Clemson took the second-half kickoff and breezed down the field, covering 75 yards in 12 plays to reclaim the lead on Wayne Gallman’s 1-yard run, the first of his two TDs.
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The Tigers’ unit is a group that early on didn’t look like it could anchor a national championship run.
The top-ranked Clemson Tigers are going home Orange Bowl champions after a win over the No. 4 Oklahoma Sooners on Thursday. Clemson defeated Oklahoma 37-17.
Of course, oddsmakers rated Oklahoma a four-point favorite against Clemson, something Swinney didn’t hesitate to note to his players, before and after the game.
Clemson’s Shaq Lawson is limping a bit, but still making plays for the Tigers. The Tigers are a very, very good team and in a year where there aren’t many of those, they’ve long since proven their worth. Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said. “It was an awesome second half. I told our OL, ‘We’re here because of you.’ Clemson’s had a lot of great skill players through the years, but we haven’t quite gotten to this level because we weren’t as consistent up front, and now those guys have led us to this point and are a big reason that we’re able to move on to the championship game”.
Clemson finally got some momentum going in the 2nd quarter from an unexpected source. Oklahoma went to the locker room with a 17-16 lead after Mark Andrews hauled in an 11-yard touchdown pass from Mayfield with 1:34 remaining, and the Sooners defence came up with a pick in the end zone on an ill-advised throw by Watson into triple-coverage.
Greg Ward Jr. and the Houston Cougars showed they could thrive in a big-game atmosphere against a big-name opponent. That strength up front and the versatility of Watson is what Clemson will rely upon in the College Football Playoff championship game against Alabama (13-1) on January 11 in Glendale, Arizona. Clemson will have to take on the role of the underdog one more time and no one gets the team more fired up than Lawson.
Watson, who was named the game’s offensive MVP, passed for one touchdown and ran for another.
On a balmy evening in south Florida, the orange-clad Clemson faithful gobbled up at least three-fourths of the seats at Sun Life Stadium, turning what was supposed to be a neutral-site game into Death Valley South. He’ll likely undergo some testing on the knee that was wrapped in ice after his exit, but that didn’t stop Lawson from assessing his prognosis based on how he felt after the game. “To have that adversity in the beginning and handle it so well, I’m just so proud of my guys”. Mayfield’s swagger all week heading into the game wasn’t lost on the Tigers, who delighted in his two-interception implosion in the final two quarters as the mighty Oklahoma offense disappeared. Six Clemson receivers caught 17 passes for 218 yards and a touchdown.
The Tigers played loose throughout, even pulling off some special teams trickery to set up their first TD. That’s until punter Andy Teasdall hit 6-foot-5, 305 pound defensive lineman Christian Wilkins on a fake punt pass play to gain 31 yards.
Other times he just danced to dance.
“We know we’re only going to go as far as our offensive line takes us”, Guillermo said.
The elusive Watson gave the Sooners fits and finished with 145 yards rushing.
Clemson also sacked Mayfield five times for 41 yards, as he couldn’t handle the onus of carrying the Sooners by himself with the banged-up backfield. Yes, what the faithful had just witnessed was the biggest Clemson win since clinching the national title in 1981. It’s just it was somewhat evident that Michigan State may not have actually been one of the four best teams in the country.
The coach insisted that it wouldn’t be a distraction.
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There’s no Clemsoning with this bunch.
