All that makes it the more remarkable that these two teams keep meeting in championship games, as if they are the Warriors and Cavaliers of the N.B.A.

The first, a 45-40 Alabama victory in January 2016, was exhilarating, the teams combining for 40 fourth-quarter points. An unexpected and successful onside kick and a 95-yard kickoff return were the big plays for Alabama’s comeback victory.

Clemson and quarterback Deshaun Watson avenged the result a year later, with Watson throwing a 2-yard touchdown to Hunter Renfrow with 1 second left to give the Tigers a 35-31 victory.

The teams met in the semifinal game last year, with No. 4 Alabama dominating No. 1 Clemson, 24-6. The Crimson Tide beat Georgia, in overtime, in the championship game. The hero there was Tagovailoa, then a freshman backup quarterback. He came into the game with Alabama trailing 13-0 at the beginning of the second half and threw three touchdowns, including the game-winner in overtime.

Alabama arrived this year as a slight favorite, though few expected any sort of romp. Alabama was the first team since Yale in 1900 to beat every team by at least 20 points during the regular season, but Clemson has built itself into a deep shadow of Alabama’s program, following closely behind in college football’s spotlight.

This might be the moment that Clemson fully emerged from it.

The game opened as if the fast-forward button had gotten stuck. That was a twist from their previous championship meetings, which built slowly and ended with a flurry of points, like the finale of a fireworks display.

This time, they combined for three touchdowns in the first four and a half minutes, and four touchdowns in the first 9 minutes. Barely 3 minutes into the second quarter, the teams had combined for 37 points. The entire game felt like a highlight reel.