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!

The Morning (er, Afternoon) After... Another Division Championship!

This TMA will be short-lived. Most Clemson fans have one thought on their minds right now: Beat South Carolina. Also, I don't want to go into too many specifics on things I liked or didn't like from the win at Wake Forest. There was a lot to like: running game/offensive line play, jumping out to 28-0 lead, red zone scoring, defense holding Wake under 200 yards, etc. And a few things not to like: minus-one turnover margin, missing two fourth down plays to stall drives, etc.

But today's TMA will focus on what color commentator Brock Huard said last night. Clemson fans, don't take this time in our history for granted. With that, let's look at all the accomplishments of this team.

(Photo courtesy Clemson Athletics)

1) The Tigers clinched their second straight ACC Atlantic Division Championship with a 35-13 win at Wake Forest. The back-to-back division titles are a first for the program. Clemson has at least shared a division championship five of the last eight years, all under Dabo Swinney. The Tigers will play either Virginia Tech or North Carolina on Dec. 3 in Orlando for the ACC Championship.

1B) Sixth straight 10-win season, tied only with Alabama for the longest current streak in the nation. Clemson is assured at least three more games and could potentially win 13-plus games in back-to-back seasons for the first time ever.

2) Senior class tied last year's senior class with 45 wins. With three games to go, it feels like this class will break the record and set the bar even higher, as last year's class did.

3) Back-to-back 5-0 records on the road. Clemson went 5-0 last season and capped the road games with another 5-0 record this year. The 10-straight wins in true road games is second to Alabama and Oklahoma (tied, 11).

4) Clemson has outscored opponents on the road in the first quarter 70-3. Clemson led 21-0 after one frame against Wake.

5) The Tigers have recorded a sack in 41 straight games.

6) Wayne Gallman went over 3,000 yards for his career on his 42-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. He's just the sixth running back in Clemson history to accomplish that feat. Gallman's 161 yards was his 16th game with over 100 yards as a Tiger. That broke the school record held previously by Raymond Priester since 1997.

7) Mike Williams went over 1,000 receiving yards for the season, matching Clemson greats Rod Gardner and Sammy Watkins as the only three receivers in school history to multiple seasons with 1,000 receiving yards.

8) Deshaun Watson is now 28-3 as Clemson's starting quarterback. His accomplishments are many, as outlined before, but his running the football opened up Clemson's offense Saturday night.

9) Two years ago, Clemson was staring down a five-game losing streak to in-state rival South Carolina, the first time in series history. On a torn ACL, little-known freshman quarterback Deshaun Watson led the Tigers to a 35-17 victory. Neither program has been the same since. South Carolina defeated Miami in the Independence Bowl to close that season at 7-6, then went 3-9 including a loss to The Citadel in 2015. The Gamecocks bounced back this year and are currently bowl eligible at 6-5. Clemson beat Oklahoma in the Russell Athletic Bowl to finish 10-3. The Tigers then went 14-0 en route to a National Championship appearance in the 2016 College Football Playoff before falling to Alabama by five points. Clemson is 10-1 and currently in the Top 4 of all the polls once again.

None of that matters when it comes to Saturday, Nov. 26 in Death Valley, Clemson, S.C. I want to beat them bad. 63-17 bad. Or worse. Dabo, don't call off the dogs in this one. Attack, attack, attack. Attack some more until the chickens are begging for mercy. Beat South Carolina.

10) Such a big game, it deserves two spots here. Beat South Carolina.

The Morning After... A Championship!

1) Man, what a time to be a Tiger! Clemson completed an undefeated season 13-0, winning 13 games for the first time in school history. Dabo Swinney won the ACC Championship for the second time in five years (2011) and the win came during his 100th game as a Clemson head coach. He has a 74-26 record. The Tigers will head to the Playoff as the No. 1 team in the nation and the ONLY undefeated team in college football. Clemson has a Heisman hopeful, a young and extremely talented team, a top 10 defense, wins over four teams with 10 wins or more - three of which are in the latest Top 10 of the Playoff Rankings - and another top 10-15 recruiting class on the horizon. Clemson is making history right before our eyes. What a time to be a Tiger, indeed.

2) I'll get right to the controversial call and nip it in the bud. I've seen all kinds of explanations as to why the referee called offsides. "The players head was crossing the 35-yard-line when the ball was kicked." "They lined up a player outside the 9-yard-hash mark when the whistle was blown to put the ball in play." Look, I don't know all the rules regarding kickoffs. All I know is the call on the field happened and Clemson was the beneficiary of it. The flag came out immediately, not after UNC recovered the ball. The ref either saw, or thought he saw something. Was it wrong? Probably. Does it mean the Tar Heels would have gone down the field, scored, converted a two-point conversion, taken the game to overtime and won? I don't know.

What I do know is this...

3) Clemson had 608 yards of offense, UNC had 382. Clemson ran 98 plays, UNC ran 67. First downs: Clem-33, UNC-21. Time of possession: Clem-38:56, UNC 21:04. Third down conversions: Clem-9 of 18 (50%), UNC-5 of 14 (37%). Rushing yards: Clem-319, UNC 142. Clemson had two 100-yard rushers, UNC had zero (leading rusher Elijah Hood 81 yards). Clemson had two sacks and eight QB hurries, UNC had zero sacks and one QB hurry.

My point is, Clemson dominated the game. The scoreboard reflects an 8-point win, but the Tigers were the better team on the field. They had the better quarterback, running back, offensive line, defensive line, wide receivers ... When Clemson stopped making stupid mistakes and stopped beating itself in the second half, it pulled away. Clemson led 35-16, 42-23, and 45-30 until the final two-minutes of the game. (More on this in a moment). Over the course of a season, teams get lucky bounces and breaks, or unlucky in some cases. It doesn't change an outcome. Clemson has been on the wrong side of these calls plenty of times in the past. It's about damn time some of them go our way.

Terrible call in ACC champ game on the onside kick, but my sympathy only goes so far for a team that allowed 600 yards.

— Ralph D. Russo (@ralphDrussoAP) December 6, 2015

4) Time and time again, Clemson has built a big lead and let it slip away late. Remember being up 21-3 on Notre Dame entering the fourth quarter, only to win 24-22? Remember a 31-17 lead at Syracuse entering the fourth, only to have the game in single digits and win by 10? Remember the 28-10 lead evaporated against South Carolina down to 28-25, up by 37-25, to a final of 37-32...against a three-win team? Other cases at Louisville and NC State come to mind. And then last night.

The takeaway: Yes, Clemson has given up big leads late, but the Tigers have found ways to win.

Deshaun Watson does the "Heisman pose" with the ACC Championship Football Trophy.
Watson was named the championship game's MVP.
(Photo courtesy Anderson Independent Mail)

5) What else can you say about Deshaun Watson? The sophomore - I REPEAT, HE'S A SOPHOMORE! - is the best quarterback in the country. In a championship setting against a defense all the pundits said would give the Tigers fits, Watson accounted for five touchdowns (three passing, two rushing), threw for 289 yards, ran for another 131, led the offense to 608 yards - a ninth straight game of over 500 yards. He set an ACC Championship Game record for total yards. He has been in control of this offense since Day 1 and there is no one else I'd want leading my team.

Yards/touch this season: McCaffrey: 8.56 Cook: 8.05 Watson: 7.64 Henry: 5.97 (Watson = 7.92 w/o sacks)

— David Hale (@DavidHaleESPN) December 6, 2015

6) Speaking of the Heisman, it looks like it will be Watson, Alabama's Derrick Henry, Stanford's Christian McCaffrey, and maybe Oklahoma's Baker Mayfield. The thing that hurt Mayfield (and the Sooners in the Playoff Committee's minds for that matter) was OU didn't play Saturday. Watson, Henry and McCaffrey were on full display Saturday and all three made a statement to the voters. McCaffrey had over 460 all-purpose yards and ran, passed and caught a TD in the Cardinal's 41-22 Pac-12 title game win. Henry was a workhorse for Bama, getting 44 carries, but only gaining 189 yards and scoring one TD, as the Tide rolled Florida 29-15. Any of the four could win the Heisman and there'd be little controversy, but my vote goes to ... Watson, duh!

vs Florida this year... Henry: 44-189-1 Fournette: 31-180-2 Cook: 26-183-2

— David Hale (@DavidHaleESPN) December 6, 2015

7) Alabama relied on Henry to wear down Florida, as he has done with many other opponents all season. However, Alabama has yet to play a complete team on its schedule, perhaps outside of Ole Miss ... which the Tide lost. Alabama is SEC Champions, but this is a really down year for the SEC. Clemson has three wins over teams currently in the Playoff Top 10. Alabama has three wins over teams in the current Top 25 total. Oklahoma has four Top 25 wins. Michigan State has four. I question the Committee keeping Bama second. I'll hang up and listen.

8) Michigan State now has three last-minute wins over Top 20 opponents, plus a three-point win over Oregon. The Spartans deserve to be in the Top 4, that much is true. But, there is no way you can tell me MSU should be any higher than fourth.

9) On that note, here's how I would rank the Top 4 today - 1) Clemson 2) Oklahoma 3) Alabama 4) Michigan State. I'm guessing it won't look like this. Bama will likely be second and because of some bogus "we don't want Alabama to play in the Cotton Bowl against OU" conspiracy, I'm guessing Michigan State will be third and they'll send OU to Miami against Clemson. Those who don't know - my wife is an OU grad. We've already been through this a season ago when the Tigers and Sooners squared off in the Russell Athletic Bowl. It's no fun.

10) 13-0. ACC Champs. Undisputed No. 1 in the country. 16 straight wins. Playoff Bound. CU in Miami!

Current Mood: 🏆💍 🐅 What a time to be a Tiger! 🐾 pic.twitter.com/ARezdNziAN

— Clemson Football (@ClemsonFB) December 6, 2015

-BtW