With a traditional running game that was basically nonexistent and many critical players either out or hobbled on defense, only one player could give Clemson what it needed in the College Football Playoff National Championship.

That player held the ball in his hands on more than 75 percent of the Tigers’ offensive snaps. He accounted for more yardage than any player against Alabama this season by more than one hundred yards. In fact, he accounted for more yardage by himself than every team on Alabama’s schedule.

Deshaun Watson did not do enough to get Clemson the victory in Monday’s 45-40 loss to Alabama at University of Phoenix Stadium, but he did more than enough to earn TCI’s Player of the Game honors.

In both aspects of his game, the sophomore quarterback was brilliant. Watson completed 30 of his 47 passes in the game for 405 yards and four touchdowns, while he ran for a team-best 73 yards on 20 carries—good enough for 478 yards of total offense. His passing performance was the best against the vaunted Tide defense since the Auburn game last year, a span of 17 contests.

Watson struck early with a pair of passes to Hunter Renfrow that went for scores. He lobbed a perfect ball into double coverage for a 31-yard score, then he slung one to the back of the end zone that the former walk-on slid to grab to give the Tigers the lead late in the first quarter.

He struck again down the stretch with a pair of touchdown passes when Clemson trailed by double digits, finding Artavis Scott and Jordan Leggett for scores in the final 4:40 of play. Watson’s rushing was particularly valuable given the difficulty Wayne Gallman had gaining traction on the ground early in the game. Gallman had just 45 yards for the game, and 34 came on a single play.

It was a fitting way to end a Heisman runner-up season for Watson. In Monday’s loss, he became the first player in FBS history to pass for 4,000 yards and rush for 1,000 yards, alone in the record books after a historic sophomore season.