Written by Darrell Wilkinson
Miami Gardens, FL - What a game so far! A rematch of last years Russell Athletic Bowl which saw Clemson Bludgeon Oklahoma 40 - 6, Oklahoma leads 17 - 16 heading into halftime. A much more competitive affair, the two young star quarterbacks Deshaun Watson and Baker Mayfield have sparked plenty of energy into this game.
Oklahoma took the lead late in the half after a 42 yard bomb from Mayfield to Dede Westbrook set the Sooners up in the red zone down by six. Westbrook made an amazing adjustment on the pass and what a catch. That play set up an 11 yard touchdown pass to Mark Andrews, who on that play broke an Oklahoma freshman record for touchdown passes on the season(7).
Prior to that drive Clemson was starting to take control of the game and was on a 16 - 0 scoring run until the final Oklahoma touchdown. Deshaun Watson, despite struggling through the air has dominated on the ground 15 carries 119 yards and a touchdown including a huge 46 yard run with his team backed up on their own four yard line. Clemson has racked up 305 yards of offense in the half while Oklahoma has 257.
At the helm of the Oklahoma offense Baker Mayfield has had a commanding day, 17 for 23 for 226 yards and a touchdown but has had pressure on him all day from this Clemson front four. Mayfield gets a little relief with Clemson defensive end Shaq Lawson sidelined at the moment with an undisclosed injury and yet the Tigers still have 3 sacks so far.
Defense will make the difference in this game. It’s going to be about which team can step it up and create a turnover. These two offenses don’t look like they can be slowed down so in order to win one team is going to have to take the ball away. Looking forward to a great conclusion to this Capital One Orange Bowl.
Oklahoma took the lead late in the half after a 42 yard bomb from Mayfield to Dede Westbrook set the Sooners up in the red zone down by six. Westbrook made an amazing adjustment on the pass and what a catch. That play set up an 11 yard touchdown pass to Mark Andrews, who on that play broke an Oklahoma freshman record for touchdown passes on the season(7).
Prior to that drive Clemson was starting to take control of the game and was on a 16 - 0 scoring run until the final Oklahoma touchdown. Deshaun Watson, despite struggling through the air has dominated on the ground 15 carries 119 yards and a touchdown including a huge 46 yard run with his team backed up on their own four yard line. Clemson has racked up 305 yards of offense in the half while Oklahoma has 257.
At the helm of the Oklahoma offense Baker Mayfield has had a commanding day, 17 for 23 for 226 yards and a touchdown but has had pressure on him all day from this Clemson front four. Mayfield gets a little relief with Clemson defensive end Shaq Lawson sidelined at the moment with an undisclosed injury and yet the Tigers still have 3 sacks so far.
Defense will make the difference in this game. It’s going to be about which team can step it up and create a turnover. These two offenses don’t look like they can be slowed down so in order to win one team is going to have to take the ball away. Looking forward to a great conclusion to this Capital One Orange Bowl.
- Darrell Wilkinson TheSkyBoat.com
- Twitter @DarrellW_Sports / Also follow @TheSkyBoat for more!