MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. -- Running back Samaje Perine quietly faced his own locker and gingerly packed his shoulder pads into his bag. Across the locker room, linebacker Dominique Alexander sat by himself and went through Snapchat messages. Quarterback Baker Mayfield, meanwhile, was nowhere to be found after taking a vicious hit following an interception on his final play of the game.
The Oklahoma locker room smacked of melancholy after Clemson silenced it Thursday with a resounding 37-17 victory in the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Capital One Orange Bowl.