Defense stands tall for Clemson against Oklahoma

The Clemson defense has had better games statistically this season than it did against Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl, but the Tigers’ performance with a spot in the national title game on the line was arguably the best one of the year.

Clemson’s defense had struggled to put teams away recently and was giving up too many big plays entering the matchup with the Sooners.

But facing its toughest challenge all year, the Tigers came up big time and time again.

“Tonight we showed what we haven’t in the second half this year, and that bite down mentality to close an opponent out and showing some toughness and focus like we needed to,” Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables said. “We tasted the blood in the water.”

Oklahoma entered the game having scored more than 50 points five times in its past seven games, but the Sooners managed only 17 in the loss to Clemson. Over that seven-game stretch, the Sooners ranked No. 1 in the country in points per game (52) and yards per game (593).

The Sooners managed only 378 total yards against the Tigers.

Venables said one of the keys to Clemson’s success was stopping Oklahoma’s two-headed monster at running back. Samaje Perine and Joe Mixon have combined for more than 2,000 yards, but finished with 18 carries for 62 yards against the Tigers.

“Not allowing them to run the ball, I think that was our secret sauce tonight. We sold out to stop the run,” Venables said.

Perhaps the biggest run stop came on a fourth-and-1 from the Clemson 30 in the third quarter. With Oklahoma trailing 23-17, Sooners quarterback Baker Mayfield was signaling to his offense as if he wanted to change the play. Instead, Oklahoma tried a direct snap to Perine.

The Clemson defense was ready and he was stuffed for no gain.

“We worked that play. On another fourth-and-1, they had run it earlier in the year,” Venables said. “We had the whole team down in the box. They had done that early in the year, and our guys had a good pad level and they were ready for it. That was a huge play in the game.”

Mayfield did pass for 311 yards, but most of those came in the first half. The Tigers missed several tackles and allowed Oklahoma to build a 17-16 lead before settling down in the second half and shutting out Oklahoma.

The Sooners had not been shut out in a half all season before Thursday.

“We were far from perfect,” Venables said. “We missed plenty of tackles, trust me. But I do think when we had to, we played our best.”

This story was originally published January 1, 2016 at 7:32 PM.