CFB Playoff: Clemson Takes Care of Business vs. OSU—Don't Doubt These Tigers
GLENDALE, Ariz. – The queen of soul was blaring in the postgame locker room, and the king of college football was dancing and celebrating and underscoring what we should all know by now.
You can't kill these Clemson Tigers. Not now, not in the near future.
R-E-S-P-E-C-T, take care, TCB.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
This, everyone, is what taking care of business looks like: a thrilling, white-knuckle, 29-23 College Football Playoff Semifinal victory over Ohio State in a game Clemson had no business winning.
This is what taking care of business means: No. 1 LSU is next, and Oklahoma's NCAA Division I-record 47-game winning streak is in sight.
"We got punched in the face, and we were on the ground," Clemson linebacker James Skalski said. "But we got up, and we started throwing punches. This is our DNA. It's who we are."
Don't do it, America. Don't doubt these Tigers.
That LSU rout of Oklahoma in the Peach Bowl CFP Semifinal is tempting. The magical, mercurial play of Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrow is easy to fall in love with.
But there's something about a team that has won 29 straight games, rolling out of State Farm Stadium late Saturday night only after taking the most significant body blows of the last two seasons. And surviving.
The Tigers were down two scores in the first half. They dropped passes and struggled with Ohio State's eight-man front. They couldn't tackle and took bad angles, and 16-0 felt like 28-0.
Then the champion got off the mat.
This is what happens when you're staring adversity dead in the face:
Your leading passer (Trevor Lawrence) becomes your leading rusher.
Your leading rusher (Travis Etienne) becomes your leading receiver.
Your defense survives two 1st-and-goal situations in the first half by giving up six measly points and gives up only one score in the second half.
Your offense needs just four plays to drive 94 yards for the game-winning points.
You catch a break when, on the final series of the game—after Ohio State rolled down to the Clemson 23 with relative ease—Buckeyes wideout Chris Olave runs a post-corner route and quarterback Justin Fields throws the post.
And Clemson safety Nolan Turner intercepts the ball in the end zone with 37 seconds to play, moving the champion one win from back-to-back 15-0 seasons.
"It wasn't good out there early," Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables said. "But this team, this program, is different than anything I've ever been around. You can't prepare for the synergy and cohesion we have."
We've seen this before over the last two decades in college football, where programs find a groove and win big. USC (before having the wins vacated) and Miami won 34 straight in the early 2000s, and Florida State won 29 straight from 2012 to 2014.
This run with Clemson is different, and that's what makes the Jan. 13 national championship game so defining. Beating LSU leaves Clemson staring at the possibility of another unbeaten season in 2020—15 more wins to 45 total, and two shy of Oklahoma's record—with nearly every player of significance returning.
Clemson coach Dabo Swinney likes to brag that 80 of Clemson's 105 players on the roster are either freshmen or sophomores. The Tigers have eight seniors.
Less than two weeks ago, Clemson signed what recruiting analysts are calling the greatest class ever: six 5-star recruits (could be seven by February) and 11 4-star recruits—including the nation's top pro-style quarterback in DJ Uiagalelei.
Earlier this year I asked high school quarterbacks guru Steve Clarkson where he would place Uiagalelei among Clemson's last two generational quarterbacks (Deshaun Watson and Lawrence).
"Same level," he said. "But this one will be different. He's 6'5", 245 pounds, looks like a defensive end, runs like a receiver and throws it as well as anyone I've been around."
That, everyone, is the future at Clemson. The Tigers will find little resistance in the ACC, and the first serious obstacle of any kind was Ohio State. The Buckeyes were as fast and physical and traded blows for four quarters.
They stressed Clemson like no team has, until the moment arrived when the game was there for the taking. There was Lawrence, stalking the sideline, getting in the faces of his teammates on offense.
"I told them we're made for this," Lawrence said. "We're getting the ball, and we're going down the field, and we're going to score."
It took four plays and all of 78 seconds.
Don't do it, America. Don't doubt these Tigers.
Burrow has 55 touchdown passes, and LSU coach Ed Orgeron has made every right move, and everything is set up for Clemson to take a fall.
Just like it was against Ohio State.
Long after the confetti fell on the turf and the trophy was handed out and everyone exhaled, Venables stood in the postgame locker room and was asked about LSU.
"I saw that score," he said, shaking his head. "I don't even want to think about it. We're getting thrown right into the lion's den."
He stopped and looked up and without hesitation said, "We're going to do what we do."
It has worked the previous 29 games. Why not take care of business one more time?
For this season, at least.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
