Tigers headed to national title game

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

The Cotton Bowl featuring Alabama and Michigan State that kicked off at 8 p.m. earned a 9.9 overnight rating, while the Orange Bowl featuring Clemson and Oklahoma that kicked off at 4 p.m. earned a 9.7 overnight rating.

It was the Sooners lauded as one of the most balanced teams in recent history, but it was Clemson that would dominate all areas of the game in its 37-17 win to advance to the College Football Playoff final.

“What is so good about Dabo is we know he’s very genuine in his love for Clemson even though he graduated from Alabama”, said Thompson, who worked on the security detail for coaches from Danny Ford to Swinney.

Now as the Tigers prepare to face Alabama in the National Title game they’ll continue building on the strengths that were evident against a talented Oklahoma team.

Watson ran for 149 yards and passed for another 187 on Thursday. He was intercepted once.

“For some reason, we were the underdog in the playoffs”, receiver Charone Peake said.

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 second half was all Clemson.

Clemson has taken a 10-7 lead over Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl – and a fake punt was huge for the Tigers. His interception was a spectacular one-hand grab.

Clemson also sacked Mayfield five times for 41 yards, as he couldn’t handle the onus of carrying the Sooners by himself with the banged-up backfield. On third-and-3 at the Clemson 32, Mayfield hit Michiah Quick on a swing pass, but Quick was unable to pick up the first down.

Clemson’s 300-yard run game versus Oklahoma was no fluke. 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. “I’ll be back”, boomed the most important Clemson player not named DeShaun Watson.

George Schroeder, USA Today Sports: Schroeder said that Oklahoma’s ability to run wasn’t because of the game plan, but because of Clemson’s physicality.

“I knew that we would be here”, Swinney said.

That was Oklahoma’s last gasp – Clemson scored another TD four plays later. After returning on the second drive and notching a sack of quarterback Baker Mayfield, Lawson did not play after the first quarter. The play resulted in a three-yard loss, but it essentially marked the beginning of the end for the Sooners. The first trick worked, the second didn’t, and from that point on Clemson embraced a back-to-basics approach in which it imposed its will on the Sooners behind the strength and depth of the Tigers’ two lines and the running of quarterback Deshaun Watson and tailback Wayne Gallman. Clemson’s Christian Wilkins, a 315-pound defensive tackle who plays on special teams, slipped behind two defenders on fourth and 4 and caught a 31-yard pass from punter Andy Teasdall, giving the Tigers a first down at the 13. “Those hurt. But mostly, this was about what Clemson had, not who Oklahoma didn’t”.

“Talent doesn’t win the game. Young guys got some great experience, played some huge plays on this stage and probably made the difference between winning and losing”.

The Tigers’ big question entering the season was their entirely rebuilt defensive and offensive lines.