College Football Championship Game Set

The top-ranked Clemson Tigers are going home Orange Bowl champions after a win over the No. 4 Oklahoma Sooners on Thursday.

No. 13 Northwestern vs. No. 23 Tenn., 11 a.m.

Oklahoma came into the Orange Bowl rushing for an average of 299.9 yards per game in their previous seven contests.

“How ’bout them Tigers, baby?”

One of the biggest highlights these days from their wins: Coach Dabo Swinney. Said defensive coordinator Brent Venables, “The second half of the season, we hadn’t had that mentality, that step on their throat, taste blood mentality-until today”.

And only a handful of teams have even had the chance to play 15 games, with longer regular seasons, conference title games and now a four-team College Football Playoff stretching schedules out more than ever before. “I’m sure our guys will be motivated, trying to do the best they can to play the best they can in the game”.

Watson, who finished third in the Heisman Trophy voting, ran 24 times for 145 yards and one touchdown. He was named the offensive MVP.

15 – With the Sooners on a first-quarter scoring drive and with a second-down-and-seven from the Clemson 27-yard line, Oklahoma fullback Dimitri Flowers was flagged for an unsportsmanlike penalty, which backed the Sooners up 15 yards and placed the ball at the Clemson 42. 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. Back-to-back runs of three and two yards combined by Samaje Perine and Joe Mixon on the next two downs left Oklahoma well short of a first down and also out of field goal range.

The Tigers played loose throughout, even pulling off some special teams trickery to set up their first TD. Yet, when it comes to the title game, it’ll be a team from Alabama against a team from SC. “To have that adversity in the beginning and handle it so well, I’m just so proud of my guys”. The junior, who intends to enter the 2016 NFL Draft, nevertheless made an impact with a 14-yard sack of OU quarterback Baker Mayfield on his last play of the game.

The Tigers never looked back, and they began to dream of the desert.

Clemson punter Andy Teasdall found Christian Wilkins, a freshman defensive tackle, for a 31-yard gain and a big first down. In the 40-6 win over Oklahoma in the Russell Athletic Bowl in December 2014, Clemson managed only 68 rushing yards, relying instead on turnovers and some big passes from backup quarterback Cole Stoudt.

The Tigers’ unit is a group that early on didn’t look like it could anchor a national championship run. The Mountaineers – wrongly – tried to remind everybody that the last time Clemson was in the Orange Bowl it didn’t work out.

That’s a slight exaggeration, as he later clarified it may have been more like 20, but both Reader and fellow lineman Kevin Dodd said they spent most of the night reading the back and tackle and knowing exactly what was coming.

It was scoreless in the second quarter when Alabama’s Jake Coker throws downfield to Calvin Ridley, a 50 yard pass to the one yard line.

No. 2 Alabama held the Spartans to a season-low 239 yards as linebacker Reggie Ragland and defensive end Jonathan Allen had their way Michigan State’s offensive line, combining for four sacks and six tackles for loss.