By Eric Sprott

Courtesy The Journal

eric@upstatetoday.com

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — It had been a 35-year wait before the Clemson football team was able to repeat the feat of winning its first national championship in 1981.

The wait for the third title was just a touch more bearable.

On Monday night, Clemson once again rode the play of true freshmen Trevor Lawrence and Justyn Ross, while the defense didn’t allow Alabama into the end zone after the first quarter in a resounding 44-16 victory at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., for its second championship in three years.

By winning the College Football Playoff National Championship Game, the No. 2 Tigers (15-0) became the first team in the modern era to finish 15-0, and they knocked off Alabama for the second time in the teams’ fourth

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