The only thing that matters about last year’s 40-6 victory over Oklahoma in the Russell Athletic Bowl is that it stays in the history books. Other than that, it means very little in this year’s Orange Bowl matchup between No. 1 Clemson and No. 4 Oklahoma.

“It really has nothing to do with this year. We are a new team and Oklahoma is a new team,” Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said. “A lot of the players in that game for us are not here anymore so we know we will have to play our best four quarters of the season.”

Oklahoma comes into the Orange Bowl with an 11-1 record, and as champions of the Big 12. The Sooners have won seven straight games coming into the New Year’s Eve game. And though the Tigers are saying last year’s results will have no bearing on this year’s contest, the Sooners see it a different way.

“I don’t think that loss is something you can forget about. That’s something ingrained in my memory,” said Oklahoma center Ty Darlington to ESPN.com. He confessed to changing the lock code of his phone to “4006” shortly after the Clemson game as a reminder of that final score. “Obviously it was very embarrassing. They whupped us up and down the field for 60 minutes. We haven’t forgotten about it – but it’s going to be a little bit different.”

It will be a little bit different for Clemson, too. This time the Tigers, who have won a school-record 16 straight games, will have quarterback, and Heisman Trophy Finalist, Deshaun Watson running the offense. He sat out last year’s Russell Athletic Bowl after having surgery this time a year ago to repair the ACL in his left knee.

“They have their own situation and I have mine. We will see what happens and we will go from there,” Watson said.

Clemson’s quarterback, who named a First-Team all-American by USA Today on Tuesday, led the ACC this year with 3,512 yards and 30 touchdowns. The ACC Player of the Year also led all quarterbacks with 887 yards and 11 touchdowns.

He is the only player in the FBS this year to throw for 3,000 yards and run for 800. Watson has 11 rushing touchdowns, which also leads Clemson. He was also named the ACC Championship Game’s Most Valuable Player as he totaled 420 yards and was responsible for five touchdowns in Clemson’s 45-37 victory over North Carolina.

Both of those marks were ACC Championship Game records.

But even without Watson, the Tigers threw for 319 yards as backup quarterback Cole Stoudt completed 26 of 36 passes and three touchdowns in the victory. The Clemson defense held the Sooners to 275 total yards, including 172 on the ground, which was nearly 100-yards below their season average at the time.

“We’ve come a long way,” said receiver Sterling Shepard, who has caught touchdown pass in six of the last seven games. “This team is a totally different team than last year.”

After losing to Clemson last season, Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops brought in Lincoln Riley to run the offense, and then found a budding star in quarterback Baker Mayfield. With Mayfield working his magic as a duel-threat quarterback, it has allowed running backs Samaje Perine and Joe Mixon to take over games late and eat clock.

With the new-look offense, the Sooners have already avenged losses to Kansas State, TCU, Baylor and Oklahoma State. Can Clemson be No. 5 on Oklahoma’s Revenge Tour?

“We’re a much different team right now than we were when we played Clemson,” defensive coordinator Mike Stoops said to ESPN.com. “That will give us a lot of incentive and motivation.”

Swinney can understand Oklahoma’s motivation. He has been on the other end of blowout. His Tigers were throttled by West Virginia in the 2012 Orange Bowl, but they came back to the Orange Bowl two years later and knocked around Ohio State.

The Tigers have also taken down LSU, Georgia and Auburn since that horrific night in Miami four years ago so if anyone understands a team’s want to, it is Dabo Swinney.

“I have been on both sides of that. It is just a night when you cannot hold on to it,” Swinney said. “It is a scoop-and-score, it is a pick-six, it is a tip touchdown or fumble in the red zone or whatever. You are playing a really good team and the next thing you know the whole game plan is out the window.

“It is all up hill and it is really difficult. That’s what happened in that game. We are certainly not that much better than Oklahoma last year. We were on that day simply because of all the mistakes they made.”