Clemson, Alabama Coming To Glendale For College Football National Championship

“The message at halftime was I didn’t think we’d played bad, but were not as clean as we needed to be”, Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said. The Tigers needed nine plays to drive just 19 yards, but they were already in field-goal position when they got the ball, thanks to a short punt – 24 yards – by Austin Seibert. “We’re going to go blow the doors down”. Clemson didn’t just grasp its opportunity in the College Football Playoff semifinal, it seized it in a manner so violent, suffocating and dominant it may finally recast the perception of these unbeaten yet underrated Tigers. Can the Clemson running game work? Reader. “We like not being paid attention to”.

Clemson piled up 550 yards in the game, sealing the victory on Gallman’s 4-yard touchdown run with 10:48 remaining.

Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield (6) and wide receiver Sterling Shepard (3) look up at the scoreboard during the second half of the Orange Bowl NCAA college football semifinal playoff game against Clemson, Thursday, Dec. 31, 2015, in Miami Gardens, Fla.

The Tigers are within one win of their first national title since 1981.

The downside is it makes things hard for the offensive line, because they never know when he’s going to run.

The Crimson Tide will be playing for their fourth national championship in seven seasons.

Clemson took charge from the moment of the second-half kickoff, storming down the field, covering 75 yards in 12 plays for the third lead change in the game, taking a 23-16 lead and seizing the momentum right back from the Sooners. Responding to the challenge early, Samaje Perine burst through the first line of defense on the third play from the line of scrimmage gaining 17 yards on the ground. Clemson’s Reader met Perine in the backfield with violent force.

“I can’t answer that, and it doesn’t matter”, he said. “When you hit the sweet spot of the bat and you don’t really feel it come off the bat”.

“I feel great. Just hurt my knee a little bit”, Lawson said. Clemson piled up 550 yards in the game. Oklahoma did not score in the second half, something that had not happened all season long.

“We have guys that have been here now”, Alexander said.

The second half was a major display of championship mettle by the Tigers, however, who dominated the final 30 minutes in stunning fashion. That turned a 16-10 Clemson lead into a one-point OU advantage at 17-16. “Everyone up front knew exactly what that play was going to be”, Reader said. “We worked that play a million times in practice”.

“We shocked them, didn’t we?” a beaming Swinney said. “But we’ve still got a young team, and we’ll be encouraged about the strides we’ve taken and how close we are”. The Sooners managed 67 rushing yards against the Tigers. They’ve outgained opponents by 2,946 yards — roughly 1.7 miles — this season.

But the biggest difference was the day the games were played.

Clemson, on the other hand, has not faced a Crimson Tide all year, though they might have watched the Denzel Washington movie of the same name during a team movie night. At the luncheon we saw them at the elevator and he’s there talking the whole time. He rushed for at least 100 yards in four of the final five regular-season games. He wobbled off the field after making a tackle following his second interception and spent the closing minutes on the sideline.

“My job is to win football games”, he said. That’s what I told them in pregame. Gallman thrived, looking like one of the nation’s best running backs. The Sooners (11-2) actually came into the game as favorites, but the Tigers showed their unblemished mark was no fluke.