Football

CLEMSON BEATS BUCKEYES IN FIESTA BOWL AGAIN, WINS 29TH STRAIGHT GAME AND ADVANCES TO FOURTH NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP IN FIVE YEARS!

2019-12-29 16:16:12
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By Trevor Groves

GLENDALE, AZ - Well, that was one for the ages. I said to someone on the way down to the field at the end of the 4th quarter that it felt like Tampa in 2016, and it really was a similar feeling. When I got to the field from the press box, the Tigers had the ball with 94 yards to go, 3 minutes left and down 2 points. I felt pretty confident that Trevor would at least get them in field goal range for the win, but instead, they went right down the field and scored on Etienne's 3rd touchdown of the game! Higgins made his best play of the game with a 2-point conversion catch after missing most of the first half with a head injury. I said to someone that they might have scored with too much time left, nearly 2 minutes, but I still felt confident that the defense would somehow, some way, keep Ohio State out of the end zone. Just like they did against UNC and so many other times before. Sure enough, Nolan Turner comes up with an INT in the end zone to seal the game! What a great moment of redemption for the guy after having probably the worst game in his career! He missed a big open-field tackle on 3rd down and also was burnt on the 4th and one touchdown pass. His dad was in Heaven smiling at the end, though! You can't spell NOLAN without NOLA, and the Tigers will be heading there in a couple weeks for a shot at history and their 3rd national title in 4 years!

The Tigers got off to a rocky start--very similar to their only close game of the season in Chapel Hill--but this one felt even worse. Tee Higgins made a big catch on the second play of the game, but a few plays later he left the game after losing his helmet and taking a blow to the head. Higgins was probably the hottest receiver in the nation coming into the game, posting 8 touchdowns in the last 3 games, and his absence was a big part of the Tigers' struggles through the first 20 minutes of the game. Higgins would return in the second half, but you could tell he wasn't himself, and he dropped a couple balls that he would normally catch. However, with a 16-0 score--their largest deficit of the season--Trevor Lawrence put the team on his back. After taking a blow to the head and shoulder that resulted in an enormous targeting call, instead of a punt on 4th down, the Tigers were able to score their first touchdown thanks to an incredible touchdown run by Etienne after a toss sweep, again on 3rd down. Etienne would not be denied, and it really swung momentum in the stadium that had completely belonged to the lopsided Buckeye crowd previously.

Trevor would add to that momentum in a big way on the very next possession after a 3-and-out by the defense. He juked two Ohio State defenders and outran the rest on his way to a 67-yard touchdown run, the longest run of his career. That made the score 16-14, and momentum was firmly with the Tigers and the sea of orange in the stands.

As I expected, Brent Venables and the defense were tested like they haven't been all season. Dobbins broke a couple of huge runs, and Fields played like a Heisman Finalist despite his knee injury. Though they gave up a lot of yards, the defense was outstanding in the red zone. It was very similar to the National Championship against Alabama last season in terms of getting big stops in the red zone. And don't overlook that touchdown-saving tackle by Tanner Muse on the long run by Dobbins! That saved the Tigers 4 points, so if not for that, the Buckeyes would have had an easy field goal attempt to win the game. The old safety came out in All-American Isaiah Simmons. The Butkus Award winner showed why he's the most versatile player in the nation on a fantastic interception in the second half, coming out of nowhere for the pick. Heisman Finalist Justin Fields threw just one interception all season, but the Tigers came up with two of them on Saturday night, giving them 19 on the season. They were No.4 nationally in interceptions coming into the game and No.5 in turnover margin at +14, now +16.

Sir Lawrence rushed for over 100 yards for the first time in his career and demonstrated that he has moves in the open field combined with breakaway speed. I've been talking about that all season, but the rest of the nation knows it now. Ironically, Etienne made his bones in the passing games with over 100 yards receiving and scored 3 of the Tigers' 4 touchdowns. The Tigers surely missed Higgins offensively, and Ross also hurt his shoulder at one point, but they found a way to win like they invariably do. They fittingly scored 29 points in their 29th straight win, which is the longest win streak since FSU won 30 with Jameis Winston from 2013-14.

The Tigers will go for history now with a chance for back-to-back 15-0 seasons after no team had done it since the 1800's. They have a chance to join Notre Dame and Alabama as the only programs to win 3 national titles in 4 years. Of course, the road will be as difficult as possible for them, just like last year, as they will have to play a red-hot 14-0 LSU team in a virtual road game in New Orleans. The Tigers have now won 43 straight Saturday games and are 22-0 against undefeated teams since 2015. They are a remarkable 100-2 when entering the 4th quarter with a lead. What a way to finish the greatest decade in 124 years of Clemson Football!

The post-game press conference with Dabo and MVP's Trevor Lawrence and Chad Smith is below, as well as notes, quotes and highlights!

DABO:

Well, that had to be a great game to watch. I'll tell you, unbelievable performance. What a night. What a journey for our team. What a way to end a great decade tonight. Unbelievable decade that we just finished up. And just really proud of our guys. Proud of these seniors. Got their 55th win tonight. That ties a college football record. The resiliency, the will to win, the heart, the character, just special. Just really proud. I wrote two things down on my call sheet this morning. I wrote down "quarterback run" and "running back pass." And as it turns out, Trevor [Lawrence] had 107 yards rushing. Travis Etienne had three catches for 98 yards and two touchdowns receiving. It is just amazing how it all kind of came together, like I hoped it would. But I'm just going to tell you what a great football team Ohio State is. They had a great start. We did not start off very well at all. We did not take care of the things that Clemson should handle. Twelve men on the field, dropped ball. Had a pick six that we dropped, missed a field goal. Just gave up two big plays off of base routines where we just didn't play our job at the end. So it was pretty frustrating, but I thought our defense played great. I think that was a real key in the game, they were able to hold them, miss a bunch of field goals. That gave us a chance to find some rhythm offensively. But just a heck of a game. Winning the turnover margin was big. Chad Smith, fifth-year senior, had 12 tackles. DK [Derion Kendrick] had a huge game and [Baylon] Spector, two sacks. Also, Will Spiers was amazing. That was one of the things I told the team last night, a punt is one of the best offensive plays you can have in a game like this. I think he [Will Spiers] had seven punts for 44 yards, five inside the 23 of 50-plus to give us some field-position opportunity. Just really proud of our team, especially the 94-yard drive to win it. Defense getting the stop to set it up and then Nolan Turner finishing it. He gave up the big fourth-down touchdown. And for him to come back and make the game winner was awesome. Unbelievable night. Just appreciate the Fiesta Bowl for a great week. We've had an awesome week here. Just great hospitality and our players have really enjoyed it. And also want to thank our fans. I think we're probably outnumbered three to one here tonight, but our fans were great. They hung in there with us and did not give up on us. More importantly, our team and staff hung in there. Just really appreciate the opportunity to be here. We're going to celebrate this one, and then give these guys a couple of days off. Then we're going to get focused on trying to find a way to win one more. It's going to be a heck of a task, but we're thankful that we got the opportunity. Just so proud of our team for their heart and their fight tonight to win the game. Again, congratulations to Ohio State on an unbelievable season. Their quarterback, that defense, their running back – is special. It was a back-and-forth game. A tough one for either team to lose, but in the end, these guys found a way to get it done.

Q. Dabo, it was like a heavyweight fight tonight. Felt like punch after punch, each team having to take out the adversity and move on from it. What did you guys take from earlier in the season to face this adversity today and win this game? COACH

SWINNEY: It is just the DNA. It is our program. It's not just this season. That's just how we're built. One of the things I told them at the half, I thought we took their best punch. I don't think we could have played worse, but we took their best punch, and it was 16-14. My message to them at the halftime was: We have to find a way to get the lead in the third quarter, because when we take a lead in the fourth quarter, we finish. I think we're now 102 when we take a lead in the fourth quarter, 102. So that's not just this year. That's just who we are. It is just what we do. We finish. That's the mindset and the DNA of our program. So that's everything – your off-season, spring practice and how you meet. That's your camp. It is how you practice every week, all of that stuff. It is your staff, the leadership and the development of leadership on your team. It is culture. That's what it is. It was awesome to see.

Q. Dabo, when you walked into the offensive huddle before that "go ahead and drive," what you did tell the team? What was your message in that moment?

COACH SWINNEY: Well, I just said, “Let's go win it, man.” Trevor [Lawrence] kind of took over the huddle, to be quite honest with you. He called the guys up, and he just said, "Hey, man, I love all of you guys. Let's go win this thing." It was just a real poise. There was never one second that I did not think we were not going to win the game. That's the honest answer. Trevor and I talked about it on the sideline, "Man, is this fun or what? I'm not real sure how we're going to win this thing, but we're going to win the game and it is going to be an epic thing." I actually went over and met with him right before the last drive there, and we talked about two or three things that I felt like we had set up. And one of them was the play to Travis [Etienne]. We had run a little quarterback counter a couple of times there. So it was set up. Don't have to have great protection. It is a really hard run fake. He really executed it beautifully and Travis found a way to get through the trash and took it to the distance. Just a huge -- I thought we might have scored a little too quick, but it was kind of like, Maybe he was down at the one, but then it's up to your defense to go win the game.

They're a good front, good back, well-coached, and just outnumber you all the time. The quarterback run is a little bit of an equalizer. We needed to keep them honest enough to where we could get some stuff in the play-action game, and biggest play of the game came off the quarterback run that we had set up the whole game.

Q. The play that they ended up calling targeting, third and five, second quarter, you got leveled. You were on the ground for a little while before you popped up, and you guys finished that drive, and then you scored the next drive. Can you take me back to that moment when you were on the ground? Like, what were you thinking about and what were you envisioning going forward?

TREVOR LAWRENCE: Yeah, I just got a bad stinger, so it kind of scared me a little bit. I hadn't gotten one in a while and couldn't really move my arm for a second. That's why I laid there. Then just got kind of mad and popped up. I didn't know it was targeting, either. I thought it was -- I don't know if it was a three and out. We would have had to punt. So, I was kind of pissed off. We're off the field and I see it is targeting, then had to sit out one play, and just came back. We knew we had to score there. The game was getting a little out of hand. Just had to put a drive together, and we can take anything we can get. That targeting call was huge. Being able to finish that drive and score and then the next drive put it in again really gave us some momentum going into halftime.

Q. For Chad, Coach [Dabo Swinney] stole my thunder a little bit. For you being a guy that really had to grind and wait patiently for your opportunity playing special teams, and taking your opportunities coming off the bench and on defense, getting your chance finally to start all season, how special is it to be the MVP of this game and to have a chance to go out and finish your Clemson career with back-to-back national titles?

CHAD SMITH: It is pretty unbelievable. Kind of got to pinch myself. Just being here five years, early enrolled. Just maximizing my opportunities at my time here at Clemson. The thought of transferring never really hit my mind at all. I love it here. Coach Swinney is a hell of a leader, great guy. Being able to be around these players, my teammates, it's special here at Clemson. To be able to have a night like this tonight, it is pretty surreal. Credit to the other ten guys, the coaching staff, the offense, special teams. I mean, I may have gotten an individual award, but it really was a team award. I wouldn't have been able to make those plays without my teammates.

Q. Trevor, can you just kind of walk us through how the long run unfolded, and also what Coach [Dabo Swinney] was saying about how you've developed your identity as a runner and gotten more confidence in your legs? What's that process been like the last year or two?

TREVOR LAWRENCE: Just obviously took some work in the off-season getting bigger, stronger, faster, all of those things. Just getting better at running the ball, staying in the lanes and being patient. I just wanted to do whatever I can to help us win, and me running the ball this season has been important in some games to help us win. Kind of had that play -- or those couple of plays in our back pocket that we didn't use for a while. Then we got the opportunity. It was wide open and just credit to the guys up front just being patient, making those lanes for me, and then just making plays.

Q. Coach, you mentioned this decade at Clemson. I think in 2010, you were 6-7. In 2011, you beat West Virginia in the Orange Bowl. If you went back to 2010 or 2011 and told yourself this is the kind of success you guys would have had, and you would be here tonight possibly playing for your second national title in a row, what are your thoughts like? Is this something you ever dreamed of?

COACH SWINNEY: Absolutely. I mean, I said in 2010, after a six-win season, we're fixing to have the winningest decade in Clemson history. I dream big. Actually, we're a little short. I dreamed a little bit bigger. We missed a couple, but we've had a great run. It's been an unbelievable decade. What we've done on the field and off the field, it gets lost a lot of times what we've done academically. We've been top ten 9 out of 11 years, 8 out of the last 9 years: Us, Duke and Northwestern. So these are a bunch of graduates and great young men who have come through our program. We've stayed committed to the purpose of our program. And it's been a great decade. But as I told them, we've got a windshield mentality in our program. That's why we're consistent. It is always about what's next. Our dreams are always greater than our memories and that's just the way it is. So we're just getting started. The best is yet to come.

Q. Trevor, what kind of ran through your mind when Coach [Dabo Swinney] called the play that ended with the go-ahead touchdown? And take us through what were you seeing as that play developed.

TREVOR LAWRENCE: Honestly, I wasn't a big fan of the play in practice, because it's tough if the defense doesn't really bite on it and that safety comes down hard. It takes it away. I was a little bit -- I felt like it was good because of how well we set it up throughout the game and thought it was going to work then. Throughout the week, I was like I don't really like this play. In the moment, we had a chance.

COACH SWINNEY: Is that why you threw it in the dirt two or three times? I made him reload it, like, three times.

TREVOR LAWRENCE: It's tough. You've got guys off the edge coming. O-line did a really good job holding them off. It is a weird play for them. It is a run pass-type blocking. For them to hold off long enough and for Travis [Etienne] to find his own and sit down. Like said, I threw it to him, but after that, his running for the catch was unbelievable.

Q. Dabo, Nolan Turner sealed the deal for you guys with that interception at the end of the game. Can you talk about the special relationship you have and how special it was for you, as well as for him to seal the deal for you guys in this one?

COACH SWINNEY: So proud of him, man. I love him like a son, and obviously great friends and teammates with his dad. Actually worked with his dad for the two years I was out of coaching in '01 and '02. His dad was actually a GA (graduate assistant) for me a little bit while I was the interim. So obviously deep relationship and just an unbelievable story. And to see him grow and develop and just to see his -- Listen, you go out there and it is fourth and two, and you give up a play like that. He was a little too far outside, no post help. [Justin] Fields made a great play. He was very disappointed in himself and felt like he let the team down. Unfortunately, they were going to score. That's one thing I told him: You gotta keep your head up. You're going to make a winning interception and just have to go to the next play. So it was just pretty amazing to watch it all play out. He's been a really good player for us and had a big interception in the Notre Dame last year in the Cotton Bowl. I don't even know if he was a one-star recruit, but he's really, really good. He's a really good player and was going against elite guys out there tonight. That was a huge play. Just happy to see him be able to have that moment and I know his dad is up in heaven smiling down on him. No doubt in my mind. Just really cool.

Q. Coach, Tee [Higgins] was probably the hottest wide receiver in the country coming into the game. Eight touchdowns in the last three games. Just how difficult was it to run the offense without him in the first half? And can you elaborate on the status of his injury?

COACH SWINNEY: Yeah, I didn't even know what happened. They just said he was out, said they were going to take him in to x-ray or something. I really don't know. I just was so into the game, we just put the next guy in, [Diondre] Overton and [Joseph] Ngata. How about that play Ngata had? What an incredible catch on the slant. That was a terrible throw. He caught it like on the ground. It was unbelievable. Took a shot. We just -- we just were kind of -- Jeff [Scott] and I were trying to shuffle everybody. We had [Justyn] Ross moving. We had Overton in different spots. It kind of flustered us a little bit as far as getting everybody in the right spots. But we just kept playing. I didn't know what was wrong with him. They just said that they were taking him into the locker room and when I got in there, he said he felt like he was going to be able to go. That was really it, but it was good to get him back. Had a couple of nice ball possession plays in the second half.

Q. Trevor, could you expound a little more on that play that you hated? What was going wrong in practice? Did you let the coaches know? And just how difficult was it to execute?

TREVOR LAWRENCE: We've had it for awhile. I think it was more so -- we've had it in for a couple of weeks probably. It was the week before I didn't really like it as much. This week, it just wasn't really clean. Wasn't connecting on the throw like we wanted to. We got a few good reps. So, I didn't feel super confident about it because I didn't have great practice reps at it. It was set up so perfect, we couldn't not run it. So we ran it. Luckily me and Travis [Etienne] were on the same page and we made a good play.

GAME NOTES

Clemson overcame a 16-0 first-half deficit to earn the victory. The 16-point comeback was Clemson fifth-largest comeback in school history, trailing a 28-point comeback against Virginia (1992), an 18-point comeback against Maryland (2011), and 17-point comebacks against Virginia (1966) and North Carolina (2000).
The comeback was Clemson's second-largest under Dabo Swinney, trailing the 18-point comeback against Maryland in 2011.
Clemson trailed 16-14 at halftime and earned its first victory when trailing after two quarters since Sept. 29, 2018 vs. Syracuse. That game also represented the most recent time Clemson had won a game after trailing in the fourth quarter.
The victory was Clemson’s second one-possession victory of the season. Clemson is now 26-4 in one-score games since 2011. Clemson (.862) and Ohio State (.735) entered the game as the top two teams in the country in winning percentage in one-score games since 2011. (Note: Winning percentages listed indicate percentages prior to Saturday.)
Clemson won the turnover margin, 2-0, and has now won the turnover margin in nine consecutive games for the first time under Head Coach Dabo Swinney.
Both Clemson takeaways came on interceptions of Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields, who entered the game with only one interception on the season.
Clemson won the turnover margin for an 11th time this season, adding to the most such games in a season under Head Coach Dabo Swinney.
Clemson did not turn the ball over and has now turned the ball over zero times in six out of its last seven games, with two three-game giveaway-free streaks on each side of a one-giveaway game against Wake Forest.
The game marked Clemson’s second Fiesta Bowl appearance in program history, joining a 31-0 shutout of Ohio State in a College Football Playoff National Semifinal in 2016.
Clemson’s participation in the game pushed the school’s program-record streak of consecutive seasons with bowl appearances to 15 years. The streak is the eighth-longest in the country and the second-longest in the ACC. Though Clemson did not make a bowl appearance in 2004, Clemson has been bowl eligible in 21 consecutive seasons, dating back to a 1999 appearance in the Peach Bowl.
Both teams entered the game at 13-0. Clemson has been involved in all three showdowns of undefeated teams in College Football Playoff history, including games last year in which 13-0 Clemson faced 12-0 Notre Dame in the Cotton Bowl and 14-0 Clemson faced 14-0 Alabama in the College Football Playoff National Championship.
The game was Clemson’s fourth all-time meeting with Ohio State. Every meeting between the two programs has come with both squads ranked the top 20 in the AP Poll, with the 2019 contest representing the second straight time that the teams met with both squads in the top three.
The game featured a matchup of the teams with the nation’s two longest active winning streaks entering the game (Clemson, 28; Ohio State, 19).
The contest was Head Coach Dabo Swinney’s 15th bowl game as a head coach. This game against Ohio State Head Coach Ryan Day snapped a streak of nine consecutive bowl games since 2012 in which Swinney has faced head coaches with at least one national championship at various NCAA levels to their credit (Les Miles, Bob Stoops, Urban Meyer, Nick Saban and Brian Kelly).
With its first first down of the game, Clemson (370) secured the fourth season with 350 first downs in school history (2015, 2016 and 2018).
Clemson (4,091) has now produced the sixth 4,000-yard passing season in school history.
With its 10th completion of the game, Clemson (308) posted the ninth 300-completion season in school history.
By virtue of another multi-touchdown game on the ground, Clemson has now rushed for multiple touchdowns in 15 consecutive games for the first time since the 2016-17 seasons.
Clemson averaged 6.7 yards per play and exceeded 6.0 yards per play for a ninth game in a row, the program's longest since a nine-game streak in 2015.
Quarterback Trevor Lawrence completed 18-of-33 passes for 259 yards and two passing touchdowns and recorded career highs in rushing attempts (16) and rushing yards (107) with one rushing touchdown. He earned Offensive MVP honors for his performance.
Lawrence recorded career highs in rushing attempts (16) and rushing yards (107) while adding one rushing touchdown.
Lawrence’s 107 rushing yards marked the first 100-yard rushing performance by a Clemson quarterback since Kelly Bryant’s 106-yard rushing game against Boston College in 2016.
Lawrence became the second Clemson quarterback to post a career high in rushing in a bowl game against Ohio State. Tajh Boyd rushed for a career-high 127 yards against Ohio State in the 2014 Orange Bowl.
Lawrence recorded a career-long 67-yard touchdown run in the second quarter, shattering his career-long rush of 32 yards.
Lawrence’s 67-yard touchdown run was the longest touchdown rush by a Clemson quarterback since Woodrow Dantzler’s 75-yard touchdown run at Virginia in 2000.
The rushing touchdown was Lawrence’s eighth of the season, adding to his single-season career high.
During the game, Lawrence (3,431) broke his single-season career high (3,280) in passing yards set last season.
Lawrence posted the first fourth-quarter comeback of his career, hitting running back Travis Etienne for game-winning 34-yard touchdown pass to culminate a four-play, 94-yard drive with 1:49 remaining. The 94-yard drive was the exact same length of the drive Clemson engineered in its most recent fourth-quarter comeback win against Syracuse in 2018 when Chase Brice led the game-winning drive in Lawrence’s absence.
Lawrence’s game-winning passing touchdown was the 66th of his career, breaking Jameis Winston’s ACC record (65) for career passing touchdowns through a sophomore season.
Lawrence (36) is now tied with Tajh Boyd (36 in 2012) for second on the school leaderboard for touchdown passes in a single season. Deshaun Watson holds the single-season Clemson record with 41 in 2016.
Lawrence has now thrown a touchdown pass in 24 consecutive games. His current 24-game streak is the longest active streak in the country. (Note: UCF's McKenzie Milton had a 24-game streak prior to suffering an injury in November 2018 that precluded him from playing in 2019).
During the contest, Lawrence broke both single-season and multi-season school records for consecutive pass attempts without an interception, a mark that now stands at 202. He broke his own single-season school record of 169 set last season and broke Tajh Boyd's multi-season record of 187 from 2012-13.
With three combined passing and rushing touchdowns, Lawrence (75) joined Tajh Boyd (133) and Deshaun Watson (116) as only the third player in Clemson history to be responsible for 75 career touchdowns.
Lawrence’s ninth completion of the game was his 500th career completion at Clemson. He became the fifth player in school history to complete 500 career passes.
Running back Travis Etienne caught three passes for a career-high and team-leading 98 yards with two touchdowns. He also rushed 10 times for 36 yards with a rushing touchdown.
Etienne became the first Clemson running back with two receiving touchdowns since Jamie Harper on Sept. 18, 2010 at Auburn. His 98 receiving yards were the most by a Clemson running back since C.J. Spiller’s 104-yard performance through the air at Miami (Fla.) on Oct. 24, 2009.
Etienne rushed for a touchdown in an eighth straight game to break his career-long streak set across the first seven games of the 2018 season. It tied Wayne Gallman's eight-game streak in 2016 for the fourth-longest in school history.
Etienne (1,536) passed Wayne Gallman (1,527 in 2015) for second on Clemson's single-season rushing yardage leaderboard.
With his 18th rushing touchdown of the season,Etienne took sole possession of the second-most rushing touchdowns in a season in school history. Lester Brown (1978), James Davis (2006) and Wayne Gallman (2016) all had 17 each, trailing only Etienne's record 24 rushing touchdowns in 2018.
Etienne (22) became the first Clemson player with 20 total touchdowns in multiple seasons. Etienne's 2018 campaign (26) and C.J. Spiller's 2009 season (21) had previously represented the only seasons of 20-plus touchdowns by individuals in school history.
Etienne (22 in 2019, 26 in 2018) is now the only player in ACC history to reach 22 total touchdowns in multiple seasons in a career.
Etienne scored on a 53-yard receiving touchdown from Lawrence in the third quarter.
The 53-yard reception was the longest of Etienne’scareer, surpassing a 27-yard catch earlier this season. On that single reception, he recorded more receiving yards than he had totaled in any of his previous 41 career games.
The 53-yard reception by Etienne was the culmination of a school-record-tying 99-yard drive. It marked the third 99-yard drive in school history, joining drives against Florida State in 1988 and against Duke in 1998.
The receiving touchdown was Etienne’s career-high third of the season and the fifth of his career.
The first receiving touchdown was Etienne’s 60th total touchdown of his career, making him the 24th FBS player since 1970 to score 60 career touchdowns.
Etienne added his career-high second receiving touchdown of the game on his 34-yard touchdown reception with 1:49 remaining to punctuate Clemson’s game-winning 94-yard drive.
With 150 all-purpose yards in the game, Etienne(4,978) passed Derrick Hamilton (4,839) for third on Clemson's leaderboard for career all-purpose yards.
Etienne (2,030) has now posted only the third 2,000-yard all-purpose season in school history (2,680 by C.J. Spiller in 2009, and 2,288 by Sammy Watkins in 2011).
Etienne (366) entered the game as the highest-scoring non-kicker in ACC history and has now entered the Top 10 in conference history for career scoring among all players including kickers.
Etienne’s seventh carry of the game was his 500th career carry at Clemson.
Clemson was held scoreless in the first quarter after having previously scored in 33 consecutive quarters. Prior to the first quarter of the Fiesta Bowl, Clemson was last held without a point in a quarter in the third quarter of its Sept. 28 game at North Carolina. The previous long under Head Coach Dabo Swinney had been 24 straight quarters in games 4-10 of the 2015 season.
Butkus Award winner Isaiah Simmons recorded the game’s first takeaway, intercepting Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields in the third quarter. It was only the second interception thrown by Fields in his first 336 pass attempts of the season and his first in 170 attempts.
With Simmons’ interception, Clemson has produced a takeaway in nine consecutive games and 17 times in its last 18 games, dating to 2018.
Including an interception against Virginia in the ACC Championship Game, Simmons has now recorded an interception in back-to-back games for the first time in his career.
Linebacker James Skalski and defensive end Justin Foster split a sack in the first quarter. Both of them have single-season career highs with 3.5 sacks in 2019.
Linebacker Baylon Spector recorded his first career sack in the third quarter. He later added his second career sack in the fourth quarter.
Safety K’Von Wallace added a sack in the contest, his second of the season and of his career.
Clemson recorded four sacks to Ohio State’s three sacks. Ohio State entered bowl season leading the country with 51.0 sacks this season.
Safety Nolan Turner sealed the victory by recording his career-high second interception of the season — the third interception of his career — on Ohio State’s final drive. It marks the second straight year that Turner has recorded an interception in a College Football Playoff semifinal, joining his interception against Notre Dame in last year’s Cotton Bowl.
Fifth-year linebacker Chad Smith led Clemson with a career-high 12 tackles, earning Defensive MVP honors.
Clemson allowed Ohio State to enter the red zone three times and held the Buckeyes to a field goal on all three red zone drives. Ohio State entered the game having scored touchdowns on 81.94 percent of red zone possessions this season, the third-highest percentage in the country.
Punter Will Spiers punted seven times for an average of 44.9 yards per punt with five punts downed inside the 20 and three punts of 50 yards or more.
Spiers’ tied his career high for 50-yard punts in a game with three, set most recently against Duke in 2018.
Spiers’ five punts downed inside the 20 were a career high, surpassing his four against Auburn in 2017.
With his third PAT of the game, his 77th of the season, kicker B.T. Potter (77) broke the single-season school record held by Greg Huegel, who made 76 PATs in 2018.
Offensive lineman Tremayne Anchrum, offensive lineman Gage Cervenka, safety Tanner Muse, wide receiver Diondre Overton, offensive lineman John Simpson, linebacker Isaiah Simmons and safety K’Von Wallace represented Clemson as the team’s postseason captains.
Wallace and Muse each appeared in their 58th career game to tie offensive tackle Mitch Hyatt and tight end Milan Richard (58 each from 2015-18) for third-most career games in school history.

WITH THE WIN...

Clemson improved to 6-2 all-time in College Football Playoff games. Clemson’s six all-time wins in the playoff are tied with Alabama for the most in CFP history. No school other than Clemson and Alabama has more than two.
Clemson won its third consecutive College Football Playoff game, tying the longest CFP winning streak all-time (Alabama, twice, 2015-16 and 2017-18, ended each time by Clemson).
Clemson won its 29th consecutive game, dating to the start of the 2018 season, to extend the longest winning streak in school history and tie the ACC record of 29 consecutive wins, set by the 2012-14 Florida State Seminoles.
Clemson’s 29-game winning streak has now matched 2012-14 Florida State, 1990-93 Miami and 1901-03 Michigan for the 12th-longest streak in FBS history.
Clemson added to the longest winning streak in school history in any sport. The next closest streaks in the history of Clemson Athletics were 26-game/match streaks posted by baseball (1977) and men's tennis (1968-70).
Clemson improved to 22-0 against undefeated opponents since the start of the 2015 season.
The victory represented Clemson’s 12th all-time against a team that entered the game with 10 or more wins. The victory was Clemson's third all-time against an Ohio State squad with 10 or more wins entering the game, joining the 2014 Orange Bowl and 2016 Fiesta Bowl.
Clemson improved to 25-20 all-time in bowl contests.
Clemson won its third consecutive bowl game to produce the fourth bowl winning streak of three games or more in program history (five from 1986-90, four from 2012-15, three from 1939-50).
Clemson improved to 2-0 all-time in the Fiesta Bowl, including a 31-0 win against Ohio State in the 2016 Fiesta Bowl.
Clemson improved to 4-0 all-time against Ohio State, which entered the contest with the second-most wins all-time in FBS history (924).
Clemson improved to 5-1 all-time against Big Ten opponents, with every matchup coming in postseason play. Dabo Swinney moved to 3-0 against the Big Ten, with all three games coming against Ohio State.
Clemson improved to 14-0 for only the third time in school history, joining the 2015 and 2018 squads that both went on to play for national championships.
Clemson tied Alabama (three) for the most 14-0 starts to a season since 2000.
The 2019 Tigers won their 14th game of the season to move into a tie for second place for the most wins in a season in school history, trailing only a 15-win season in 2018 and tying 14-win seasons in 2015 and 2016.
The 2019 Clemson seniors won their 55th game to tie the 2018 Clemson and Alabama seniors for most victories in a four-year span in FBS history.
Clemson improved its record in night games to 32-3 since 2015.
Clemson is now the only team in the country with 12 wins against Power Five opponents this season.
Clemson earned its 22nd victory in its last 24 games against top-25 teams since the start of the 2015 season. Clemson is now 10-2 against AP Top 10 opponents since 2015, including victories in seven of the last eight games against AP Top 10 teams.
Clemson won its fifth consecutive neutral site contest to push Clemson to 9-1 at neutral sites since 2016.
Clemson earned its 39th victory in its last 42 games away from home.
Clemson is now 100-2 since 2011 when leading after three quarters.
Clemson now holds a 100-2 record when totaling more first downs than its opponent since 2011.
Clemson is now 58-3 when winning the turnover margin since 2011.
Clemson has now won 12 games in a row in December.
With the victory at State Farm Stadium, home of the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals, Head Coach Dabo Swinney improved to 17-6 in games played in NFL stadiums.
Clemson pushed its winning streak in Saturday games to 43 to extend the longest Saturday winning streak in school history. Clemson's current 43-game run of consecutive Saturday victories is the longest active streak in the country.
Clemson improved to 46-1 since 2015 when outscoring opponents in the "Middle Eight," defined as the final four minutes of the first half and the first four minutes of the second half. Clemson outscored Ohio State 14-0 in that time window in the game.

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