usatoday_20170111_USA_Today

6CSPORTS
E6 WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 11, 2017

COLLEGES

Women’s basketball; times
p.m. Eastern

1. Connecticut (15-0)

Points: 775 (31 first-place votes).
Previous ranking: 1. Tuesday
result: Beat No. 21 South Florida
102-37. Upcoming game: Sat-
urday at Southern Methodist.

2. Baylor (15-1)

Points: 734. Previous ranking:

Upcoming games: Wednes-
day vs. TCU and Sunday at Kan-
sas (ESPNU, 2).
3. Maryland (15-1)

Upcoming games: Wednes-
day vs. Penn State and Saturday
at Iowa (BTN, 5).
4. Mississippi State

(17-0)

Upcoming games: Thursday
vs. Florida (SEC, 9) and Monday
vs. Mississippi (SEC, 7).
5. South Carolina (13-1)

at Georgia (SEC, 7) and Sunday
at LSU.
6. Notre Dame (15-2)
Points: 625. Previous ranking:

vs. Pittsburgh and Monday at
Tennessee (ESPN2, 7).
7. Florida State (15-2)

vs. No. 8 Louisville and Sunday
at Clemson.
8. Louisville (15-3)

at No. 7 Florida State and Sun-
day vs. No. 14 Miami (Fla.)
(ESPN2, 1:30).
9. Washington (16-2)

Upcoming games: Friday at
Arizona (Pac-12, 9) and Sunday
at No. 18 Arizona State (Pac-12,
8).
10. Oregon State (15-1)

Upcoming games: Friday at
No. 13 UCLA (Pac-12, 9) and Sun-
day at Southern California
(Pac-12, 6).
11. Ohio State (14-5)
13. Tuesday result: Lost to Michi-
gan State 94-75. Upcoming
game: Sunday at Purdue
(ESPN2, 3:30).
12. Stanford (13-3)
10. Upcoming games: Friday at
Utah and Sunday at Colorado.
13. UCLA (11-4)
7. Upcoming games: Friday vs.
No. 10 Oregon State (Pac-12, 9)
and Sun. vs. Oregon (Pac-12, 4).
14. Miami (Fla.) (13-3)
14. Upcoming games: Wednes-
day vs. No. 16 Virginia Tech and
Sunday at No. 8 Louisville
(ESPN2, 1:30).
15. Duke (14-2)
15. Upcoming games: Thursday
vs. North Carolina and Sunday
at No. 22 North Carolina State.
16. Virginia Tech (15-0)
day at No. 14 Miami (Fla.) and
Monday vs. Wake Forest.
17. Texas (11-4)
17. Tuesday result: Beat Oklaho-
ma State 66-35. Upcoming
game: Saturday at No. 19 West
Virginia.
18. Arizona State
(12-3)
19. Upcoming games: Friday vs.
Washington State and Sunday
vs. No. 9 Washington (Pac-12, 8).
19. West Virginia (14-2)
day at Texas Tech and Saturday
vs. No. 17 Texas.
20. DePaul (14-4)
21. Tuesday result: Beat St.
John’s 78-66. Upcoming games:
Friday vs. Butler and Sunday vs.
Xavier.
21. South Florida (13-2)
22. Tuesday result: Lost to No. 1
Connecticut 102-37. Upcoming
game: Sat. vs. East Carolina.
22. North Carolina
State (13-4)
at No. 24 Syracuse and Sunday
vs. No. 15 Duke.
23. California (13-3)
20. Upcoming games: Friday at
Colorado and Sunday at Utah
(Pac-12, 2).
24. Syracuse (12-5)
vs. No. 22 North Carolina State
and Sunday at Georgia Tech.
25. Oklahoma (12-4)
day at Iowa State and Saturday
vs. Texas Tech.
Dropped out: None.
Others receiving votes: Wisconsin-Green Bay
(13-2) 28; Oklahoma State (12-4) 10; Michigan
(14-4) 8; Michigan
State (13-4) 7;
Tennessee (10-5) 7;
Temple (11-3) 4;
Northwestern
(13-4) 3; Kansas
State (12-4) 2;
Saint Louis (13-3)
2; Texas A&M
(12-4) 2; Creighton
(11-5) 1; LSU (13-3)
1; Tulane (10-6) 1.
Note: One ballot is missing. Ali Jaques of Siena
could not be reached before the voting deadline.
The USA TODAY Sports board of coaches is made
up of 32 head coaches at Division I institutions.
All are members of the Women’s Basketball
Coaches Association.
1. Clemson (14-1)

Points: 1,500 (60 first-place
votes). Previous ranking: 3.
Bowl result: Beat then-No. 2
Ohio State 31-0 in the Fiesta
Bowl and beat then-No. 1 Ala-
bama 35-31 in the College Foot-
ball Playoff championship
game.

2. Alabama (14-1)

Points: 1,440. Previous ranking:

Washington 24-7 in the Peach
Bowl and lost to then-No. 3
Clemson 35-31 in the College
Football Playoff championship
game.
3. Oklahoma (11-2)

Auburn 35-19 in the Sugar Bowl.
4. Washington (12-2)

Bowl result: Lost to then-No. 1
Alabama 24-7 in the Peach Bowl.
5. Southern California
(10-3)
9. Bowl result: Beat then-No. 5
Penn State 52-49 in the Rose
Bowl.
6. Ohio State (11-2)
2. Bowl result: Lost to then-No. 3
Clemson 31-0 in the Fiesta Bowl.
7. Penn State (11-3)
5. Bowl result: Lost to then-
No. 9 Southern California 52-
in the Rose Bowl.
8. Florida State (10-3)
Michigan 33-32 in the Orange
Bowl.
9. Wisconsin (11-3)
Western Michigan 24-16 in the
Cotton Bowl.
10. Michigan (10-3)
No. 10 Florida State 33-32 in the
Orange Bowl.
11. Oklahoma State
(10-3)
Colorado 38-8 in the Alamo
Bowl.
12. Stanford (10-3)
16. Bowl result: Beat North
Carolina 25-23 in the Sun Bowl.
13. Florida (9-4)
Iowa 30-3 in the Outback Bowl.
14. LSU (8-4)
20. Bowl result: Beat then-
No. 15 Louisville 29-9 in the Citrus
Bowl.
15. Colorado (10-4)
No. 13 Oklahoma State 38-8 in
the Alamo Bowl.
16. Virginia Tech (10-4)
19. Bowl result: Beat Arkansas
35-24 in the Belk Bowl.
17. West Virginia (10-3)
unranked Miami (Fla.) 31-14 in
the Russell Athletic Bowl.
18. Western Michigan
(13-1)
No. 8 Wisconsin 24-16 in the
Cotton Bowl.
19. South Florida (11-2)
22. Bowl result: Beat South
Carolina 46-39 in the Birming-
ham Bowl.
20. Louisville (9-4)
No. 20 LSU 29-9 in the Citrus
Bowl.
21. Utah (9-4)
23. Bowl result: Beat Indiana
26-24 in the Foster Farms Bowl.
22. Auburn (8-5)
No. 7 Oklahoma 35-19 in the
Sugar Bowl.
23. Miami (Fla.) (9-4)
Not ranked. Bowl result: Beat
then-No. 12 West Virginia 31-14 in
the Russell Athletic Bowl.
24. Tennessee (9-4)
then-No. 21 Nebraska 38-24 in
the Music City Bowl.
25. San Diego State
(11-3)
Houston in the Las Vegas Bowl
34-10.

Dropped out: No. 21 Nebraska (9-4), No. 24 Temple (10-4), No. 25 Iowa (8-5). Others receiving votes: Nebraska (9-4) 46; Kansas State (9-4) 44; Georgia Tech (9-4) 24; Western Kentucky (11-3) 23; Boise State (10-3) 20; Air Force (10-3) 18; Iowa (8-5) 17; Temple (10-4) 16; Tulsa (10-3) 11; Minne- sota (9-4) 7; Georgia (8-5) 5; Navy (9-5) 3; Wake Forest (7-6) 3; Arkansas (7-6) 2; Troy (10-3) 2; Washington State (8-5) 2; Brigham Young (9-4) 1. Note: Four ballots are missing after four coaches could not be reached by the voting deadline. The Amway board of coaches is made up of 64 head coaches at Football Bowl Subdivision schools. All are members of the American Football Coaches Association.

TAMPA The play is called Crush,
a staple of Clemson’s offense. As
co-offensive coordinator Jeff
Scott lobbied for the Tigers to run
it one last time this season with
nothing less than a national title
at stake, he had to step back and
appreciate the ending they were
about to write.
As Scott saw it unfold Monday
night, the best quarterback ever
to wear a Clemson uniform was
going to take a snap with six sec-
onds left, sprint to his right so he
could get the ball out before time
expired and fling it to a 5-foot-
nothing receiver who had drawn
little interest from the Football
Bowl Subdivision, walked on at
Clemson and was about to walk
out of Raymond James Stadium
as a national champion.
Hunter Renfrow’s catch from
Deshaun Watson with one second
left to give Clemson a 35-31 win
against Alabama and its first title
since 1981 might go down as the
most famous play in school histo-
ry. And for Scott, it represented
everything about what has made
Clemson and Dabo Swinney, an-
other former walk-on receiver,
the perfect vehicle to put a dent
in Alabama’s dynasty.
“It’s two ends of the spectrum:
A five-star (recruit) to a guy that
was a walk-on, and that really
kind of epitomizes our program,”
Scott said. “No matter how highly
recruited you were, there’s an ap-
preciation and love for every sin-
gle guy in this program, and that
starts at the top.”
In the blur of tension-filled

drives and exhilarating plays over the final 6^1 ⁄ 2 minutes, which called for Clemson to go 88 yards to take the lead and then another 68 after Alabama’s touchdown with 2:07 left, it was no surprise the Tigers leaned on Renfrow in the moment that mattered most. Ever since he stepped on cam- pus, turning down scholarships from the likes of Furman and Ap- palachian State because he want- ed to play for Clemson, there has been something special about Renfrow, who looks like he’d fit in more in Clemson’s computer sci- ence program than a football fa- cility filled with blue-chip re- cruits and physical players. “We can’t cover him in practice,” Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables said. A year ago, Renfrow had a season-high seven catches for 88 yards vs. Alabama in the national title game. But before that, he had earned the full respect of Watson and Clemson’s bevy of talented and highly recruited skill players.

“We call Renfrow ‘White Choc- olate,’ ” running back Wayne Gallman said. “He’s just one of the greatest receivers I’ve seen at Clemson. He just does everything right. It’s crazy the stuff he can do. You look at him and don’t think he can do anything that he’s doing, but he is.” Said receiver Artavis Scott, who set the pick that drew two Alabama defenders on the final play, allowing Renfrow to spring free: “He’s just a little sniper. When you look at him, you think, ‘Who’s this white receiver?’ He lulls people to sleep, and he’s an amazing guy.” Of Clemson’s 99 offensive snaps Monday, Renfrow was on the field for 98, underlining the trust he has earned and the effec- tive role he was having against Alabama. He finished with 92 yards on 10 catches and two touchdowns, making one clutch play after another and epitomiz- ing Clemson’s unique mix of elite recruiting and spot-on evaluation

of developmental talents. Every day during his 2014 freshman season on the scout team, Renfrow had to face the likes of Mackensie Alexander and Stephone Anthony, who parlayed their Clemson careers into early- round picks in the NFL draft. And more often than not, Ren- frow made his presence known. “About a year and a half ago, I was still a walk-on. Nobody really knew about me,” Renfrow said. “It all started in practice. Those guys were the No. 1 defense in the nation, and that’s something I’ve carried over, that if I can get open against those guys and the guys we have now, I can get open against anyone.” In retrospect, the series of plays that culminated with Ren- frow’s catch couldn’t have worked out more perfectly for the Tigers. But it also revealed that Ala- bama’s defense was increasingly mortal the more Clemson pos- sessed the ball in the second half. As Alabama failed to get a first down on its first three drives of the second half and then went three-and-out on its first two pos- sessions of the fourth quarter, its defense was left vulnerable to an alarming number of plays. Only Arkansas this season had more than 80 snaps vs. Alabama. As the game wore on and the Ti- gers approached 70, 80 and then 90 plays, they could sense fatigue from the Crimson Tide defense. “We told our guys, even though they’re a very talented defense, they had less depth than last year,” Scott said. “Last year they rolled a lot of guys up front, and four quarters is like a 10-round boxing match and you have to get them in those last two or three rounds to get them down. Our OL

kept coming back to the sideline saying, ‘They’re tired, and we’re playing our best when we’re going fast.’ ” By the time Clemson crawled back within 24-21 early in the fourth quarter, the vibe of the game had shifted. As Watson picked apart Alabama’s secondary en route to a go-ahead score, the question was whether he’d need to win the game a second time. When Alabama’s offense finally found life, scoring on a 30-yard run by quarterback Jalen Hurts to retake the lead, 31-28, Watson got his answer. “I just smiled when they scored,” he said. “I’d seen 2 minutes and 1 second on the clock, and I just knew. I just told my guys, ‘Hey, let’s be legendary. Let’s go be great.’ I told myself, ‘They left too much time on the clock.’ ” Crush, as it turned out, would soon bring Clemson the title. “I knew they were going to play straight cover zero man, and I knew if (Scott) made his block to get the little pick, Renfrow was going to get in the end zone,” Wa t s o n sa i d. “ I k ind of smile, and I knew before I even snapped the ball it was going to be a touchdown. All I had to do was get the ball to him.” All week, Clemson has felt like its destiny was to get showered with confetti and take this party back to the Upstate. All the Tigers needed to do was execute one of their signature plays one more time. From a five-star to a walk- on, it worked to perfection. “We have that play ready at all times,” Scott said. “We can run it wherever we want on the field. It was a great setup. We knew we had it. I knew it was a touchdown. It works. No one can stop it.”

EX-WALK-ON RENFROW MONEY IN CLUTCH

MARK J. REBILAS, USA TODAY SPORTS Clemson’s Hunter Renfrow hauls in the game-winning TD pass.

Dan Wolken
@danwolken
USA TODAY Sports

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