. They thought we were no longer a powerhouse.

So many analysts, journalists and broadcasters wrote Alabama off and believed they would lose to Georgia. A lot of them suggested we had no shot at the SEC, let alone the national championship. On October 3rd, the Tide traveled to Athens for a rainy game between the hedges.

We dominated the game by scoring in three different ways: offense, defense and special teams. Georgia’s only score came when the game was already decided. The defense held Nick Chubb to 146, but 83 of those yards came on a play when the game was over.

The win against Georgia was a stepping stone – it was the way Alabama began to define their season. Over the next weeks, the team began to click more and more. Before we knew it, it was LSU week.

LSU was ranked #2 in the country and had the Heisman frontrunner Leonard Fournette. During that game, Derrick Henry rushed for 210 yards on 38 carries while the Tide defense limited Fournette to 31 yards on 19 carries.

The next two games went well and before we knew it, it was time for the Iron Bowl against our most fierce rival, Auburn. It wasn’t pretty, but with the help of Adam Griffith’s five field goals and Derrick Henry on our side, Alabama beat their rival in Jordan Hare Stadium.

Throughout the year, every fan witnessed Jacob Coker struggle. But as the games progressed, he got better and better. The fans began to put their faith in him. Alabama made it to the semi-final game against Michigan State, and that game was in a way Coker’s entrance party. He had career highs in passing yards and had two touchdowns with no interceptions.

We couldn’t believe it, but we were going to the National Championship. It had been three years since the last time. The championship game was one for the ages, and one of the most unlikely players made a huge impact. Junior tight end OJ Howard had over 200 yards receiving and two touchdowns – his first touchdowns since freshman year in 2013.

The game was played between the trenches and needed offense, defense and special teams to win the game. And in the end, Alabama won 45-40.

The Alabama dynasty began once again.