GLENDALE, Ariz. — Clemson is headed back to the College Football Playoff Championship Game for a second straight year, and once again, the second-ranked Tigers will meet top-ranked Alabama.

Using a dominating defense and making just enough plays on the offensive side, the Tigers rolled over No. 3 Ohio State, 31-0, on Saturday in the Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Arizona. Clemson will now play Alabama on Jan. 9 at Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium for the national championship game.

“Defensively, just really indescribable,” Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said afterwards. “They only had seven first downs the entire game. That’s a season low for them. They had 200-something yards. That’s a credit to our staff and great preparation. Guys buying in, extra film time, and guys just getting their tails prepared to go play and then winning the matchups.

“We were dominant up front. We had 11 tackles for loss. We had several sacks. Carlos Watkins, Clelin Ferrell, those guys were awesome. And outside of a couple of plays, we had a couple of really boneheaded plays on the back end. We really played a clean game.”

The 31-0 shutout was the Tigers first in a bowl game since 1991 when Clemson beat Illinois 30-0 in the Hall of Fame Bowl. It was also the Tigers third shutout of the season, the first time that has happened since the 1990 season.

Clemson is also the first-team shutout an Urban Meyer coached team.

“The thing that I’m most proud of, and it was something we really talked about, was we knew that eventually they would get in the red zone, but let’s play great red zone defense. And we played great red zone defense,” Swinney said. “We got a turnover. We had a couple of interceptions in the end zone. But we got stops on downs and just really, when we were in the red zone we were at our best, and that was awesome to see tonight.”

Clemson’s defense smothered the Buckeyes’ offense all night, limiting them to 208 yards, while turning them over three times. Ohio State averaged 42.7 points and 479.5 yards per game coming. The Buckeyes had just 81 rushing yards. They averaged 258.3 yards per game before Saturday’s Fiesta Bowl.

“We didn’t really have any illusions they wouldn’t score a point. We just wanted to have one more than them,” Swinney said. “But great preparation. Great preparation. Coach (Brent Venables) and our staff, nobody works harder at preparing, but then our guys and how they bought into it. I mean, listen, Ben Boulware and Kendall (Joseph) and those guys up front, the leadership of Carlos, Christian Wilkins, Jadar, Cordrea. I mean, these guys are great leaders, and they’re fully committed to being the best they can be.

Earlier in the week, safety Jadar Johnson said Ohio State’s J.T. Barrett was not one of the best quarterbacks they have seen this year. Well, he and the defense backed it up. Barrett was limited to minus-2 rushing yards and was sacked three times. They also intercepted two of his passes.

Barrett completed 19 of 33 passes for just 127 yards.

The guy Ohio State really could not stop was Clemson defense end Clelin Ferrell. The redshirt freshman was living in the Buckeyes’ backfield all night as he finished the game with four tackles, one sack and three tackles for loss.

Though it was not a pretty game by the Clemson offense, they were efficient enough. Quarterback Deshaun Watson ran for two scores and threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to C.J. Fuller in the second quarter to pace the Tigers to a 17-0 halftime lead.

Watson completed 23 of 36 passes for 259 yards, while running for 57 more on 15 carries. His two touchdowns were a one-yard run in the first quarter and a seven yard run in the third quarter.

Clemson (13-1) finished the first half with 275 yards, while holding the Buckeyes to 88 yards. Ohio State had just eight yards rushing on 11 carries in the first 30 minutes.

Ohio State (11-2) was 3-for-13 on third down for the game.

Clemson scored first when Watson found Mike Williams for a 37-yard gain to the Ohio State 30. Four plays later, Huegel connected on a 45-yard field goal for a 3-0 lead with 9:16 to play in the first quarter.

The Tigers extend their lead 10-0 on their next possession as Watson again found Williams on a long pass, this time for 26 yards to the Ohio State 30. Two plays later on third down, Watson hit Cain for a nine-yard gain to keep the drive alive to the 16.

On third-and-five from the OSU 10, Watson rolled to his right, and hit Hunter Renfrow for a nine-yard gain to the Buckeyes’ one. One the next play, Watson took it in from a yard out for a 10-0 lead with 2:16 to play in the quarter.

Watson orchestrated an 8-play, 83-yard drive late in the second quarter to extend the Tigers lead again. This time, he found Fuller for a 30-yard touchdown pass going down the left sideline. Fuller made a spectacular over the shoulder catch to extend the lead to 17-0 with 2:21 to play before halftime.

Despite the 17-0 lead, it was not all good for Clemson. Watson’s first pass of the game was intercepted, but Ohio State kicker Tyler Durbin missed the 47-yard field goal attempt to the right.

After Parris Campbell returned a Huegel kickoff 54 yards to the Clemson 42, Durbin again missed a field goal from 47 yards, this time to the left.

Watson threw another interception in the second quarter, this time in the end zone for a touchback on a pass attended for Renfrow.