Top-ranked Clemson will take on No. 4 Oklahoma in the Capital One Orange Bowl at 4 p.m. on New Year’s Eve from Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla. The winner will advance to the National Championship Game, which will be played in Glendale, Ariz., on Jan. 11.
About Oklahoma: The Sooners are the Big 12 Champions and have won seven straight games. In those seven wins, they have won by an average score of 52-20. This year’s Big 12 title was the school’s ninth under head coach Bob Stoops. They have won seven straight games, the fifth longest active streak in the country. This is their longest winning streak during a single-season since winning eight straight in 2006.
Oklahoma’s offense: Oklahoma is the highest scoring football program of all-time, and only two Sooner teams have ever averaged more points than the 45.8 this year’s squad is averaging. Over the past seven games, OU has kicked it up a couple notches, averaging 52.0 points per contest. The Sooners have accounted for more than 500 yards of offense in each of the last seven games, and three of the top five single-game yardage totals of the 17-year Stoops era have been recorded this year, including the top figure of 773 (vs. Tulsa).
Oklahoma’s defense: The Sooners leads the Big 12 in scoring defense (20.8 ppg), total defense (350.7 ypg), rushing defense (149.2 ypg), passing defense (201.5 ypg) and pass efficiency defense (108.0). In the 19 years of the Big 12, no team has ever finished the season as the league’s leader in all of those categories.
Records: Clemson 13-0; Oklahoma 11-1
Series record: The series is tied 2-2
Games in bowl games: Clemson leads 2-0
First meeting: Oklahoma won 31-14 in 1963
Last Meeting: Clemson won 40-6 in the 2014 Russell Athletic Bowl
Last Oklahoma win: 52-3 in 1972
Streak: Clemson has won 2 straight
Stat worth noting: In FBS history, Oklahoma is tied with Alabama, Miami and Purdue for the second most wins over the AP No. 1 team with seven. Only Notre Dame (8) has more wins against the top ranked team. Under Stoops, Oklahoma is 2-1 against top-ranked teams. The last time OU faced No. 1 was Dec. 1, 2007, when it beat Missouri in the Big 12 Championship game, 38-17. Prior to that, OU lost to No. 1 USC, 55-19, in the 2005 Orange Bowl and defeated No. 1 Nebraska, 31-14, in Norman on Oct. 28, 2000.
Second stat worth noting: Clemson is seeking its fourth straight bowl victory, something the program has not done since it won five in a row between 1986-‘90. Clemson defeated LSU 25-24 in the 2012 Chick-fil-A Bowl and downed Ohio State at the 2014 Discover Orange Bowl, 40-35. Last year, Clemson defeated Oklahoma in the Russell Athletic Bowl, 40-6. A victory in the Orange Bowl will give this senior class four bowl victories, something that has not been done since the senior class of 1990 had a 4-0 mark in the post season. The 1989 senior class was also 4-0.
Third stat worth noting: Clemson has played well against perennial national powers Oklahoma, Notre Dame and Ohio State over the years. The Tigers are 6-0 against those three schools since 1978, including a 3-0 record over the last three years. Clemson defeated Ohio State in the 2014 Orange Bowl, 40-35. Last year Clemson downed Oklahoma 40-6 in the Russell Athletic Bowl. Earlier this year Clemson defeated Notre Dame, 24-22. If Clemson defeats Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl it would give Clemson a 3-2 record against the Sooners all-time. Clemson is 2-1 against Notre Dame and 2-0 all-time against Ohio State. Clemson would be the only school in the country with a winning record against those three schools given a minimum of two games played. All three are ranked among the top five in college football history in terms of winning percentage.
Memorable game: The Tigers rang in the New Year in fine fashion with a 13-6 victory over the Oklahoma Sooners on January 1, 1989, moving into the top-10 of the final AP poll for the first time since 1982 with a No. 9 ranking. The victory also gave Danny Ford a victory over the winningest active coach in Division I, Barry Switzer. Ford defeated the top-three winningest active coaches of the decade, with wins over Switzer, Tom Osborne (Nebraska) and Joe Paterno (Penn State). Although the Tigers faced a wishbone offense for the first time since Ford became head coach, the defense came through with flying colors, holding the Sooners to only 116 yards, and no touchdowns on the ground. The game was a defensive struggle, as the two teams failed to combine for 500 yards of total offense. The first five series of the first quarter ended in punts for both teams. Late in the quarter, the Sooners drove down to the Clemson one-yard line, and the Tigers defense faced a first-and-goal situation. Outside linebacker Levon Kirkland stopped the ball carrier for no gain on first down. On second down Jesse Hatcher sacked Jamelle Holieway at the 19. After an incomplete pass, the Sooners were forced to settle for a field goal. Doug Brewster intercepted a pass early in the second quarter to set up a 20-yard field goal by Chris Gardocki. With time running out in the first half, Gardocki put the Tigers up with another kick, this time a 46-yarder. A fumble in the third quarter gave the Sooners the opportunity to take the lead, but the Tiger defense held and R.D. Lashar hit a field goal again from 30 yards. The Tigers responded on the next series, driving 80 yards in 15 plays for the game’s only touchdown, as Terry Allen scored on a four-yard run. Allen, the game’s Most Valuable Player, rushed for 25 yards and caught two passes for 17 yards on the drive. Defensive MVP Jesse Hatcher caused and recovered a fumble on the Sooners’ next drive, but the Sooners would have one more opportunity to score. After a punt, Oklahoma drove from its own 20 to the Tiger 14, as Holieway put the secondary to the test by putting the ball in the air. On the last play of the game, Dexter Davis knocked down a pass in the end zone to seal the victory. Allen was named MVP. Allen rushed for only 53 yards, his season low, but scored the game’s only touchdown and caught four passes for 47 yards to lead all Tiger receivers.