GLENDALE, Ariz. — Whether it was waking up on cold mornings in the middle of February for mat drills or going to practice in the spring and the fall, there was one thing Ben Boulware and his Clemson teammates saw on a regular basis – a large banner hanging in the team’s indoor practice facility that simply says, “2015 College Football Playoff National Runner-ups.”

“We are the first runner-up. We are the first loser,” Boulware said. “With that being smack dap in our face every day it was a great reminder to us each and every day that we have to go out there and work. We have to grind and at the end of the day, finish. We did not do that last year, so we are hoping to change that,” Boulware said.

The Tigers will have their chance.

Clemson became the first team since Florida State in 1999 to lose in the national championship game the year before and then return the next season following Saturday’s 31-0 victory over No. 3 Ohio State in the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Fiesta Bowl.

“That’s huge. We have been thinking about that game all year,” Boulware said. “You know?! Getting up at 5:30 in the morning, winter workouts, spring, summer workouts, fall camp. That game has resonated with us every day since that day.

“That isn’t something we have forgotten about.”

Ohio State (11-2) found that out the hard way. Boulware and the Clemson defense suffocated the Buckeyes from the very beginning. They held J.T. Barrett and Ohio State’s powerful running game to 88 rushing yards – 170 below its season average.

As for Barrett he had just 125 total yards, was held to minus two yards rushing, was sacked three times and threw two interceptions. The shutout was the Tigers third of the season, the first time that has happened at Clemson since 1990.

Of course the Tigers two other shutouts came against SC State (59-0) and Syracuse (54-0).

“Ohio State is a different animal,” Boulware said. “To go out there and shut them out and dominate for four quarters, it is huge. It is very satisfying because we have been grinding for three weeks. To go out there and play like that for four quarters straight, it is a very satisfying feeling.”

Now the Tigers turn their attention to Alabama, who beat Washington 24-7 in the Peach Bowl to advance to the national championship game.

After a whole year of dreaming about this moment, Boulware and the Tigers finally get their chance to redeem themselves.

“Washington is obviously a great team and we have a lot of respect for them, but I think everybody on this team would much rather play Alabama because they smacked us around last year,” Boulware said. “We are ready to play. We respect them. We know how talented they are. They have earned everything they got these last four years.

“But we are eager for (next) Monday’s matchup.”

Tough Schedule. Eleven of Clemson’s 13 wins this year came over teams playing in bowl games and 10 over teams with a winning record.

Best is the standard. Clemson is just the fourth ACC team to record 13 wins in a season. The others to do it are the Clemson team last year (14-1) and the Florida State teams of 2013 (14-0) and 2014 (13-1).

The 13 victories by the Tigers this year are the second most in school history. The only season with more took place last year when Clemson finished 14-1.

Clemson is now 27-2 over the last two years and 30-2 over its last 32 games dating to the 2014 season.

The last time Clemson lost just two games in a 32-game period was the 1980-84 era when Clemson was 28-2-2 over a 32- game period under Danny Ford. Clemson actually reached a 33-2-2 record over a 37-game period under Ford in that era.

Third time. This will be Clemson’s third appearance in what would be considered a National Championship Game. The Tigers defeated Nebraska 22-15 at the 1982 Orange Bowl to win the National title, and last year they lost to Alabama 45-40 in the College Football Playoff National Championship game.

Undefeated. Clemson is now 3-0 against Ohio State in its history and all three victories have come in bowl games. Ohio State was ranked in the top 20 in all three games.

Clemson is the only team with a winning record over Notre Dame (2-1), Ohio State (3-0) and Oklahoma (3-2). Dabo Swinney is now 5-0 against those programs, all in the last four years. Four of the five victories were over top 10 teams, including the second ranked (AP) Buckeyes.

Historic win. With Ohio State entering this game with a No. 2 ranking by the Associated Press and the Amway Coaches Poll, this is the highest ranked team Clemson has defeated in its history.

Meyer doesn’t want to play Clemson. Urban Meyer is now 61-6 at Ohio State. Two of the six losses are to Clemson. Meyer has just three bowl losses in his career and two of them are to Swinney’s Tigers.

Meyer suffered his first shutout loss in 194 games as a head coach.

Defense pitches a shutout. Clemson’s shutout was its third of the season and sixth since Brent Venables became defensive coordinator in 2012. It was Clemson’s second shutout in a bowl game ever. The first was 30-0 against Illinois in the 1991 Hall of Fame Bowl.

—Photo  Credit: Cheryl Evans/The Arizona Republic via USA TODAY Sports