On November 24, 1903 Clemson participated in its “First Bowl Game.”  The game between Clemson and Cumberland was billed as the game to decide the “Championship of the South,” as the winner would be the champion of the SIAA. Fritz Furtrick, the Tigers’ right halfback, had scored the tying touchdown by simply running up the middle over center as time expired.  Jock Hanvey kicked the extra point (two-point conversions were not legal in 1903).  The game was over and Clemson and Cumberland had tied 11-11.  The Tigers were co-champions of the south and the SIAA conference.  The third conference title for Clemson as the Tigers won the 1900 and 1902 championships. Read More

The Tigers entered the South Carolina game with a perfect 5-0 record and had yet to allow a point. Had there been national rankings in those days, the Tigers most certainly would have been considered a top-25 club. This was an important game versus the Gamecocks, because South Carolina was also 5-0 and was enjoying one of its best seasons in years. It was probably the greatest one-man defensive stand in Clemson football history. It is in fact the only time in recorded school history that one player had a tackle for loss on four consecutive plays. The four plays lost 27 yards, as the Tigers took over possession and momentum. This heroic feat changed the game in its early stages and Clemson went on to a resounding 32-0 victory. Read More

Clemson and Tulane had quite a rivalry in the late 1930s.   The Green Wave finished the year ranked #19 in the AP poll, the first team Clemson defeated that would finish the year ranked in the top 20.    This victory in New Orleans, the second game of the season, was the beginning of a great run for Clemson football under Jess Neely, as the Tigers went 16-2-1 over 1938 and 1939.   Junior Banks McFadden was all over the field as a defender, quarterback and punter.   Clemson’s only loss that year was to a Tennessee team that would finish 11-0 and ranked #2 in the nation.

On game day, The Tigers suddenly found themselves—a group of players from small-town environments, playing big-time football. Of the 11 starters, 10 were from the state of South Carolina. Neely rewarded the team for its efforts by taking all 51 players to Dallas for the game with Boston College.  The trip was made by a long train ride. Banks McFadden effectively bottled up the Eagles with his punting.  His 44-yard average on nine kicks, including two boots for 51 and 55 yards in the second half, prevented Boston College from getting good field position, and the Clemson defense made the 6-3 score stand. Timmons led Clemson with 115 yards on 27 carries. Defensively, McFadden, who averaged 43 yards per punt on the day as well, reportedly went sideline-to-sideline knocking down Charlie O’Rourke’s passes. The Eagles finished the afternoon completing only four of 23 passes, with one interception. As a whole, Boston College netted only 102 yards of total offense.

The 1948 season was a significant landmark in Clemson history. Believe it or not, Frank Howard was on the “hot seat” entering the season. The Tigers were coming off back-to-back 4-5 seasons. Clemson jumped to a 14-0 advantage in the first quarter on two Fred Cone touchdowns, but Missouri answered in the second quarter to tie the score at halftime 14-14. Missouri drove for a touchdown with five minutes left in the game to make the score 24-23. Missouri did not have the option to go for two points because the rule did not come into existence until 1958. On the next drive with just three minutes left, Clemson faced a fourth-and-three at the Missouri 45. Howard called a running play for Cone. He ran over left tackle and hit a stone wall, but he kept digging, slid off to the outside and found some wiggle room. He turned a “nothing” play into a six-yard gain and a first down at the Missouri 39. The Tigers ran out the remaining time and had the victory and the school’s first perfect season since 1900. Read More

The Tigers completed an undefeated season in 1950 and Clemson’s  8-0-1 mark and second-place finish in the Southern Conference earned them a bid to play Miami, who was also undefeated at 9-0-1, in the 17th Orange Bowl. Harry Mallios’ 80-yard punt return was called back and two clipping infractions and one unnecessary roughness penalty put Miami in a deep hole with six minutes left in the game.  Frank Smith took a pitch-out from Hackett, but before Smith could get out of the end zone, Sterling Smith, a defensive guard for Clemson, tripped him up for a safety, and Clemson led 15-14. Don Wade ended the last Miami threat with an interception, his second of the game, and Clemson ran out the clock for the win.

In a matchup of former Clemson coach Jess Neely against current Clemson coach Frank Howard, Clemson won a battle of teams that were unranked at the time of the Nov. 2 game, but would both finish in the top 20 in the UPI Coaches poll.  Rice finished #8 by AP and #7 by UPI. After losing to Clemson, Rice would go on to beat #1 ranked Texas A&M and win the Southwest Conference.   Quarterback Harvey White, who would earn first-team All-ACC honors as a sophomore that year, won the battle of quarterbacks as Rice was led by future NFL starters King Hill and Frank Ryan.  Clemson won six of its last seven and finished #18 in the UPI Coaches Poll.

Clemson started the scoring with a 22-yard field goal by Lon Armstrong, but TCU’s struck back with a 19-yard pass from Jack Redding to Harry Moreland with 5:45 left in the first half, to give the Frogs a 7-3 halftime lead. The game went scoreless in the third period, but in the fourth quarter, Harvey White threw a pass to Gary Barnes, who galloped in for a touchdown to give the Tigers the lead. Two plays later, Donald George’s pass was intercepted by Armstrong. Clemson scored 13 more points with the help of Lowndes Shingler, as the Tigers won 20-7. Shingler ran for 65 yards on 3 carries, and threw for 24 yards on 2 for 4 passing. White went 4 for 9 with 69 yards passing and 1 interception

On November 18, 1967, it probably was the shoes that enabled Clemson to upset 10th-ranked N.C. State, 14-6 in Clemson’s first-ever win over a top-10 team in Death Valley. N.C. State started wearing the white shoes on defense when left cornerback Bill Morrow noticed a member of the Kansas City Chiefs wearing white shoes. In the week before the game, a few of the Clemson players wanted to paint their shoes orange to counteract the perceived intangible advantage of N.C. State’s white shoes. “I remember a lot of players got together and we decided to paint our shoes orange,” recalled former Clemson tailback Buddy Gore. Read More

Is it possible for one game to change a football program? Could a regular-season game have that much impact? If one game can change a program’s direction, the 1977 Georgia game in Athens did just that for the Clemson Tigers. This was the setting when Clemson and Georgia played on September 17, 1977. The facts of the rainy afternoon were pretty simple. It was a day for the defenses on both sides, as the wet ball hampered the offenses as well.Clemson’s quarterback, Steve Fuller, had a tough first half, completing just one of six passes. Bulldog signal caller Jeff Pyburn did not fare much better, as Clemson intercepted two of his first-half passes. Clemson’s only score came in the third quarter. A Fuller to Jerry Butler hookup put the ball at the Bulldog 23. Two plays later and facing a third-and-10, Fuller hit Dwight Clark for a 17-yard gain to the six. Lester Brown punched the ball in from three yards out and the Tigers led 7-0. Clemson had held on for a 7-6 win over the #17 Bulldogs. Read More

Jerry Butler made a diving backwards reception of a 20-yard pass from Steve Fuller with 49 seconds remaining, giving the Tigers a 31-27 victory in Columbia. The play might be regarded as the most famous in Clemson history. The victory gave the Tigers an 8-3 record and a bid to the Gator Bowl, Clemson’s first bowl bid in 18 years. Read More

Steve Fuller’s touchdown pass plays of 87 and 62 yards twice rallied Clemson from 7‐point third‐quarter deficits and the 12th‐ranked Tigers beat 11thranked Maryland, 28.24, today on Lester Brown’s 5‐yard fourth‐period run. The victory gave Clemson a 9‐1 record and its first Atlantic Coast Conference championship since 1967, With a 6‐0 record. Maryland finished the regular season with a 9‐2 mark, including 5‐1 in the A.C. Read More

Danny Ford made his Clemson debut as head coach in grand style with a 17-15 victory over Ohio State and coaching legend Woody Hayes to close the 1978 season.  The victory gave the Tigers a final record of 11-1, tying the school record (at the time) for victories in a season.  With the win Clemson finished tied for sixth with a Joe Montana led Notre Dame team in the UPI Coaches poll, and sixth all alone by Associated Press.Ford had been named head coach of the Tigers on December 10 after Charley Pell had resigned as head coach to lead the Florida program.  Ford was just 30 years old at the time, the youngest head coach in the nation.  He would go on to coach Clemson to the 1981 National Championship at the age of 33, still the youngest head coach to win the national championship. Read More

One of Danny Ford’s greatest accomplishments took place at Notre Dame, Ind., on Nov. 16, 1979, when he led Clemson to a 16-10 victory over Notre Dame. ” Ford is still the youngest coach to beat Notre Dame in that facility since 1934 and the second-youngest since it was built 85 years ago. Entering the 1979 season, Notre Dame had won two of the last six national titles, including 1977 with one of the most talented teams in history. The Fighting Irish finished in the top 10 nationally 11 times in the 15-year period between 1964-78. It had won a bowl game six of the previous eight years, including four in what were considered “major bowls,” and was the seventh-winningest program in the 1970s.“One thing I remember about that game was our players being concerned in pregame that they couldn’t run on that tall rye grass,” Ford said with a laugh. “Although we went to the stadium on Friday afternoon, we couldn’t get on the field to work out and run on it. So we didn’t know how slippery the grass was until pregame. I remember just about everyone changing shoes in the locker room before the game.” Read More

Perhaps South Carolina’s greatest team, led by Heisman Trophy-winner George Rogers, was upset by Clemson 27-6. Willie Underwood intercepted the first two passes of his career to lead the Tigers to victory. It would springboard Clemson to the 1981 national championship. Read More

Fourth-ranked Georgia had won the National Championship the preceding season and the Bulldogs were still undefeated in 1981 coming to Death Valley. Just a sophomore at the time, Walker was the biggest figure in college football. He had led Georgia to the National Championship as a freshman and was on the cover of just about every preseason magazine for 1981. But, he never scored a touchdown against the Tigers and the 1981 contest in Death Valley would be the only regular-season loss of his Georgia career. Read More

After a scoreless first quarter, North Carolina took a 3-0 lead, but the Tigers came roaring back, driving 81 yards in 14 plays, with Jeff McCall going the final seven yards for the score. A blocked punt through the end zone gave UNC a safety, and the Tigers led 7-5 at the break. The Tigers added to their margin seven minutes into the second half with a 39-yard Igweuike field goal. . But the Tar Heels dug themselves out of the hole and were marching down the field. What happen next was quite possibly the biggest play of the season. North Carolina quarterback Scott Stankavage flipped a screen pass to fullback Allan Burrus in the right flat at the Carolina 40. Burrus bobbled the ball and it fell to ground. Read More

Any Clemson football fan with a pulse on Jan. 1, 1982 remembers where they were when Clemson beat Nebraska in the Orange Bowl, 22-15. Climbing out onto the biggest stage in school history, the Tigers unceremoniously muscled past traditional national powers Nebraska, Georgia, Alabama, Pitt, Penn State and Texas to seize the 1981 National Championship.. Read More

Following a Georgia win at Clemson in 1985, the two teams met as top-20 teams in Athens in 1986.  This game was close like all the others, but it was high scoring.  Clemson made many big plays behind Terrence Flagler, who was in the early stages of an All-America season.  Rodney Williams had one of his better days throwing the ball, while Athens-native Norman Haynes led the defense with 14 tackles. In the end, Clemson had the ball last and Williams made some key plays with Flagler, setting up David Treadwell for a 46-yard field goal.  His game-winning attempt was true, the longest field goal of his career, and the Tigers had a 31-28 victory. Read More

“Our game plan coming into the game was to throw the ball on first down to keep Penn State off balance because they were so good against the run,” Williams said after the game. “We decided we were going to come in and throw the ball a lot more than we did in the regular season.” The plan worked perfectly, as Clemson racked up 499 total yards in a 35-10 victory. Williams was named the game’s Most Valuable Player, the second straight year he was named the MVP of a bowl game. Read More

Clemson won a defensive struggle in Barry Switzer’s last game as Oklahoma coach. Terry Allen was the only player to score a touchdown in the game, a four-yard run that came in the fourth period.   Oklahoma drove to the Clemson 14 with just seconds left, but Dexter Davis broke up a Jamelle Holieway pass in the endzone to give Clemson the victory and a final top 10 ranking.

Former Clemson Head Coach Danny Ford praised his team for their performance and credited the poise of the Tigers for the win.   “I’m very proud of you for the game you played,” Clemson Head Coach Danny Ford told his players in the locker room after the convincing Tiger win.  “I’m very proud of you for the game you played.  You came into a very hostile place and I couldn’t have asked any better of you.   The third quarter was a little shaky, but we came back and got a score of our own.   You all did what you had to do and that is the mark of a great team against some pretty big odds.”   Coach Ford had this to say to the media:  “We were able to put some heat on the quarterback in the second half.   They’re a tremendous offensive football team and they kept me scared to death the entire game.   We had to have some people play better than they are able to and to have some others whip some people, and we did a pretty good job of accomplishing that,” said Ford.   Clemson went from this early victory over the Seminoles to finish with a 10-2 record overall. Read More

Clemson’s defense became West Virginia’s nightmare in the Gator Bowl game Saturday night. “They ran us down from behind and from everyplace else,” West Virginia Coach Don Nehlen said after the Tigers capitalized on four second-half turnovers and beat the Mountaineers, 27-7. Clemson linebacker Levon Kirkland said the Tigers’ speed overwhelmed West Virginia, frustrating quarterback Major Harris, who committed all four turnovers. “He really hadn’t seen speed like we had,” Kirkland said. “We weren’t playing Harris, we were playing the whole team. Read More

Virginia squandered a 28-point lead to a Clemson football team that staged the greatest comeback in the school’s history today, prevailing, 29-28, on Nelson Welch’s 32-yard field goal with 55 seconds left in a game that will not be soon forgotten by either side or the stunned crowd of 44,400 at Scott Stadium.Led by reserve redshirt freshman quarterback Louis Solomon, Clemson shredded 10th-ranked Virginia’s proud defense with flim-flam option heroics and heavy-duty inside running by a bevy of burly backs, handing the Cavaliers their first loss of the season. Read More

Clemson’s 16-14 victory marked the fourth straight year that Clemson had beaten South Carolina. This is the first time Clemson has defeated South Carolina four consecutive years since the 1988-91 era. This group of 19 seniors is the 10tth Clemson senior class to defeat South Carolina four consecutive years, just the third since 1940. The others are the seniors of 1991 and 1983. Read More

Woody Dantzler has already pulled off two mind-boggling plays. The winning score must have looked easy. The Clemson quarterback capped a brilliant game by running 11 yards for a touchdown in overtime, giving the Tigers a 47-44 upset of No. 9 Georgia Tech on Saturday. It was a fitting end to a thriller that featured seven lead changes after halftime. After all, Dantzler scrambled 38 yards for a touchdown on the final play of the first half. Then, he pulled his team from the brink of defeat with a 63-yard scoring pass to J.J. McKelvey late in regulation. Read More

Tommy Bowden finally got the better of dear old dad. Charlie Whitehurst threw for one touchdown and ran for another and Clemson likely ended Florida State’s national title aspirations with its first victory ever over a top three team, 26-10 Saturday night. The Tigers (6-4, 4-3 ACC) snapped an 11-game losing streak to the third-ranked Seminoles and gave Tommy Bowden his first win in five tries over his father, Bobby. Fans tore down both goalposts after Clemson’s biggest win in years. Read More

This is Clemson’s second win over a top 10 team this year, as Tennessee was sixth entering the game and Florida State was third. This is the first time since the 1981 National Championship season that Clemson has beaten two top 10 teams in the same season. Clemson defeated three top 10 teams that year, including fourth-ranked Nebraska in the Orange Bowl. That is the only other time Clemson has defeated more than one top 10 team in the same year. Read More

With a little “Thunder” and “Lightning,” Clemson showed who’s tops in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Behind James “Thunder” Davis, C.J. “Lightning” Spiller and a defense that held Georgia Tech star Calvin Johnson without a catch for the first time in his career, the 12th-ranked Tigers got a surprisingly easy 31-7 victory over the 13th-ranked Yellow Jackets.

Mark Buchholz hit a 35-yard field as time expired to give No. 21 Clemson a 23-21 victory over South Carolina and leave Gamecocks coach Steve Spurrier with the longest losing streak of his college career.

Buchholz, who starred on the Tiger soccer team that fall, had missed two earlier field-goal attempts. But he nailed the one that counted most and his teammates leaped in celebration at Williams-Brice Stadium. Read More

James Davis ran for three touchdowns to lift Clemson to a 31-14 victory over South Carolina on Saturday, the Tigers’ sixth win in the past seven games against its state rival.

Now, the Tigers (7-5) get to keep playing after qualifying for the postseason — and maybe interim coach Dabo Swinney gets to hold on to the job a little longer.

Swinney took over on Oct. 13 when Tommy Bowden walked away with the Tigers’ expected Atlantic Coast Conference title season in shambles.

Almost from the start, Swinney made every right move. None, though, was bigger than letting Clemson’s best playmakers make the plays. That showed against South Carolina (7-5).

Kyle Parker threw a 26-yard touchdown pass to Jacoby Ford in overtime, giving Clemson a 40-37 win over No. 8 Miami on Saturday night.

Matt Bosher kicked a 22-yard field goal on Miami’s overtime possession, but on third-and-11, Parker’s third TD pass of the night gave the Tigers (4-3, 3-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) their first win over a ranked opponent in nine games — and dealt Miami’s ACC hopes a serious blow. C.J. Spiller had a 90-yard kickoff return and a school-record 310 all-purpose yards for Clemson.Read More

Dabo Swinney understands the kind of pressure that comes with a long winning streak. He was part of one himself when he was a player and coach at Alabama in the 1990s.

But, don’t think for a second Swinney was feeling sorry for 21st-ranked Auburn after his Tigers snapped the SEC Tigers 17-game winning streak with a 38-24 victory in Death Valley Saturday.

“I know how hard that is to do,” Swinney said. “They were a very good champion, but I’m glad it ended in Death Valley today.”

The nation’s longest winning streak ended thanks to a 386-yard, four-touchdown afternoon from Clemson quarterback Tajh Boyd, and 155 receiving yards from freshman sensation Sammy Watkins. In all, the Tigers (3-0) amassed 624 yards, while outscoring Auburn 31-3 from the midway part of the second quarter on. Read More

Two weeks of frustration were cured in one quarter Saturday night at Bank of America Stadium as the 20th-ranked Tigers scored 21 points in the third quarter to beat No. 3 Virginia Tech 38-10 to win their first ACC Championship in 20 years.

“We’re a championship program and tonight we added to a great tradition,” Clemson Head Coach Dabo Swinney said. “And I think this was our 18th (conference title) overall and 14th ACC Conference Championship.

“It’s our first time to win 10 games in 20 years. It’s our first time to win an ACC Championship in 20 years, first time to go to the Orange Bowl in 30 years… So it’s just great to be a Tiger, and we’re 10-3, and we’re excited about representing the ACC in the Discover Orange Bowl.”

Talk about responding to adversity. And talk about ringing in the New Year with a bang.

Clemson must have thought it was in for a long night after what could only be called the most inauspicious of starts. Instead, the Tigers showed the mettle to produce one of their most meaningful wins of recent vintage.

Down 24-13 to No. 7 LSU going into the fourth quarter, Dabo Swinney‘s team came off the mat to score three times in the final stanza against one of the nation’s staunchest defenses, and Chandler Catanzaro‘s 37-yard field goal as time expired lifted his team to a 25-24 victory in the Chick-fil-A Bowl on Monday night at the Georgia Dome.

“This is a landmark win,” Swinney said afterward. “An 11th win for the first time in 31 years and only the fourth time ever – 1948, 1978, and 1981. The 2012 team now hitches their saddle up with those three elite teams in our program’s history.”

Clemson became the first non-Southeastern Conference team in college football history to defeat top-10 SEC opponents in consecutive games with its 38-35 win over Georgia on Saturday night.

But that factoid had little to do with what transpired on the field, according to Tiger head coach Dabo Swinney.

“We’ve got all the respect in the world for the SEC, but it’s not about a league – it’s about a program, bottom line” Swinney said. “We love being in the ACC and we’re very proud of all that stuff, but we’re worried about Clemson. And these guys don’t feel like they take a backseat to anybody.”

Brent Venables bristled a bit earlier in the week when he was asked about the Orange Bowl against Ohio State being billed as a shootout.

While the final score, 40-35 for Clemson, may have indicated that was the case, its defensive coordinator could smile afterward knowing his unit made the plays that made the difference.

The Tigers (11-2) forced four second-half turnovers, including two interceptions on the Buckeyes’ final two possessions, to rally from a halftime deficit for a BCS bowl win and a second straight 11-win season – both firsts in school history.

“It means we’re one step closer to our goal, which is to be the best in the country,” head coach Dabo Swinney said. “Ohio State, what a great football team. … You don’t luck up and get to BCS games. You earn your way there. And you don’t luck up and win them. You’ve got to earn it on the field.”

Enough was enough for No. 23 Clemson, especially the seniors. And three freshmen who don’t know what losing to South Carolina (6-6) is like get to keep it that way for at least another year.

After five straight years on the short end, Clemson (9-3) finally broke through and won The Palmetto Bowl by a score of 35-17 and brought an end to a losing streak that kept many from realizing just how outstanding the program has been over the last several years.

New to the rivalry, quarterback Deshaun Watson (14-19 passing for 269 yards and four total touchdowns), running back Wayne Gallman (27 carries for 191 yards and one touchdown) and wide receiver Artavis Scott (seven catches for 185 yards and two touchdowns) helped deliver long-awaited relief to the Clemson program and its fanbase. The contest marked the first time that Clemson had a 250-yard passer, 180-yard rusher and 180-yard receiver in the same game – and it happened with three freshmen. Scott also totaled the most receiving yards by a Tiger in Memorial Stadium history. Read More

The No. 11 Clemson Tigers battled No. 6 Notre Dame through torrential rains from Hurricane Joaquin under the lights on Saturday night. But the wet weather did not hold the Tigers back in a hard-fought 24-22 victory in front of 82,415 fans at Memorial Stadium.

Head coach Dabo Swinney credited not only his team, but also the Clemson fans with the night’s win.

“I am so proud of our team,” said Swinney. “They played with a lot of heart and a lot of guts. First of all, I want to thank our fans…they were unbelievable. I told our team they showed up to make sure that we showed up. It was a magical night and definitely one I will never forget.” Read More

The top-ranked Clemson Tigers gave an ACC Championship Game record crowd of 74,514 a show on Saturday at Bank of America Stadium. Behind the dual-threat capabilities of quarterback Deshaun Watson, the Tigers won 45-37 and moved to 13-0 on the season and secured the program’s 15th ACC Championship in its history.

The lead held at 12 midway through the fourth quarter when defensive end Shaq Lawson came up with a huge forced fumble and sack that gave the Tigers possession. After tacking on a field goal, Clemson had to hang on late and recover an onside kick after the Tar Heels cut the deficit to eight points. Read More

A dominant second half on both sides of the ball propelled the No. 1 ranked Clemson Tigers to a 37-17 win over Oklahoma in the Capital One Orange Bowl on Thursday at Sun Life Stadium. With the win, the Tigers advanced to the College Football Playoff National Championship in Glendale, Ariz., on Monday, January 11.

The ground attack of Deshaun Watson and Wayne Gallman once again proved to be a formidable 1-2 punch, and the Tiger defense stiffened in the second half with a performance that evoked memories of the 2014 Russell Athletic Bowl, a 40-6 win over the Sooners. Watson, named the game’s Most Valuable Offensive Player, finished with 24 carries for 145 yards and a touchdown, while Gallman rushed for 150 yards and a score on 26 carries. The Tigers finished with a school bowl-record 312 yards, and held the Sooners to just 67 for the game on the ground.

Marcus Edmond tackled James Quick one yard shy of a first down at the three yard line on fourth down with 33 seconds left in the game, as No. 3 Clemson held on for a thrilling 42-36 win over No. 3 Louisville at Memorial Stadium on Saturday night.

Led by quarterback Deshaun Watson, who was 20-31 passing for 306 yards and five touchdowns, the Tigers (5-0, 2-0 ACC) came out on top of the back-and-forth matchup featuring electrifying offensive displays from both teams. Clemson also upped its home winning streak to 19, the longest active streak in the nation. Read More 

Third-ranked Clemson trailed Florida State 28-20 entering the fourth quarter on Saturday, but showed its mettle late in a 37-34 come from behind win to stun the Seminoles in Doak Campbell Stadium. Jordan Leggett provided the go-ahead touchdown with 2:06 remaining, and Clemson pushed its perfect record to 8-0 (5-0 in the ACC) on the season. Florida State dropped to 5-3 (2-3) with the loss. It was Clemson’s first win in Tallahassee since 2006, and only the second win for the Tiger program at Doak Campbell Stadium since the Seminoles joined the ACC in 1992.

No. 2 Clemson jumped out to a 17-0 halftime lead and cruised to a 31-0 victory over No. 3 Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl at University of Phoenix Stadium on Saturday. The Tigers, who improved to 13-1, handed Buckeye head coach Urban Meyer his first shutout loss. It was also the highest-ranked team Clemson has ever defeated, as Ohio State was ranked No. 2 in the AP and coaches polls.

Quarterback Deshaun Watson and defensive end Clelin Ferrell earned MVP honors. Watson, the Offensive MVP, was 23-36 passing for 259 yards and a touchdown. The junior also had 57 yards and two scores on 15 carries. Wayne Gallman added 85 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries. Ferrell ignited a dominant performance by the Tiger defense, who limited Ohio State to just 215 total yards. Ferrell had three tackles for loss and a sack.

Deshaun Watson’s touchdown pass to Hunter Renfrow with one second left sealed one of the greatest National Championship battles in history, with Clemson winning its second crown ever after a 35-31 defeat of No. 1 Alabama. It was the first win in program history over the nation’s top-ranked team.

“The difference in the game was the love we had for each other,” said head coach Dabo Swinney. “This was a blessing, and it’s surreal. Eight years ago, Terry Don Phillips gave me a chance to lead this program. We set out to put Clemson back on top. We came up short last year, but tonight the Clemson flag is flying at the top of that mountain.

Fueled by a balanced offensive attack and a stifling defensive performance, the No. 1 Clemson football team won its third straight and 17th all-time ACC Championship, defeating the No. 7 Miami Hurricanes 38-3 on Saturday at Bank of America Stadium. With the win, Clemson improved to 12-1 overall, while Miami moved to 10-2.

Offensively, the Tigers were sparked by Kelly Bryant, who completed his first 15 passes for 164 yards and finished the game with 252 yards and one passing touchdown on a career-high 23 completions after connecting with 10 different receivers. The ground game proved strong as well, as four different Tigers rushed for scores. The Clemson defense held Miami to just 22 yards of offense in the first quarter and 214 for the whole game while also forcing three Hurricane turnovers in the third quarter alone. Read More

The No. 2 Clemson football team advanced to its third College Football Playoff National Championship in four years by defeating the No. 3 Notre Dame Fighting Irish, 30-3, on Saturday afternoon in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic at AT&T Stadium. With the win, Clemson remained undefeated at 14-0 overall, while Notre Dame concluded its season at 12-1.

Trevor Lawrence completed 27 of 39 pass attempts for 327 yards and three touchdowns, including 19 of 26 for 264 yards and a pair of touchdown passes to Justyn Ross in the first half alone. Travis Etienne ran for 109 yards on 14 carries, including a 62-yard touchdown run that pushed him past Wayne Gallman’s 2015 mark for the most rushing yards in a single season. Austin Bryant’s two sacks and six total tackles were one of the main sparks of a defensive effort that only allowed three points to a Notre Dame team averaging over 33 per game this season.

The No. 2 Clemson football team defeated the No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide in resounding fashion, 44-16, en route to winning the College Football Playoff National Championship on Monday night at Levi’s Stadium. With the win, Clemson finished the season with a perfect 15-0 record, making the 2018-19 Tiger squad the first major college football team in the modern era to go 15-0, while Alabama ended the year at 14-1.

Trevor Lawrence completed 20 of 32 pass attempts for 347 yards and three touchdowns, and of the nine receivers he connected with, Justyn Ross was his favorite, as the wideout amassed 153 yards and a score on six catches. Travis Etienne also added a pair of touchdowns the ground and totaled 86 yards on 14 carries. The Tiger defense held the Tide offense, which had been averaging almost 48 points per game, to just 16 first-half points and was led by Trayvon Mullen, who had six solo tackles, including a sack, an interception and a forced fumble. Read More

Trevor Lawrence connected with Travis Etienne with 1:49 left in the fourth quarter to give No. 3 Clemson the lead and Nolan Turner intercepted Justin Fields in the endzone with 37 seconds remaining, as the Tigers (14-0) erased a 16-point first half deficit to defeat No. 2 Ohio State 29-23 in the Playstation Fiesta Bowl in the College Football Playoff on Saturday night.

Clemson heads to New Orleans, La. for a chance at its third College Football Playoff National Championship in four years. The Tigers face No. 1 LSU on Jan. 13 at 8 p.m. EST on ESPN. It is Clemson’s fourth national championship game appearance in five years.

The win extended Clemson’s nation’s-best 29-game winning streak. The Tigers trailed 16-0 in the first half before two touchdowns in the second quarter cut into the Buckeye lead to 16-14. Clemson scored a touchdown in the third quarter to take a 21-16 lead into the fourth quarter.