Alabama football players are no strangers to celebrations or very brief celebrations.
The latter was certainly the case early Saturday evening, when the top-ranked Crimson Tide punched their ticket to next Monday night's national title game with a 24-7 trampling of No. 4 Washington in the Peach Bowl semifinal. Alabama didn't need long to discover its opponent for the trip to Tampa, Fla., as No. 2 Clemson humbled No. 3 Ohio State 31-0 Saturday night at the Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Ariz.
Confetti fell from the Georgia Dome immediately after the final college football game that will be held at that facility, but there was no jubilation in Alabama's locker room. The 24-hour rule wasn't even 24 minutes, because Crimson Tide players turned their thoughts to preparing for the championship showdown.
"It's going to come fast, and you don't really have time to rest up like we did to play this game," senior tight end O.J. Howard said. "It's going to come fast, so we have to finish strong. We've got one more game to go, and you've got to have that mindset to finish."
The meeting between Alabama (14-0) and Clemson (13-1) marks the first rematch of a national title game since the Bowl Championship Series was implemented in 1998 and replaced by the current four-team playoff in 2014. The Crimson Tide beat the Tigers 45-40 last January, surviving a Clemson offense that racked up 31 first downs and 550 yards, including 405 through the air from Deshaun Watson.
There are multiple accomplishments Alabama could attain with a win next Monday, most notably a fifth national championship in eight years under coach Nick Saban. The Crimson Tide matched Notre Dame's success of the 1940s with a fourth crown in seven seasons, but no program has won five in eight.
Alabama could become the first Football Bowl Subdivision national champion to go 15-0, with Ohio State (2002), Alabama (2009), Auburn (2010) and Florida State (2013) each having gone 14-0.
A win would be the Crimson Tide's 27th straight, which would get them within one of tying the school mark set from 1978 to '80 and matched from 1991 to '93, but Clemson is out to prove it can take one more step. The Tigers sent quite the message Saturday night, holding the Buckeyes to nine first downs and dealing Ohio State its first shutout loss since 1993.
"I think we sent a statement last year in our game, and we'll be ready to play," Clemson senior linebacker Ben Boulware told reporters Saturday. "They beat a really good Washington team, so it's going to be a great matchup."
Said Tigers senior defensive tackle Carlos Watkins: "They watched our game, so they can take it however they want to take it. We're going to be ready for them in Tampa."
Alabama and Clemson are the only FBS programs to win 10 or more games each of the past six seasons.
Both teams are scheduled to practice on campus through Thursday before heading to Tampa on Friday. Media day is scheduled for Saturday, with Saban and Clemson coach Dabo Swinney set to hold a news conference Sunday.
As these two teams discovered last year, kickoff will be here before they know it.
"The key is just staying consistent and staying fresh," Crimson Tide redshirt junior cornerback Anthony Averett said. "This year has been long. Won't this be our 15th game? This year has been very long, so we need to stay fresh, get in the training room and practice hard.
"We've got one more, and we've got to let it all out there."
Tide tidbits
Alabama is 25-6 against Associated Press top-10 teams since the start of the 2008 season, including a 3-0 mark this season. Bo Scarbrough's 180 rushing yards set a Tide bowl record, topping the 166 by Sherman Williams during a Citrus Bowl win over Ohio State after the 1994 season. Sophomore starter Damien Harris only had nine carries for 30 yards against the Huskies, but that gave him 1,013 yards for the season, making him the seventh tailback to surpass 1,000 yards in the Saban era. JK Scott's eight punts marked a season high, topping the six he had in the 31-3 win over the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Xavier McKinney of Roswell, Ga., the No. 8 safety recruit and No. 70 prospect overall, committed Sunday to Alabama for a second time.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.