Clemson pummels Ohio State to earn rematch with Alabama

Clemson QB Deshaun Watson (4) and RB Ray-Ray McCloud celebrate a touchdown. (Getty)

Clemson made no one doubt it deserved a second chance to beat Alabama for the national championship with a 31-0 drubbing of Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl.

Hours after the Tide dominated Washington in the Peach Bowl, Clemson’s performance against Ohio State was even more suffocating. As the Clemson defensive front ravaged Ohio State’s offense, the Clemson offense hit the Ohio State defense with a couple of uppercuts to earn a College Football Playoff National Championship Game rematch on Jan. 9.

Nearly a year ago, Alabama beat Clemson 45-40 in the same stadium where the Tigers beat the Buckeyes for the national title. News of the rematch was apparently news to Clemson players as the clock wound down. ESPN cameras caught Clemson linebacker Ben Boulware asking those around him who won the game between Alabama and Washington and what the final score was.

It’s the first time since the advent of the BCS in 1999 that the same teams have played for the championship in back-to-back seasons. And it’s the first time that a team coached by Ohio State coach Urban Meyer has been shut out.

The game started off well-enough for Ohio State. After punting to start the game, OSU defensive back Gareon Conley picked Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson off on the Tigers’ first possession. But Buckeyes kicker Tyler Durbin missed a field goal. And things just kept going downhill from there.

The Tigers went up 17-0 with just over two minutes remaining in the second quarter thanks to an eight-play, 84-yard drive that culminated with a 30-yard touchdown pass from Watson to fullback C.J. Fuller, who snuck out of the backfield on a wheel route and made an incredible catch with a defender draped all over him.

The incline didn’t flatten out for Ohio State in the second half either. After a weird sequence that led to a missed field goal by Clemson following an Ohio State fumble to start the half, Ohio State had a chance to pull within two possessions in the third quarter. OSU’s ensuing drive was a crisp three plays and four yards before punting.

And then when Ohio State got down inside the Clemson 20 for the first time all game in the fourth quarter while trailing 24-0, things went really badly too. The Buckeyes were forced into a 4th and 27 after Carlos Watkins sacked quarterback J.T. Barrett and Barrett’s Hail Mary fling towards the end zone on fourth down was returned 86 yards (plus seven more for a penalty on Barrett) after an interception by Clemson defensive back Van Smith.