The #1 Clemson Tigers have been underestimated all year long on their road to an undefeated regular season, and it continued when the Tigers were listed as underdogs against the #4 Oklahoma Sooners in the Orange Bowl.
Underestimate them no more.
The Tigers (14-0) put together the worst offensive first quarter of their 2015 campaign in Saturday's College Football Semifinal game, but they turned on the jets afterwards to streak past the Sooners 37-17 and secure a berth in this year's National Championship Game in Glendale, Arizona on January 11th.
Clemson has a chance to win its second national title and its first since finishing off an undefeated season in the 1982 Orange Bowl. They beat their fifth ten-win team of the season in this one.
After gaining just 50 yards altogether in the first 15 minutes, the Tigers offense hammered the Sooners from all angles -- finishing with 532 yards of total offense keyed by 100-yard rushing games for both RB Wayne Gallman (149 yards, 2 touchdowns) and QB Deshaun Watson (145 yards, 1 TD). Watson didn't have his best passing day, but it didn't matter as Clemson racked up 314 on the ground against a stunned Sooners run defense.
Oklahoma (11-2) was snake-bitten all game long, as both RB Samaje Perine and QB Baker Mayfield suffered injuries at varying points of the game. Perine was largely ineffective, gaining just 58 yards despite picking up a score. Mayfield threw for 311 yards and a touchdown, but threw two costly interceptions which stopped the Sooners momentum dead. Clemson is the first team with multiple interceptions of Mayfield since the Sooners played Tennessee in mid-September.
After heading into the half down 17-16 following a back-and-forth first quarter, Clemson outscored Oklahoma 21-0 in the second half. Baker Mayfield was harrassed all half long as Clemson's defense mixed aggression and lockdown secondary work to put themselves on the brink of a national title.
The Tigers have won 14 games for the first time in program history and will face the winner of Thursday's Cotton Bowl matchup between the #2 Alabama Crimson Tide and #3 Michigan State Spartans. They have a chance to go 15-0 -- a first in college football history. Oklahoma heads into the offseason disappointed after a late-season charge into the College Football Playoff ends with a semifinal loss.
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