Russell Athletic Bowl 2014: Game Grades, Analysis for Oklahoma vs. Clemson

Things were never really close in this game, as the Clemson Tigers demolished the Oklahoma Sooners 40-6. The result was a mixture of Clemson playing well and Oklahoma simply playing terribly, but credit has to be given to Dabo Swinney’s squad.

With the victory, the program reached 10 wins for the fourth straight season, and it did so in impressive fashion. The Sooners were held to 275 total yards, and quarterback Trevor Knight threw for only 103 yards.

Cole Stoudt had his best game of the season, throwing for 319 yards and three touchdowns. More importantly, he didn’t throw any interceptions en route to a turnover-free performance for the Tigers. There were two main targets for the senior quarterback in this one, as both Mike Williams and Artavis Scott went over 100 yards receiving.

You can find the full box score here, courtesy of NCAA.com.

Position Unit	First-Half Grade	Final Grade
Passing Offense	A-	B+
Rushing Offense	C-	D
Passing Defense	A	A
Rushing Defense	B+	C-
Special Teams	B	B
Coaching	A	A

Game Grades for the Clemson Tigers

Passing Offense

The passing performance from Stoudt wasn’t flashy, but the game plan was very efficient. Stoudt finished 26-of-36 passing, and he often found success with the short passing game. The Oklahoma secondary didn’t make it tough for Stoudt, but the senior played mistake-free in the win.

Rushing Offense

The Tigers didn’t find much success on the ground, but they did enough to open things up through the air. Clemson finished with only 68 yards on 42 carries, and Wayne Gallman was held to just 55 yards.

Passing Defense

The Tigers secondary did an excellent job in this game. Knight found it tough to throw the ball all night, completing just 17 of his 37 passes. He finished the game with only 103 yards, and the Tigers forced three interceptions.

Rushing Defense

The Tigers did a good job in the first half of containing Samaje Perine, but the freshman phenom found room to run in the second half. He finished the bowl game with 134 yards, which was good for 5.8 yards per carry. The Sooners rushed for 172 yards as a team, but the Tigers didn’t let them control the game with the rushing attack.

Special Teams

The special teams weren’t bad for the Tigers, either. They played a pretty solid game in all three phases, and Ammon Lakip played well. He had one kick blocked, but he connected on his other two attempts.

Coaching

The Tigers came out with an excellent game plan, and they executed it beautifully. The short passes on offense helped Stoudt get into a rhythm, and the offense still looked pretty good despite not getting anything going on the ground. The job by Brent Venables was remarkable, as the Tigers held a high-powered Oklahoma offense to just six points.

Position Unit	First-Half Grade	Final Grade
Passing Offense	F	F
Rushing Offense	C	B
Pass Defense	F	F
Rush Defense	B+	A
Special Teams	B	B
Coaching	D	F

Game Grades for the Oklahoma Sooners

Passing Offense

Knight looked like he was on a different planet Monday night, and he never found any kind of rhythm in the passing game. He completed only 17 of his 37 throws, and he averaged only 2.8 yards per pass. The three interceptions is what hurt him the most, and the Tigers were able to keep him from ever getting too comfortable.

Rushing Offense

The Sooners needed to use the rushing game to control things, and they didn’t accomplish that. They got down early because they couldn’t get the running game going, and it was too late to do that in the second half. Perine has a very bright future, and his 134-yard performance will be something to build off of going into next season.

Passing Defense

The Sooners secondary was terrible in this game. There were too many wide-open throws for Stoudt, and the missed tackles capped off an embarrassing performance. The Tigers threw for 319 yards and three touchdowns, and they did so with a quarterback who hasn’t looked good since the second game of the season.

Rushing Defense

If there was a positive takeaway from this game for Oklahoma, it would have to be the rushing defense. They held the Tigers to 68 yards on 42 carries, and they never let Clemson get anything going on the ground. Gallman was coming off of his best performance against South Carolina, but he was held to just 55 yards on 19 carries.

Special Teams

It’s tough to judge the Sooners special teams because they didn’t attempt any field goals in this game. The punter got a workout, punting nine times and landing two of those inside the 20-yard line. The one thing that stood out to me was the blocked field goal. That was a great play, and it could have flipped the momentum had it not been for the interception by Clemson moments later.

Coaching

The Sooners looked overmatched and unprepared in this game. The roster has talent, but the coaches didn’t get anything out of their players on Monday night. The offensive game plan failed because Knight never looked comfortable, and the Sooners had no answers for Clemson’s short passing game.