Clemson to enjoy win, then ‘fix eyes’ on Alabama

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.

Clemson University, having its best football season in decades, will face off for the national title against perennial power Alabama later this month after both teams won semifinal games Thursday night. “It would be unique if it was against Alabama”.

The Spartans were overmatched by Alabama in the Cotton Bowl, and while I was surprised by how utterly dominated they were, the same problems Michigan State had all season reared their head against Alabama.

Alabama teammates celebrate their win against Michigan State after the Cotton Bowl NCAA college football semifinal playoff game against Michigan State, Thursday, Dec. 31, 2015, in Arlington, Texas.

It’s also notable that Swinney was raised in Pelham, Alabama, and is a former receiver and assistant coach at Alabama.

After exiting early in the game against Oklahoma, Lawson said he would play in the title game against Alabama.

Orange-clad Clemson fans occupied at least three-fourths of the seats at Sun Life Stadium, and they had plenty to cheer about, even after Clemson lost one of its top players, defensive end Shaq Lawson.

The FBS National Championship Playoff kicked off New Years Eve in South Florida at the Orange Bowl.

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. “I know they’ve got it in them”. “You know, it’s the longest winning streak in the country and we’ve played a lot of good teams in those 17 games”, Swinney said. A member of Clemson’s punt team all year, he ran down the left sideline and caught a 31-yard pass from punter Andy Teasdall. “This is year seven, and we were able to kind of knock the roof off of it, win another ACC championship, and when you win our league, you’ve got a chance to play for it all, and so here we are”. “We won the game up front”.

Defensive coordinator Brent Venables thought the key to his group’s success was shutting down Oklahoma’s running attack, something that could be key against an Alabama team that features the nation’s best running back in Derrick Henry. For example, in the Fiesta Bowl it’ll be Ohio State against Notre Dame while in the Rose Bowl Stanford is playing Iowa.

The Sooners open the scoring with a one yard Samaje Perine touchdown and it’s 7 to nothing early. On the day, Gallman rushed for 150 yards and 2 touchdowns.

“I think past year when we came to this game, we were happy just to take part in the game”, Alabama coach Nick Saban said following the game.

Swinney, whose top-ranked, undefeated team routed Oklahoma in a national semi-final in Miami Gardens on Thursday, said that was easy to answer.

“It shouldn’t be real hard to get guys ready to play for the National Championship”. You saw the athleticism of big ol’ No. 42 [Wilkins] because he had to find the ball in the air and get himself in position to finish it.

But the biggest takeaway from this Tigers victory should be the way Clemson rag-dolled Oklahoma in the trenches, something that could portend it bringing home the school’s first national title since 1981.