Renfrow Plays Starring Role on ESPN

by Tom LaMarre

Wide receiver Hunter Renfrow of the Las Vegas Raiders plays a starring role tonight on ESPN’s Throwback Thursday College Football Classics Presented by Allstate (7 p.m. ET).

Renfrow played for Clemson in the 2017 College Football Playoff National Championship Game against Alabama at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla.

And Renfrow caught the game-winning, two-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Deshaun Watson with one second left to give the Tigers their second national championship and first in more than 35 years by a score of 35-31.

“We’re a no-huddle team so we kinda had a timeout the play before when we threw a fade up there to Mike Williams,” Renfrow recalled recently in an interview with 24/7Sports. “But as we got the play call, we knew they were gonna be in man coverage 100 percent of the time inside the five-yard line, so that’s something we knew going in. Everyone kinda looked at each other and everyone did a good job, Deshaun hit me in stride and it worked out.

“The coach in me, and everybody, we just kinda think of everything. We had six seconds left and we knew we had to get a rollout. In case something went bad he could throw it away, throw it out of the back of the end zone, have a chance for a field goal to tie it up. I actually talked to (Clemson coach Dabo Swinney) last night and he said if we didn’t get it we were gonna kick the field goal and go to overtime.”

Alabama had beaten Clemson in the CFP National Championship game the year before and took the lead in this game on quarterback Jalen Hurts’ 30-yard touchdown run with 2:31 remaining, setting up the dramatic finish.

Then Watson and Renfrow teamed for one of the most memorable finishes in college football history.

Renfrow, who had 10 catches for 92 yards and two touchdowns in the game, was a junior at the time and last year the Raiders selected him in the fifth round (No. 149 overall) in the NFL Draft. He enjoyed a fine rookie season as the Raiders’ slot receiver with 49 receptions for 605 yards and four touchdowns.

Other current Raiders in the game include defensive end of Clemson and running back Josh Jacobs of Alabama.

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