Clemson heads to the national championship game with a still-perfect record after a 37-17 smackdown of Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl on Thursday night in Miami.
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Lawson returned to the game for one defensive series – a series he concluded by sacking Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield for a 14-yard loss, giving him the national lead in tackles for loss outright with 23.5 – but then returned to the sideline.
That’s an apt way to sum up the tenor of No. 1 Clemson’s 37-17 breakthrough evisceration of No. 4 Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl on Thursday night.
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) – With shiny orange confetti stuck to his sweat-soaked face as the celebration after the Orange Bowl rolled along, Clemson linebacker Ben Boulware knew the time was right to make a bold statement.
But that fake punt merely proved that Clemson could successfully be bold and aggressive on one particular play.
Best team ever? Well, that would be debatable. The Sooners went 75 yards in 10 plays, and Perine capped off the drive with a one-yard touchdown run to open the scoring. I felt like we were a little stagnant, a little tight.
They’ve already beaten the first four on that list in 2015, and now get their shot at the Tigers in this CFP semifinal. “Young guys got some great experience, played some huge plays on this stage and probably made the difference between winning and losing”.
After that touchdown, the teams traded field goals – 36 yards by Huegel and 22 yards by Seibert.
Clemson will have a chance to become the 1st team in college football history to go 15-0 if they win the national championship game. To the Tigers, 15-0 would be absolute. “No one seems to pay attention to lil’ ole Clemson”, said defensive tackle D.J. “They were calling it like a sprained MCL, I think is what they were saying, but he just couldn’t quite push off on it like he needed to, so I don’t know”. It would be such an accomplishment. “Now here we are, seven hours away”.
Swinney doesn’t want them hiding from the opportunity.
In a statement responding to the complaint, Swinney said: “Players of any faith or no faith at all are welcome in our program”. “The coaching job that they did was just wonderful and the performance of the team was outstanding”.
These teams have been on a collision course since Clemson and Alabama were ranked 1-2 in the second College Football Playoff rankings.
The Tigers’ numbers are absurd, and certainly help prepare their case for greatness.
Its impact: The setback stifled OU’s drive, took them out of field-goal range and ultimately, the Sooners had to punt instead of potentially taking an early 14-3 lead.
“We were in position a lot of times, but we missed tackles”, Oklahoma defensive end Eric Striker said.
“You’ve got to be a great team to be able to do that”. This is, after all, a team whose signature moment from 2015 was the defense stuffing Notre Dame’s two-point conversion at the end of a 24-22 win in October.
“There’s no doubt that we’ve been the more physical team now for about seven weeks in a row”, Oklahoma offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley said. And the Tigers are embracing the stakes.
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Jake Coker played the game of his career, hooking up with Calvin Ridley for two touchdowns, and going 25 for 30 for a career-best 286 yards. “It’s just that simple”.
