Clemson rolls over Oklahoma in NCAA semifinals

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.

Now, he’s got the Tigers within one win of their first national title since 1981.

With his third carry of the game – a six-yard gain – sophomore running back Wayne Gallman became Clemson’s all-time single-season rushing leader, passing Raymond Priester, who set the standard of 1,345 yards in 1996.

If Alabama emerges victorious tonight, players know who they’ll face in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game.

Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson (4) poses with the Orange Bowl trophy following an NCAA college football semifinal playoff game against Oklahoma, Thursday, Dec. 31, 2015, in Miami Gardens, Fla. I’m sure Oklahoma is using last year’s loss to Clemson as extra motivation in addition to being two wins away from their first national title since 2001. Before the quarter’s end, Oklahoma again reached the Clemson 40-yard line, but Mayfield threw an interception to end that drive.

Oklahoma’s running game took a series of blows in the third quarter with Samaje Perine injuring his left ankle and redshirt freshman Joe Mixon leaving the field on the next series, forcing Perine back into the game with a heavily taped foot.

“I don’t think we ran out of gas”, linebacker Eric Striker said.

Meanwhile, after giving up a methodical touchdown drive on Oklahoma’s first possession, the Clemson defense clamped down. Clemson defeated Oklahoma 37-17.

The Tigers played smash-mouth football, putting together a 12-play, 75-yard drive that was capped by Gallman’s 1-yard run. Watson rushed for 145 yards and a score and threw for 187 yards and a score. “They’re probably playing the best football of anybody in the country right now”. There were also a couple of times throughout where Watson would lull the Sooners’ defense to sleep with the run, and then surprise them with a shot down the field. Clemson scored two plays later to take the lead.

“Last year we sort of just participated in the game”, he said. On one run, Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson kept churning for an additional 5 yards while dragging along 291-pound tackle Matthew Romar, who had a handful of the quarterback’s jersey.

Defensively, Ben Boulware made eight tackles with a sack and had one of Clemson’s two interceptions on his way to Defensive MVP honors.

“I told them: ‘You ain’t favored to win the game, but we ain’t no underdog, ‘” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said afterward.

“We didn’t play a bad first half”, 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”.

“We physically won in the trenches”, Swinney said.

In the Clemson secondary, Mackensie Alexander deserves credit for shutting down Sooner standout receiver Sterling Shepard.

Clemson finished the regular season with a 13-0 record but was just 6-7 at the betting window in 2015.