Picking the most memorable moments from College Football Playoff’s 4-team format era
New York TimesThis is the final year of the four-team Playoff. Matt Brown: I was fortunate to cover the first three CFP national title games in person from 2014 to 2016, and it’ll be hard to ever top standing at the goal line when Hunter Renfrow caught the winning touchdown from Deshaun Watson in the final seconds to give Clemson its first championship since 1981. And the game featured drama aplenty as Georgia, in its first Rose Bowl trip in 75 years, came back from 17 points down to win on Sony Michel’s breakaway run in the second overtime period. Jesse Temple: Clemson’s 35-31 victory against Alabama in the 2017 national championship game stands out because it marked the Tigers’ first of two titles under Dabo Swinney and avenged a loss to the Crimson Tide one year earlier. Winston’s fumble, Renfrow’s catch, Sony Michel’s Rose Bowl run, but it doesn’t get any more iconic than Tua Tagovailoa rescuing Alabama with a young Devonta Smith on second-and-26.