GLENDALE, AZ – Clemson earned a 2nd straight trip to the College Football Playoff National Championship game and their 4th trip in five years with their 29-23 win over Ohio State in the 2019 CFP Semifinal at the Fiesta Bowl. Quarterback Trevor Lawrence improved to 25-0 as a starting quarterback, while earning MVP honors with his 336-yd, 3-TD offensive performance.
The performance by Lawrence was highlighted by two key plays. First, he broke free on a 67-yard rushing TD in the 2nd quarter, where he made several defenders miss on his way to the endzone. Trevor’s ability to run and spread the defense was something Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney felt would be an equalizer.
“They’re a good front, good back, well-coached, and just outnumber you all the time. The quarterback run is a little bit of an equalizer. We needed to keep them honest enough to where we could get some stuff in the play-action game, and biggest play of the game came off the quarterback run that we had set up the whole game.”
The run came near the end of the 2nd quarter, and followed Clemson’s first TD, which also came on the ground off an 8-yard score from Travis Etienne. However, before these scores, Clemson was having quite a struggle with Ohio State.
The first quarter was rather dismal indeed for Clemson. After an opening drive field goal from Ohio State, the Tigers missed on a 49 yarder on their opening drive. Then on the Buckeyes first play from scrimmage on the second drive of the game, J.K. Dobbins broke one up the middle and made a few cuts. Next thing you knew, he was in front of everyone and into the endzone for a 68-yard score to put Ohio State up 10-0.
Two consecutive drives ending in punts for Clemson in the first quarter was followed suit with a final drive of the quarter by Ohio State that bled on over to the second quarter. However, just before the end of the quarter, Dobbins broke free on another big run, this time taking it around the corner fo the line for 64 yards before being caught on a shoe-string tackle by Clemson saftey Tanner Muse at the 7 yard line.
As we rolled into the second quarter, the Clemson defense was able to make a red zone stand once again and force a 2nd field goal, as they fell behind 13-0 to the Buckeyes.
Following a second consecutive three and out by Clemson, the Buckeyes added on another field goal as they started to put some distance between them and the Tigers at 16-0. To this point, Clemson had 87 yards of total offense compared to 290 from Ohio State.
The hidden silver lining in this though was the Buckeyes’ inability to score against Clemson in the red zone. Three trips to the red zone thus far had all resulted in OSU settling for field goals, leaving Clemson room to some back.
Clemson’s ensuing possession was a game-changer. As the Tigers faced a 3rd and 5 at the Ohio State 45, Shaun Wade sacked Lawrence to bring up 4th down. However, flags flew, and Lawrence remained on the ground. Officials buddle together, and when they broke, they announce that Wade had been ejected due to targeting after his sack started with a helmet to helmet tackle.
Five plays later, the Tigers were on the board as Travis Etienne took it in for an 8-yard score. Then the Buckeyes were forced into a quick three and out, giving Clemson the ball back with 1:55 left to play. It was clear to everyone the momentum had swung.
“Again, like you said, we had all of the momentum,” said Ohio State head coach Ryan Day. “Then when we got the sack, and then the penalty was called on Shaun [Wade]. The momentum swung right there.”
This time Clemson’s quarterback did it with his legs, taking off on a 2nd and 10 from their own 33-yard line. Lawrence took the snap and went up the middle, made a man, who happened to be Wade’s replacement, miss. Then he cut toward the left sideline and made a break for the endzone where he found himself as the Tiger drew within two points with just 1:06 left in the 1st half.
At the half, the message to the Tigers from their head coach was very clear.
“My message to them at the halftime was: We have to find a way to get the lead in the third quarter, because when we take a lead in the fourth quarter, we finish,” said Dabo. “I think we’re now 100-2 when we take a lead in the fourth quarter, 100-2. So that’s not just this year. That’s just who we are. It is just what we do. We finish.”
In the second half, the Tiger stayed true to their coach’s wishes. They would get their first score on their second drive of the half. Lawrence found Etienne behind the line of scrimmage, who then raced his way to the endzone, refusing to get tackled en route to a 53-yard score. This put the Tigers on top 21-16 with 7:54 left to play in the 3rd.
As the game transitioned into the 4th quarter, Clemson was still clinging to their five-point lead. However, the Buckeyes were looking to put that 99-2 4th quarter of Clemson’s to the test.
Fields led a 13 play 84-yard drive that started in the third and ran into the forth, capping it off on a 23 yard TD pass to Chris Olave. This made it 23-21 Buckeyes, with only 11:46 remaining to decide who would move on to NOLA. Clemson followed the drive with a quick drive that ended in a punt.
Ohio State took the reigns with the lead, and only 9:59 left to play. The Buckeyes had two choices, attack and go for the kill, or work the clock down as much as they could playing conservative. They chose the latter, eating 6:52 off the clock on the ensuing drive. The problem, though, was that without an additional score, any time would be too much time for the Tigers.
Lawrence started the drive with a quick 11-yard pass to Justyn Ross. Then he took off on an 11-yard run, to bring the line of scrimmage to the Tigers 28-yard line. Following this, he found Amari Rodgers for a 38-yard completion, moving the ball to the Ohio State 34 yard line.
With 2:10 left to play, Clemson has the ball just inside field goal range trailing 23-21. Score too soon, you run the risk of giving the Buckeyes overtaking the lead. However, slow the attack, and you risk losing momentum like OSU already had.
Clemson stayed true to themselves and stayed in full attack mode. Lawrence connected with Etienne, who then made a break for the endzone scoring on the 34-yard reception. The Tigers then elected to go for two, as they increased their lead at 29-23, leaving 1:49 left on the clock, plenty of time for Ohio State to mount a comeback.
“So it was set up. Don’t have to have great protection. It is a really hard run fake. He really executed it beautifully, and Travis found a way to get through the trash and took it to the distance.” said Dabo of the go-ahead score.” “Just a huge — I thought we might have scored a little too quick, but it was kind of like, Maybe he was down at the one, but then it’s up to your defense to go win the game.”
The Buckeyes got the ball and immediately got to work. Justin Fields found Dobbins for back to back completions of 13 and 9 yards. He then connected with K.J. Hill for 13 yards before finding Dobbins for another 9. This put the Buckeyes at the Tigers 31-yard line with 1:09 left to play.
OSU had the field position, the time and the talent. Now all they needed was a score, and they would be in the National Title game. The next play was an incomplete pass, and then Fields had back to back runs of five and three yards. Ohio State took a timeout with 43 seconds left to play, facing a 2nd and 7 from the Clemson 23 yard line.
After the timeout, history would be signed, sealed, and delivered. Fields took the snap, dropped back to pass. He had locked in on his man, Olave, who was cutting right in the endzone. However, as Fields went through his throwing motion and the ball left his fingertips, Olave cut left, and Clemson defender Nolan Turner cut right locked in on the ball and snagged it for a game-sealing interception in the endzone.
Fields had dropped to his knees in defeat, dawning the “surrender cobra,” and the Clemson sideline had poured over onto the field, enough even to warrant an unsportsmanlike flag. But it didn’t matter, the damage was done, and dreams where made and broken in a split second.
Trevor Lawrence took the field for one final time to take a knee in victory formation and it was all over. The Tigers improved to 100-2 when leading in the 4th quarter under the leadership of Dabo Swinney. Their win earned them a spot in the 2020 CFP National Championship game against LSU on January 13th, 2020.
Written by Adrian Beecher
