Written by Darrell Wilkinson
Miami Gardens, FL - The Clemson Tigers are headed to the National Championship game! Tigers fans everywhere may finally rejoice after a 37 to 17 victory over the Oklahoma Sooners at the Capital One Orange Bowl. The Clemson faithful put the “Orange” in Orange Bowl as 80% of the 67,615 fans were representing the Tigers, giving a sort of “home field advantage” feel to the game.
Leading 17 to 16 at halftime the Clemson Tigers came out in the second half with a renewed sense of focus and proceeded to dominate the half with huge help from sophomore running back Wayne Gallman. Gallman epitomized this game, rushing for 39 yards in the first half but coming on at half and exploding to end his night with 156 yards and two touchdowns. Star sophomore quarterback Deshaun Watson added 145 yards on the ground himself as his Tigers racked up 312 yards in total. This momentum was felt throughout the rest of the team according to Watson.
“We just feed off each other. We motivate each other, and starting with the offensive line, Mac(OG Eric Mac Lain) can tell you, we get in the huddle and we tell each other let's go dominate. At halftime it was 0-0 and anything can happen in that second half. We just flip the script, went down and scored, and we kept the momentum on our side”
Clemson was simply the more physical team. They dominated the point of attack on defense holding Oklahoma to 67 yards on the ground and sacking Sooners quarterback Baker Mayfield five times. Bob Stoops and the Sooners averaged 235 yards on the ground heading into this contest and with injuries to Samaje Perine and Joe Mixon throughout the game hindered the attack but ultimately it was execution from Clemson that won out.
Early in the game it was the Baker Mayfield show. The junior signal caller led the Sooners on a 10 play 75 yard drive during their opening possession and put a stamp on the game early. Mayfield ended 26 for 41, 311 yards one touchdown and two interceptions but was being chased around the entire game by this Clemson defensive front. Even when Shaq Lawson was out with a knee injury the Tigers still congested the Sooners attack and Mayfield played a heck of a game in spite of the loss.
A key turning point in the game early on for Clemson was a fake punt call. With 13:47 left in the second quarter Clemson punter Andy Teasdall took the snap, wasn't pressured heavy and found big six 6”2 268 lb defensive tackle Christian Wilkins for a 31 yard gain. Clemson then scored on that drive with a five yard Watson run and it showed that Clemson came to win this game no matter what. If that play goes the other way Oklahoma might of taken control of the game.
Clemson looks to add their second National Championship trophy for the school against the winner of the Michigan State, Alabama Cotton Bowl game. The number one team in the country has had an underdog mentality all year despite their top ranking, and no doubt they will head to Phoenix with that same “us against the world” mentality that's gotten them so far. Tigers Head Coach Dabo Sweeny will certainly have his players ready to play and looks to add another Championship to his resume, once as a player and now possibly as a coach.
Leading 17 to 16 at halftime the Clemson Tigers came out in the second half with a renewed sense of focus and proceeded to dominate the half with huge help from sophomore running back Wayne Gallman. Gallman epitomized this game, rushing for 39 yards in the first half but coming on at half and exploding to end his night with 156 yards and two touchdowns. Star sophomore quarterback Deshaun Watson added 145 yards on the ground himself as his Tigers racked up 312 yards in total. This momentum was felt throughout the rest of the team according to Watson.
“We just feed off each other. We motivate each other, and starting with the offensive line, Mac(OG Eric Mac Lain) can tell you, we get in the huddle and we tell each other let's go dominate. At halftime it was 0-0 and anything can happen in that second half. We just flip the script, went down and scored, and we kept the momentum on our side”
Clemson was simply the more physical team. They dominated the point of attack on defense holding Oklahoma to 67 yards on the ground and sacking Sooners quarterback Baker Mayfield five times. Bob Stoops and the Sooners averaged 235 yards on the ground heading into this contest and with injuries to Samaje Perine and Joe Mixon throughout the game hindered the attack but ultimately it was execution from Clemson that won out.
Early in the game it was the Baker Mayfield show. The junior signal caller led the Sooners on a 10 play 75 yard drive during their opening possession and put a stamp on the game early. Mayfield ended 26 for 41, 311 yards one touchdown and two interceptions but was being chased around the entire game by this Clemson defensive front. Even when Shaq Lawson was out with a knee injury the Tigers still congested the Sooners attack and Mayfield played a heck of a game in spite of the loss.
A key turning point in the game early on for Clemson was a fake punt call. With 13:47 left in the second quarter Clemson punter Andy Teasdall took the snap, wasn't pressured heavy and found big six 6”2 268 lb defensive tackle Christian Wilkins for a 31 yard gain. Clemson then scored on that drive with a five yard Watson run and it showed that Clemson came to win this game no matter what. If that play goes the other way Oklahoma might of taken control of the game.
Clemson looks to add their second National Championship trophy for the school against the winner of the Michigan State, Alabama Cotton Bowl game. The number one team in the country has had an underdog mentality all year despite their top ranking, and no doubt they will head to Phoenix with that same “us against the world” mentality that's gotten them so far. Tigers Head Coach Dabo Sweeny will certainly have his players ready to play and looks to add another Championship to his resume, once as a player and now possibly as a coach.
- Darrell Wilkinson TheSkyBoat.com
- Twitter; @DarrellW_Sports / @TheSkyBoat