Alabama entered the 2016 season ranked #1 in the polls. The reigning national champions began 2016 with a resounding 52-6 win over #9 USC in Arlington, Texas, led by true freshman quarterback, Jalen Hurts. In what was the first meeting between the Tide and the Trojans since 1985, Blake Barnett started the game, but was soon replaced by Hurts, who would then go on to be the starting QB for the season. Hurts was the first true freshman QB to start for the Crimson Tide since 1984. For the first time since 2009, Alabama would go undefeated all the way through the SEC Championship Game. Alabama crushed Florida 54–16 to win their third consecutive SEC Title. This made the Tide the first three-peat SEC Champion since the Florida Gators won four in a row from 1993–1996. It also marked the first three peat for Alabama since the late 1970s when Alabama won SEC Championships from 1977–1979. The Tide would once again go on to the Playoffs where they would defeat the Washington Huskies 24-7 in the Peach Bowl to advance to their second consecutive College Football Playoff National Championship Game in Tampa, Florida. In the first-ever national title game rematch, Alabama would fall to Clemson, 35-31. In the closing seconds of the game, Clemson QB Deshaun Watson found Hunter Renfrow for a two-yard touchdown pass to give Clemson the win and their first national championship since 1981. The loss ended Alabama's 26 game winning streak, the second-longest in program history. It marked the first time Nick Saban had ever lost in a national championship game.
