ORLANDO, Fla. — The 17th-ranked Clemson Tigers are off to a good start as they prepare for No. 24 Oklahoma in Monday’s Russell Athletic Bowl.
“We had a good practice, a good start to our work week,” Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said after practice. “We have to continue to work hard this week. This was just like a Monday and I want everyone to be in that frame of mind. Tomorrow we will practice at Thunder Field and it will be like a Tuesday.”
Of course Clemson’s “Tuesday” will be Christmas Day. The Tigers will have a Christmas celebration at brunch on Thursday morning then have a two-hour practice in the afternoon at Thunder Field, which is a facility adjacent to the Orlando Citrus Bowl.
Swinney feels his team is in a good frame of mind as it gets ready to play the Sooners.
“We have a chance for a 10-win season for the fourth straight year,” he said. “Only Alabama, Oregon and Northern Illinois have done that and we are the only team in the nation that can join them with a bowl win.
“That is the type of consistency we want to be known for. We also have a chance for a third-straight bowl win, something that has not been done at Clemson since the 1986-‘90 era.”
Undefeated on Turf. The Orlando Citrus Bowl has artificial turf, which should put a smile on the faces of Clemson coaches and players. The Tigers have won nine straight games on artificial turf dating back to the 2010 season and the current senior class is 8-0 on artificial turf.
Keep the streak alive. Clemson is looking for its third straight bowl victory, something the program has not done since the 1986-‘90 era when the program won five in a row. Two of those five wins came in the Orlando Citrus Bowl, the site of Monday’s game. Clemson beat Penn State in the 1988 Citrus Bowl and Oklahoma in the 1989 Citrus Bowl.
One of the best. With 41 wins, Clemson is one of the top 15 winningest programs in the nation over the last four years. If Clemson can defeat Oklahoma in the Russell Athletic Bowl, Clemson will have beaten seven of the other top 14 schools on the list. Clemson’s seniors have already beaten Florida State, Ohio State, LSU, Georgia, South Carolina and Louisville since they joined the program in 2011.