PARDISE VALLEY, Ariz. — When Ben Boulware reached up and snagged Baker Mayfield’s pass at the two-yard line to seal Clemson’s Orange Bowl victory over Oklahoma, his brother, Garrett was emotional to say the least.

Garrett, who started on the Clemson baseball team from 2012-’14, was watching the game with their cousin Brandon. Garrett is known for being a man’s man in his playing days with the Tigers. He does his best not to let his emotions show, but when he saw his little brother clinch the Tigers’ spot in Monday’s National Championship Game, he could not hold back the emotion of it all.

“He said he teared up, which is a surprise because Garrett is such a dumb jock, if you will, and to hear he actually teared up, it was actually kind of cool,” Ben said. “It meant a lot to me because he is my brother. But to hear he and Brandon actually cried, it was pretty cool.”

The realization that the Tigers are playing in the National Championship Game against No. 2 Alabama has finally sunk in for the younger Boulware.

“It’s cool. It is a great experience,” he said. “If we beat Alabama, you can’t really doubt us anymore. We have proved the doubters wrong for 14 straight weeks. Now we hear, ‘You are playing Alabama now.’ Everyone loves Alabama so I think if we stop them, it proves we deserve it.

“No one has been 15-0. I don’t want to use the title we would be greatest football team in college football history, but no one has been 15-0 and if we beat Alabama we will always have that tag by our name as the first team to do it.”

Boulware says regardless of what happens it has been a “cool experience” for him, especially considering he grew up a Clemson fan and went to all the games when he was a kid. He would love nothing more than two bring a National Championship back to little ol’ Clemson.

“I have always wished I could put the orange jersey on and play in front of (the Clemson) crowd,” he said. “It has been way too long since we had the Natty here. It has been 34 years so I’m definitely looking forward to bringing that back.”

And that will probably make his brother cry even more.