Fiesta Bowl 2016: Highlights and Comments from Ohio State vs. Clemson

The 2016 Fiesta Bowl did not go the way anyone expected. What was projected to be a close semifinal matchup turned out to be anything but, as Clemson put on a two-way beatdown of Ohio State in a 31-0 romp.

Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson rushed for two touchdowns and added another through the air, while the Clemson defense stifled QB J.T. Barrett and the Ohio State offense. Barrett threw two interceptions and accounted for just 125 total yards, as the Tigers thwarted everything Urban Meyer threw at them. Ohio State finished with 215 total yards, a great deal of them coming from a 64-yard Curtis Samuel run.

The Buckeyes had only two plays of 20 or more yards and did not have a drive longer than five plays in the second half.

Had Watson not thrown two interceptions of his own, the final margin might have been even wider. Here is a look at some of the highlights from Clemson's win and comments from the main parties.

Postgame Comments

Meyer spoke to reporters about his frustrations after the game:

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Most frustrating? That I had a group of players, played our tail off. And same group of guys went to Norman, Oklahoma, and played and won, and went to Madison, Wisconsin, and won in overtime, and then against our rivals, two overtimes. And we got beat. ...

Ohio State is not used to this. I'm not used to this, and we will not get used to this. That's not going to happen again. So we'll get things worked out.

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Barrett discussed how Clemson disrupted their offensive flow:

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They did a good job being disruptive, the "D" line did. I mean, there was times I could have done a better job getting the ball out, as far as seeing my reads faster.

But they definitely—I mean we just didn't execute really on offense. It wasn't really like we were surprised by the looks that we had. I think we prepared really hard and coaches did everything they could as far as like throwing us the different looks that we thought we were going to get, and we just didn't execute it anywhere on offense, really.

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Meyer said Clemson took Ohio State out of its offensive game plan:

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No, I didn't realize that until you just said it. That was not the game plan. I think we kind of got taken out of the game plan a little bit. But no, that was our plan, to be balanced. We didn't follow the plan.

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Barrett said it came down to execution:

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You could have a scheme and all these different plays set out. You could have everything on the grease board, but you still gotta go play the game and execute the plays we have. And we didn't do that. ...

Our units were messed up. We were not nine units strong. It's real simple.

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Clemson coach Dabo Swinney was understandably elated:

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Back-to-back ACC titles and CFPs and now National Championship appearances. It's just a special moment, special time to be a Tiger. But these guys have earned it. They've been working for a long time to be ready for these type of moments and opportunities, and they dominated the moment tonight. That's what it's about.

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Swinney said leadership and depth have improved from last year's team, which lost to Alabama:

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Literally from day one, the leadership has been unbelievable. But you're talking about Deshaun Watson and Ben Boulware and Carlos and Jadar and Cordrea and Leggett and Gallman—incredibly committed young people.

And then the other thing is we're a better team than we were this time last year because we have more competitive depth. We have more guys that can go play winning football.

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Watson said finishing second in the Heisman race did not serve as any motivation:

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All the Heisman stuff wasn't on my mind. Regardless if I would have won it or not I was still going to play hard and play Clemson football and try to be the best I could be. Lamar [Jackon] deserved the Heisman. That's who won it. That's who got it.

So salute to him and best of luck to his career and future. But I just tried—my main focus is getting a W here and moving on to the next one. And that's what we've got and now my main focus is on Alabama.

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Watson also discussed overcoming his early interceptions:

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My job is to make good decisions whenever adversity hits, make sure all my guys is poised and calm and make sure that I'm poised and calm, because they go the way I go.

If I'm on the sideline frustrated or down, then they're going to be down. So I always keep a smile on my face and keep my poise and composure, and just go back out there and play football.

You're bound to make mistakes. We're all human beings. And so sometimes bad luck just comes your way.

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Game Highlights

Watson seized control of the game early with his legs, per ESPN College Football:

Buckeyes fans didn't have much to cheer about, but Malik Hooker did make an impressive interception when his team was still within striking distance, per ESPN College Football:

Clemson eventually pulled away, and Watson made more scoring plays with his legs, per ESPN College Football:

Watson wasn't the only one to score on the ground. Wayne Gallman put the exclamation point on the victory, per College GameDay:

Clemson players talked about the win: