The Morning After... Back-to-back

A short and sweet TMA today, as the final ranking for the CFB Playoff will be announced at noon ET. BENched will have a reaction piece and a look ahead to the Playoff and New Year's Six bowls.

This guy is the best player in the nation.
As Dabo Swinney said, "... And it ain't even close."
(Photo courtesy Associated Press)

1) Earlier Saturday, I texted a good buddy of mine and said I had trouble sleeping because I kept having the thought that Clemson would lose to Virginia Tech. His response was simple, "Take a deep breath and remember we have #4." How could I be so silly? Deshaun Watson (that'd be the #4 he was talking about) is the best player in football. Period. He proved it again Saturday night on another big stage, claiming the ACC Championship for the second straight year and becoming the first player ever to win consecutive ACC Championship Game MVPs. He did so with 288 passing yards, 85 rushing yards and five touchdowns (three pass, two rush). Clemson fans have had the pleasure of watching DW4 for the last three years and if we ever doubt our Tigers, we should all keep in mind that he's on our side.

2) "All we need is an opportunity. Once we get an opportunity, we're going to take full advantage of it. ... We're going to go for that natty." Clemson is rolling into the Playoff and Watson's quote tells me the Tigers have had their eyes on this prize all year long. Now that the opportunity is here - or we assume it is - the rest of the country should look out. Clemson is coming.

3) Clemson has now scored 35+ points in six straight games. The Tigers have scored 30 or more in 10  of their 13 games. ... Clemson has won a record 16 ACC Championships, breaking a previous tie with Florida State. ... The back-to-back titles are the first for Clemson in 28 years (CU won three in a row from 1986-88). ... The win was Clemson's 10th over a bowl eligible team this season - the most in the nation. The Tigers played a record 11 bowl eligible teams, going 10-1. ... The Tigers' 12-1 record is tied for the second most wins in school history. In 1981, the Tigers finished 12-0 to win the National Championship. Clemson went 14-1 in 2015, falling short in the title game.

*BENched will produce more stats in another post later this week.

4) My hat is off to Virginia Tech. The Hokies are a fun club to watch. Jerod Evans is a talented quarterback and he has some really good weapons around him. He has some things to work on, but the Hokies are scary with him back there. Bud Foster is one of the best defensive minds in the business. There wasn't much he was going to do to slow down the Tiger train, but Foster dialed up some things that confused the heck out of the Clemson offense and disrupted its rhythm. Justin Fuente has ignited a fire in Blacksburg that is going to rage on for a while. Expect a lot of Clemson-VT and FSU-VT matchups in the ACCFCG in the near future.

5) Oklahoma won Bedlam in impressive fashion, 38-20. The Cowboys scored to go ahead 17-10 with 1:42 to go before halftime. The Sooners marched down the field and scored in 1:10 to tie the game. OSU returned the ensuing kickoff near midfield. The Pokes ran one play and did not call their final timeout, instead opting to go into halftime tied. OU dominated the second half 21-3. When the game was within 11, Mike Gundy called for a run play on 3rd and long to set up a field goal to cut it to an eight-point deficit. OSU missed the field goal and Sooner running back Joe Mixon went 79 yards on the next play to ice the game. Oklahoma now leads the Bedlam series 86-18-7 and is likely headed to the Sugar Bowl to face off against Auburn. Oklahoma State is likely going to San Antonio for the Alamo Bowl against either Colorado or USC.

6) The only other conference championship game that was worth watching was the Big Ten, and even it looked like a blowout early. Wisconsin jumped all over Penn State, leading 28-7 late in the second quarter. If you read BENched, you knew this nugget: Penn State is a second half team. The Nittany Lions scored just before half to cut the lead to 28-14, then outscored the Badgers 24-3 in the second half. Penn State, a two-loss team, claimed the Big Ten Championship out of the East Division. That same division has Ohio State (which its only loss is to Penn State) and Michigan (which blew out PSU 49-10 way back in September). Are the Nittany Lions Rose Bowl bound or Playoff bound? Time will tell.

7) Washington crushed Colorado 41-10 Friday night to claim the Pac-12. The Huskies seem to be a lock for the Playoff at 12-1 with the conference title. But the Huskies are holding their breath, as their strength of schedule and many other metrics are not in their favor. ... Alabama throttled Florida 54-16 to win the SEC again and finish 13-0. Florida actually looked like it was going to be in the fight early, marching down the field and scoring to go up 7-0. Two interceptions - one a pick-six - and a blocked punt for a TD gave Bama a lead despite the Tide having minus-7 yards. They did not look back.

8) It's been a really fun year and I hope you've enjoyed delving into my brain each Sunday morning. BENched will have much more on the upcoming Heisman presentation, CFB Playoff, and other Clemson thoughts and reflections. Until then, enjoy your holiday season with friends and family. Go Tigers!