Clemson Tigers Shut Down Sooners Offense In Dominating Second Half

Deshaun Watson turned in another stellar two-way performance, running for one touchdown, passing for another and accounting for 332 yards to lead top-ranked Clemson to a 37-17 victory over Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl national semifinal game Thursday night. The Tigers spilled onto the field in celebration when time expired, and coach Dabo Swinney raved about his team after quarterback Deshaun Watson threw the ball skyward in celebration.

Saban said his team came into this playoff with a different attitude.

He finished behind Alabama’s Derrick Henry, Stanford’s Christian McCaffrey and Watson.

However, the Tigers lost defensive end Shaq Lawson, a finalist for the Lombardi and Nagurski awards, who sustained a left knee injury in the first half and did not return.

“We’re closer than we’ve ever been to a special magic year”, Swinney said the week before the Tigers’ season-opening game against Wofford last September. “We really understand that it all starts in the trenches, no matter who we’re playing, no matter where we’re playing”. “I shouldn’t be surprised, because we’ve continued to answer the bell all year, next man up mentality”.

At 4:28 p.m., five chartered buses rolled up behind the WestZone, led by Highway Patrol cruisers, blue lights flashing.

A team once known for such inexplicable stumbles that a derisive term was coined for it — Clemsoning — blew out the No. 4 Sooners over the final two quarters after trailing 17-16 at halftime.

The only drawback is that the title will be decided in the desert, 1,981 (ironic, huh?) miles from Clemson and 1,661 miles from Tuscaloosa, Alabama. “Final Four… everybody earned their way”, Dabo said. He was diagnosed with a sprained medial collateral ligament. “I’m going to be back”.

The Tide looked like a team with no weaknesses against overmatched Michigan State (12-2).

Jake Coker was almost ideal for the Tide (13-1). Freshman Calvin Ridley was brilliant, streaking by defenders on deep throws and outfighting them on jump balls.

Strangely, Sports Twitter is still abuzz with “Clemson sheds the Clemsoning” label which is the most idiotic thing we’ve heard in a long time. The biggest loss was Cain, who was second on the team in receiving yards (582) and touchdown catches (five). The big tailback was just a role player against a Spartans defense stacked to stop the run.

Clemson will be going for its first national title since 1981, having shown that it can deal with injuries and any distraction that might come its way.

Defensive end Kevin Dodd said Mayfield began to tire of the abuse he was taking from Clemson’s defense. “They were calling it like a sprained MCL, I think is what they were saying, but he just couldn’t quite push off on it like he needed to, so I don’t know”.

There were mistakes, but they merely became opportunities for him to remind you of his resilience. “My main goal was to try to get up there and get it but by the time I got there, the hole was closing and there was too many people there”.

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