Paw Prints: Clemson became just the eighth FBS team to win 14 games in a season and second ACC team after Florida State in 2013.
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Clemson running back Wayne Gallman (9) is congratulated by tight end Stanton Seckinger (81) during the second half of the Orange Bowl NCAA college football semifinal playoff game against Oklahoma, Thursday, Dec. 31, 2015, in Miami Gardens, Fla. The Tigers wrapped up their playoff spot with a 45-37 win over North Carolina in the Atlantic Coast Conference title game, extending the nation’s longest winning streak to 16 games. Not entirely shocking, since Big 12 defenses are routinely roughed up every Saturday of the season, but thoroughly discouraging to Sooners coach Bob Stoops, who has been beaten by a combined score of 77-23 in consecutive bowl losses to Clemson.
Houston Takes Down Florida State 38-24
After Maguire threw for another score, the Cougars put the game away when Ryan Jackson ran 2 yards for a score with 1:59 left. Five turnovers, including four interceptions by Maguire, hurt FSU’s attempts to rally from a 21-3 second-quarter deficit.
Clemson has taken a 10-7 lead over Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl – and a fake punt was huge for the Tigers. Oklahoma managed just 121 second-half yards after racking up 257 in the first half. Before the quarter’s end, Oklahoma again reached the Clemson 40-yard line, but Mayfield threw an interception to end that drive. Sooners quarterback Baker Mayfield was running for his life, too.
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Clemson won Thursday by owning the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball and imposing its will on the Sooners in the final 30 minutes while finishing with 312 rushing yards.
Greg Huegel’s 26-yard field goal with 3:50 left in the first quarter has cut Oklahoma’s lead to 7-3. Oklahoma running backs Samaje Perine and Joe Mixon were shaken up by jarring hits. We’re going to play somebody in Arizona. It didn’t matter. The Sooners scored 17 points against the Tigers and were shut out in the second half.
The defeat was the Sooners’ first since they were beaten by rival Texas in October.
Oklahoma did all of that with a 33-point average margin of victory to boot. That stretch was tough…we just didn’t look right tonight for whatever reason and certainly Clemson had a big part.
Teasdall’s previous pass went for a loss of one yard against Wake Forest earlier this year. “Whoever can limit the mistakes will win this football game”. “That’s what hurt the most”. OSU and Clemson are no strangers to one another, though this time the victor of this College Football Playoff semifinal game advances to the National Championship game Monday night.
Stoops said Clemson’s pass rush made Mayfield’s job hard.
And while the Lake Travis ex grumbled in midweek about not being recruited by TCU and fumed internally over his Heisman snub as the fourth-place finalist who didn’t get the trip to NY that Clemson’s Watson did, he had more to be angry about Thursday.
Later on the same drive, a fake punt fooled the Sooners and turned the game around.
“Really it started when (Wayne) Gallman had a 12-yard run to open up the second half”, said Mac Lain, who sports a thick and impressive playoff beard.
“We’re not thinking of that”, Swinney said. “We were late getting to the guy down the boundary – it was our lack of execution”.
No.2): Another loaded Crimson Tide team vs. another under-the-radar and disrespected team from the B1G 10. Perine took a direct snap, ran up the middle and was stuffed for no gain.
Four times, Clemson had entered the red zone and come away with only one touchdown.
The Tigers had to settle for a field goal, although they would make up for it later on in a 37-17 victory. Twice, they picked off passes and once, in the cruel fourth quarter, 240-pound linebacker Ben Boulware knocked Mayfield out of the game by bowling into him on an interception return. Clemson still leads in yards, 205-183 – but Oklahoma needed something to stop the Tigers’ momentum, and got it.
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“But Coach Swinney called it and it was there, ” the punter said.
