The most shocking thing wasn’t that Clemson defeated Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl. It wasn’t that the Tigers beat the Sooners by 20 points, or that Clemson—a program not exactly super familiar with title games of any magnitude—will now play for a national title.
No, the most shocking thing about Clemson’s dominant victory was just how dominant it truly was.
As the game wore on, the Tigers so thoroughly overwhelmed an allegedly physical squad in the Sooners that the normal clichés to describe such beatings seem inadequate to the task.
Bullies on the playground show more mercy. Incoming 18-wheelers inflict less pain. Boys among men have a better chance of turning the tide.
Even Oklahoma knew there was no way to soften the blow.
“They played in a more physical way than we did,” a defeated Bob Stoops said during his postgame press conference.
“People with the biggest will are going to win the game,” OU linebacker Eric Striker added, “and they seemed to just have that edge and that will about them in the second half, and we didn’t.”
That will did not come by accident. It was a by-product of days, weeks, months, and years of work in the weight room and on the practice field—as well as a wealth of experience seeing it work in previous games—that ultimately paid off against a program used to pushing people around.
Samaje Perine gained 26 yards on his first two carries, then he gained 32 yards on his next thirteen. Clemson did that.
In the final three quarters, the disparity in the two rushing attacks was astounding. Clemson had more carries (49) than Oklahoma had rushing yards (33), and the Tigers averaged 5.7 yards per carry. After halftime, the Sooners had thirteen carries for 36 yards, while the Tigers gained 153 yards on 34 carries.
Three of Oklahoma’s six second-half drives went for negative yardage. Of the other three, one ended when Clemson stonewalled a direct snap on 4th-and-1. The other two ended on interceptions.
The Sooners scored zero points while the Tigers scored three touchdowns and held the football for 21:22 of the second half—almost a quarter and a half of game time. Clemson did that, too.
“We knew that we were going to be the stronger team in the second half,” co-offensive coordinator Tony Elliott said. “We just wanted to commit to the run. You just saw that Joey Batson and his staff are the best in the country in having our guys prepared to finish a four-quarter game.”
Clemson did that against a team accustomed to filing players in a single-file line to the NFL up front on both sides of the ball. Oklahoma has blessed NFL rosters with ready-made talent in the trenches with regularity for more than a decade.
The Sooners are routinely able to bully opposing teams. In the Orange Bowl, Clemson bullied the bully.
“We really understand that it all starts in the trenches, no matter who we’re playing, no matter where we’re playing,” left guard Eric Mac Lain said. “If we can dominate on both sides of the ball up front, it’s going to be a very easy game for us.”
Center Jay Guillermo attributed the fans who invested in tickets for the game. After a few offensive possessions, the Tigers were able to switch to cadences reserved only for home games because of the way Clemson fans dwarfed their Oklahoma counterparts in the stadium. Effective communication makes it easier for a line to overwhelm the opposition, and it was made possible by the fans who made the trek.
“It was, truly, a home game,” Jay Guillermo said. “It was amazing.”
Guillermo says at the end of convincing wins, opposing teams “don’t talk quite as much” at the line of scrimmage. Such was the case with the Sooners, their mouths slammed shut like a playground bully that finally meets his match.