Alabama player says title game loss felt like 'a death in the family'

Published Jan. 10, 2017 11:26 a.m. ET

Nick Schwartz

Clemson's Deshaun Watson led the Tigers on a 68-yard, game-winning drive to stun Alabama in the national championship game Monday night, handing the Crimson Tide their first loss of the season.

Alabama has suffered just 10 total losses since their undefeated national championship season in 2009, so many players inside the Alabama locker room weren't prepared for the crushing loss on the game's biggest stage. Bruce Feldman wrote that he hadn't seen the same type of atmosphere in a losing locker room since the unstoppable 2002 Miami Hurricanes were upset by Ohio State.

AL.com's Michael Casagrande described the scene as a "land of thousand-yard stares."

Via AL.com:

"Noise quickly trailed off in the walk through the tunnel to Alabama's locker room. As the party raged outside, a solemn scene played out in the hallway. Nobody knew where to look....

"People are hurt," linebacker Rashaan Evans said with his crimson hoodie pulled up. "You work so hard to get to this point and you lose the game. It's like a death in the family."