Greg Huegel leaps in the arms of a teammate after Monday’s championship game. | Ben Margot/AP
SANTA CLARA, CA – The college football world sat back in amazement on Monday night as the Clemson Tigers picked apart the mighty Alabama Crimson Tide. The Tigers brought home their second National Title in the last three seasons with a 44-16 win, and there were two former Bengals present for the program-defining victory.
Huegel
Huegel joined the Tigers as a walk-on and is still the only player in Clemson history to earn All-American honors while not on scholarship. He was voted Second-Team All-American by Sports Illustrated in 2015, first-team freshman All-American by USA today and nailed 27 of his 32 field goal attempts in 2015.
He also set a school single-season record for points scored in a season with 138. He was a Lou Groza award semi-finalist during the 2016 national championship run and broke another Clemson single season record with 71 successful extra point conversions.
Greg Huegel (92) | Richard Shiro/AP
A torn ACL robbed Huegel of the 2017 season, but he made a furious return in 2018. He went 68-68 on regular season extra point attempts and earned Honorable Mention on the All-ACC team. Huegel became only the sixth player in school history to score at least 300 points and broke Chandler Catanazaro’s record of 203 successful point-after attempts.
Huegel held the record for most field goals made in a game in Blythewood history with three until Miles Heitman tied his record in October.
Williams
Graduate linebacker Jalen Williams and senior place kicker Greg Huegel added their second championship rings to their collections with the rout. Williams and Huegel’s places were forever etched in history after the blowout win. The 2018-2019 Tigers were the first Football Bowl Sub-Division team to go 15-0 since the Penn Quakers in 1897.
Williams recorded 186 tackles in his Bengals career, 18 tackles for a loss, an interception, six forced fumbles and six fumble recoveries. He was the 29th ranked player in South Carolina by ESPN when he came out of Blythewood and was named MVP of North-South All-Star game.
Jalen Williams (30) | Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Williams recorded his first sack against Miami in 2015 and went on to finish the 2015 season with 15 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and two sacks. He earned his Psychology degree in 2017, and finished his Clemson career with 77 total tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss and three sacks. He also picked off two passes, including one this season against No. 16 NC State.