Sleep won out, but Clemson’s decision to go for TD was morning-after eye-opener.

Dave George

Tide will use loss as motivator,

How jealous can one man be?

So many of you were up and hyperventilating Monday night at the exact moment Dabo Swinney decided to reject the safer fifield- goal route into overtime and go for the win against Alabama instead. It must have been glow-in- the- dark magic.

In my case, however, the dreaded sofa monster was making all the decisions, drooping and fifinally slamming eyelids down long before midnight.

Just like that, one of the greatest national championship games ever played was reduced to ESPN’s edited highlights. Unsatisfactory in every way, which may have contributed to this manic flflow of morning-after thoughts on Clemson’s 35-31 victory and the glorious circus appeal of college football in general.

■ 1. Only loony Les Miles could have felt completely comfortable taking a snap with six seconds remaining like Clemson did.

Even with one timeout still in hand, there was no guarantee that the clock could be stopped in time for another play, especially if Deshaun Watson had found his receiver covered and been forced to pinball his way through traffiffic toward the goal line.

■ 2. Angry Alabama fans will long remember this as the year that new FAU coach Lane Kiffifin left the program one week