Just when we all thought that the 2014 BCS Bowls couldn’t get any more dramatic, along came the Orange Bowl at Sun Life Stadium down in Miami. And boy, did we see some wild and exciting football.
You figured Clemson would come in with a chip on their collective shoulder. Sun Life Stadium has not been a happy hunting ground for the Tigers.
In their previous appearance in the Orange Bowl in 2012 they were horrendous and paid the price, routed by a rampant West Virginia Mountaineers squad 70-33.
Nothing went well for Clemson that night, and those players still on the Tiger team – star quarterback Tajh Boyd among them – would have almost certainly come into the 2014 incarnation of the Orange Bowl wanting a measure of redemption.
Well, they got it, and Clemson, in the last year of the current and controversial post-season era, recorded their first BCS win.
After a penalty-filled start, including a brain-fade personal foul given up by Clemson’s All-American defensive end Vic Beasley which extended a drive that resulted in Ohio State’s opening touchdown – a 33-yard run by star Ohio State quarterback Braxton Miller – both teams settled in, and offensive fireworks ensued.
Early on, neither defence was getting any traction until (ironically) a safety, but this one was all about the offence.
Clemson wide receiver Sammy Watkins set an Orange Bowl record – no mean feat for a game that’s been played for 80 years – with 227 yards receiving on 16 catches, which doubles as a personal best.
Ohio State had their own big-time receiver, with Corey “Philly” Brown catching eight balls for 116 yards.
It seemed that every time Clemson needed a big play, Watkins provided. Likewise, when the Buckeyes needed a spark, it came by way of Brown.
Boyd (30-39 for 371 yards and five touchdowns) erased all the memories of the Orange Bowl disaster of two years ago, throwing for 378 yards and five touchdowns, including the game-winner – a five-yard pass off a brilliant play call to Stanton Seckinger, untouched and alone in the end zone.
As if that wasn’t more than enough, he added 128 yards and a score on the ground.
So Boyd’s final game as a Clemson Tiger will be remembered for him becoming the first quarterback in Orange Bowl history to throw for 300 yards and rush for 100 yards.
He also brought his team back from nine points down in the third quarter – there was a fumbled punt, followed by a Miller interception – courtesy of touchdown receptions to Watkins and the equally-impressive Martavis Bryant.
Thankfully for Boyd and Clemson after Boyd tossed a late-game interception, Ohio State gave it right back.
The quarterbacks playing a game of duelling turnovers, when Braxton Miller threw his own pick, Stephone Anthony gratefully accepting the second interception thrown by Miller in the last 3:12 of the game.
Clemson ran out the clock from there, preserving a wild 40-35 victory in a game that seesawed tremendously throughout.
Defensively, Clemson did better than I expected in terms of containing Miller. That isn’t an easy thing to do – just ask pretty much every other defence that the Buckeyes have played this year.
Yes, they gave up 30 points to the Buckeyes, but, compared to what Ohio State has done to other teams, that’s a mere drop in the ocean. I saw him live at Michigan Stadium in November and it’s an impressive sight to behold.
All season, Miller had made a living out of shredding opposition with his legs, dazzling people in the stands and watching on TV with his incredible athleticism and, moreover, his ability to escape and elude. It’s Manziel-like.
Clemson limited him to 35 yards on 18 carries, when you take away yardage from. A good result, even if two of those rushes went for touchdowns.
Overall, the Tigers had success limiting the Buckeye running game – just 181 yards on the night – which, of course, put the onus back on Miller to make throws or use his own legs to generate yards and plays.
But the Tigers always seemed to be there, harassing and hassling. Vic Beasley, the All-American, seemed to be right there in Miller’s grill every single play.
It seems silly to say that the Tigers’ defence was good when they gave up 427 yards, but they did enough when their team really needed it to deserve kudos.
The Orange Bowl concludes the ‘minor’ BCS Bowls, and I can’t remember a more entertaining series of football games than what we’ve seen since New Year’s Day.
I guess a little more defence wouldn’t have gone astray, but there’s been plenty of drama and action to go around nonetheless.
The college football world’s focus now turns to Monday night’s BCS National Championship Game at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.
Based on what we’ve seen over the past few days from the Orange, Sugar, Fiesta and Rose Bowls, it’s anyone’s guess as to what might transpire between No. 1 Florida State and No. 2 Auburn out west.
My tip? Florida State by 10.
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