The Morning After...The Orange Bowl!

Dabo Swinney celebrates his second Orange Bowl victory.
(Photo courtesy The Miami Herald)

1) It's been written and said all season long: What a time to be a Tiger! The Paw is headed to the National Championship game for the first time in 34 years. Clemson's first and only national title came during the 1981 season - 1982 Orange Bowl - and the Tigers haven't really sniffed it since. Until now. I'm 29 years old, so this is a first in my lifetime. What a time to be alive and what a time to be a Tiger, indeed!

2) The Fake - This play should go down in Clemson lore alongside "The Catch" and "The Catch II." Simply put, it was a brilliant call and it sparked the team when it needed a spark most. Dabo Swinney was lambasted by media outlets for his lashing of punter Andy Teasdall's admittedly stupid decision to call his own number on fake punt int he ACC Championship Game. It failed miserably and Swinney let him have it with all the cameras focused on the tirade. So what else would Swinney call but a fake punt when trailing 7-3 and the offense sputtering early on. 

3) It wasn't until the second half, though, that Clemson pulled away from the Sooners. The Tigers dominated in the trenches, opening up a running attack that saw them set a school bowl record with 312 rushing yards. On the defensive side, Clemson harrassed Baker Mayfield all night and knocked out Samaje Perine and Joe Mixon, OU's talented running back tandem. The Sooners gained 67 yards on the ground. The Tigers averaged 5.4 yards per rush with Wayne Gallman totaling 150 yards and Deshaun Watson posting 145.

4) Quick notes, courtesy of Clemson's SID: Clemson went 14-0 in 2015, just the eighth team in FBS history to win 14 games and the first time ever Clemson has won 14 games in a season ... Gained 530 yards, its 10th straight game of 500-plus yards, half the games coming against Top 40 defenses ... Watson is 18-1 as a starter, 17-0 when he starts and finishes a game healthy ... Swinney is 9-4 against Top 10 teams and is also 9-4 in NFL stadiums ... Gallman's 1,482 rushing yards set a single-season record ... Watson became the first Tiger and only third player in FBS history with 3,500 yards passing and 1,000 rushing. He can become the first player ever with 4,000 and 1,000 if he passes for 301 yards against Alabama.

5) Alabama did Alabama things to Michigan State in a 38-0 rout of the Spartans. While Heisman winner Derrick Henry was limited to 75 yards on 20 carries, it was Jake Coker who showed the Crimson Tide can sling the ball a little bit, too. Coker was 25-30 (83.3%) for 286 yards and two touchdowns in the win. When Michigan State bottled up Alabama's vaunted running game, the Tide went to the air. On the flip side, Alabama asserted it's defensive dominance, holding the Spartans to 29 total yards rushing. 

6) I was very outspoken about the Clemson-OU and Bama-MSU matchups being wrong, and I feel that was justified on New Year's Eve. Michigan State was clearly the worst of the four teams. They hadn't looked dominant in any of their wins over their best opponents and they failed to get anything going last night. Oklahoma was leading No. 1 Clemson at halftime and had more impressive wins over three better opponents that the Spartans. It's a shame the committee can jump a team from fifth to third (MSU) and drop a team from third to fourth (OU) just because it feels like it. I would've loved to have seen two contrasting styles in the semifinal games and see which would prevail.

7) Regardless, we get the matchup most everybody wants to see - Clemson vs. Alabama. No. 1 vs. No. 2. SEC's best vs. ACC's best. College football's blue blood against college football's new blood. The storylines will write themselves: Dabo Swinney, a former walk-on wide receiver at Bama against his alma mater; Clemson's tempo offense against Alabama's physical and fast defense; Two Heisman finalists pitted against each other ... the list goes on. I have my own story, which I will blog about later on. I hope you will enjoy it.

8) It was a great season for the Oklahoma Sooners and they should be proud of what they accomplished after an 8-5 season a year ago. Aside from what appears to be a fluke loss to Texas, OU ran roughshod over the Big 12, winning the conference crown and becoming the first Big 12 team to make the College Football Playoff. Bob Stoops resurrected a team that was left for dead following last season and after the loss to the Horns in October. Several key players will move on, either graduating or electing to go to the NFL, but it's Oklahoma. The Sooners will reload and have a solid core coming back next year. I hate to say it, because for my family's sake I hate when Clemson and Oklahoma play each other, but the Sooners and Tigers could be in this Playoff thing again next year.

9) Not to be left out, congrats to Houston for the huge Peach Bowl win yesterday against Florida State. The Cougs gave the Group of 5 its second win in as many years in a New Year's Six Bowl (Boise State beat Arizona in the Fiesta Bowl last year). Tom Herman has the Houston train rolling and it could be headed to a Power 5 conference in the near future.

10) Nothing else to be said here. Beat Alabama.

-BtW