TAMPA, Fla. (AP) – Bo Scarbrough and Ryan Anderson sat side by side in Alabama’s somber, mostly silent locker room, their shoulders hunched over.
Anderson stared glumly at his phone. Scarbrough kept his head down. There was nothing to say.
Both the tailback Scarbrough and senior linebacker Anderson delivered big games in Alabama’s 35-31 last-second fall to Clemson. They had wanted a celebration. Instead, they got an unfamiliar feeling: loss.
“They’ll never forget this feeling,” outgoing tight end O.J. Howard said.
Now, the offseason mission is to pull off a Clemson. Tide players hope to carry the pain of losing a down-to-the-last-breath national championship game and use it to fuel a major comeback.