All month long Clemson nation heard it....they didn't stand a chance against LSU. That the Tigers were going to get another embarrassing bowl blowout loss for the second straight year....our defense wasn't good enough, we weren't tough enough up front.....Dabo was suspect in big time games and the list goes on and on. But in the words of Dabo himself, WHAT THEY SAY NOW?!?! Clemson came into the Chick-Fil-A Bowl and stunned the nation and booted LSU out of the Georgia Dome with a Game-winning 37 yard FG by Chandler Catanzaro aka "CatMan" as time expired. Things look rough early as Watkins fumbled and went down with a injury that sidelined him from the game and made Clemson basically re-make their entire game plan at a moments notice. But unlike the Clemson of the past, the Tigers responded and overcame two turnovers that led to 10 LSU points and a blocked extra point to rally from a 24-13 deficit in the fourth quarter to take the 25-24 victory. Lets take a look at some of the keys to Clemson's monumental win over the #8 LSU Tigers.
Lets start with the defense. We knew the offense could put up points but it was Clemson's defense that won this game. Clemson held LSU to ONE, YES (1) yard of offense in the fourth quarter. Again, that is not a typo. It happened. Look it up! The D-line of the Tigers gave LSU headaches all night and sacked QB Zach Mettenberger six times. Clemson forced three-and-outs all night and Clemson shut the door on LSU on 3rd and short on three separate occasions Monday night. Travis Blanks also had his first career interception in the defenses' stellar showing. Malliciah Goodman had the game of his life with 2.5 sacks and three tackles for loss and caused pressure and disrupted the LSU offense all night long. What a way for the senior to go out. Clemson played as physical as I've ever seen and didn't back down from LSU despite having a few blown plays that led to touchdowns for the Bayou Bengals.
Now on to Special Teams....this one kind of hurt us until the end. We had poor field position all night long and LSU conversely had much better starting places on their drives but the Tiger defense played inspired, smart and hard-nosed, SEC-style football and did their job to keep the Tigers in the game. And the Clemson offense did their job to keep drives alive and give the defense time to rest up. Kinda funny how the physicality thing kept coming up but in the end, it was LSU gasping for air and having numerous suspect "cramping issues" and injuries late in the game. Guess we showed who was tougher last night. That's what our offense can do to you, wear you down. More on that later though. In the end, hard to argue about special teams when you kick a game winning field goal to beat a team you had "no chance" against.
Okay, how bout that Clemson Offense!!!! Sweet little baby Jesus, Tajh Boyd is a grown man if I've ever seen one. He took a beating all night long from standing in the pocket to make throws to running the ball 29 times right down the throat of the LSU defense getting slammed every single time and popping right back up. Played the game of his life...look at his stat line, 36-50 passing, 346 yards, and 2 TDs and no turnovers. (Both Clemson Turnovers were fumbles--one by Watkins, one by Ellington) Boyd led this team like a true veteran and played like a man on a mission. And you can't say enough about our boy and my MVP of the year Deandre "NUUUUUUKKKKKK" Hopkins. Broke the Bowl record for receiving yards reeling in 191 yards on 13 catches for 2 laser TD passes both of which were caught in traffic in the end zone. Also have to mention the play of our tight end "Big Ford Diesel" Brandon Ford coming through with some big catches including a HUGE 30 yard catch to get Clemson down to the LSU 14 yard line when the Tigers were driving and down 24-16 with time quickly running out in the fourth quarter. And once again Roderick McDowell aka HOTROD came in with some big carries rushing for a very important 26 yards on the stat sheet on 7 carries. Clemson offense punched LSU in the mouth racking up 445 yards total offense and ran exactly 100 plays and simply beat down the LSU defense. They were cramping, they were tired and they were just flat out getting beat, and couldn't do a thing to stop it! Grown man football. SEC football...Clemson played like it belonged on the field and then some last night and deserved this win more than LSU. Bottom line.
Last I just want to talk about the heart of this team and coaching staff. With Watkins going out on the first play of the game we had to adjust our entire game plan and playbook for the night. Then LSU took the ball right at us and two plays later had the 7-0 lead. I've seen many times when we would have automatically laid down and took a beating. Even more so after we got down 24-13 in the second half. But Clemson came to win and never backed down. They kept clawing, kept fighting and pushed hard until they reached the finish line. I'm also glad that we showed some swagger and gut to ourselves when things got chippy. I don't condone fighting on the field at any degree but when you run your mouth and get up in our players face and push them around, you better know we are giving a little shove back and not backing down. Let them know you mean business and that you are going pop right back up and hit them in them in the mouth again the next play. Again, grown man football. Tough. Physical. Tighten up that chin strap and lets battle!!! I loved it. Never seen that from this team. We have to keep that going! That is how you win football games. Look at Alabama. Tough, physical and hit you hard EVERY play. We got the wood laid to us EVERY play but got right back up and lined up for the next play. It was a beautiful thing, folks! And to think 4th and 16...game on the line what do we do...throw it up to none other than Hopkins and he keeps the drive alive. That play will go down in Clemson history and will be talked about for the next 30 years.
I can't say enough about this team. 11-2 record and bowl champions over LSU. Headed to the off-season and in shape to have an even greater season in 2013. I'm disappointed in the so-called fans that left the game early but like I told some of my friends, I'm GLAD they missed the celebration afterwards cause they didn't deserve to share in this historic moment. Call me crazy but hands down I think this is the biggest win of my lifetime. At the prime age of 20 I can count the number of relevant bowl wins we've had in the last 20 years on one hand but this one will go down as one of the biggest ever.
Tombstone victory. This could be a great stepping stone into the 2013 season and I'm thrilled to see us take this momentum into next season when we open up at home against another great SEC team in the form of Georgia. Enjoy this one for a while Clemson nation, cause I know I'm going to! Happy New Year and Go Tigers!! See you in the REAL Death Valley in the fall! ALL IN....ALL THE FRIGGIN TIME! WE. TOO. DEEP! AYE! AYE!
Lets start with the defense. We knew the offense could put up points but it was Clemson's defense that won this game. Clemson held LSU to ONE, YES (1) yard of offense in the fourth quarter. Again, that is not a typo. It happened. Look it up! The D-line of the Tigers gave LSU headaches all night and sacked QB Zach Mettenberger six times. Clemson forced three-and-outs all night and Clemson shut the door on LSU on 3rd and short on three separate occasions Monday night. Travis Blanks also had his first career interception in the defenses' stellar showing. Malliciah Goodman had the game of his life with 2.5 sacks and three tackles for loss and caused pressure and disrupted the LSU offense all night long. What a way for the senior to go out. Clemson played as physical as I've ever seen and didn't back down from LSU despite having a few blown plays that led to touchdowns for the Bayou Bengals.
Now on to Special Teams....this one kind of hurt us until the end. We had poor field position all night long and LSU conversely had much better starting places on their drives but the Tiger defense played inspired, smart and hard-nosed, SEC-style football and did their job to keep the Tigers in the game. And the Clemson offense did their job to keep drives alive and give the defense time to rest up. Kinda funny how the physicality thing kept coming up but in the end, it was LSU gasping for air and having numerous suspect "cramping issues" and injuries late in the game. Guess we showed who was tougher last night. That's what our offense can do to you, wear you down. More on that later though. In the end, hard to argue about special teams when you kick a game winning field goal to beat a team you had "no chance" against.
Last I just want to talk about the heart of this team and coaching staff. With Watkins going out on the first play of the game we had to adjust our entire game plan and playbook for the night. Then LSU took the ball right at us and two plays later had the 7-0 lead. I've seen many times when we would have automatically laid down and took a beating. Even more so after we got down 24-13 in the second half. But Clemson came to win and never backed down. They kept clawing, kept fighting and pushed hard until they reached the finish line. I'm also glad that we showed some swagger and gut to ourselves when things got chippy. I don't condone fighting on the field at any degree but when you run your mouth and get up in our players face and push them around, you better know we are giving a little shove back and not backing down. Let them know you mean business and that you are going pop right back up and hit them in them in the mouth again the next play. Again, grown man football. Tough. Physical. Tighten up that chin strap and lets battle!!! I loved it. Never seen that from this team. We have to keep that going! That is how you win football games. Look at Alabama. Tough, physical and hit you hard EVERY play. We got the wood laid to us EVERY play but got right back up and lined up for the next play. It was a beautiful thing, folks! And to think 4th and 16...game on the line what do we do...throw it up to none other than Hopkins and he keeps the drive alive. That play will go down in Clemson history and will be talked about for the next 30 years.
I can't say enough about this team. 11-2 record and bowl champions over LSU. Headed to the off-season and in shape to have an even greater season in 2013. I'm disappointed in the so-called fans that left the game early but like I told some of my friends, I'm GLAD they missed the celebration afterwards cause they didn't deserve to share in this historic moment. Call me crazy but hands down I think this is the biggest win of my lifetime. At the prime age of 20 I can count the number of relevant bowl wins we've had in the last 20 years on one hand but this one will go down as one of the biggest ever. Tombstone victory. This could be a great stepping stone into the 2013 season and I'm thrilled to see us take this momentum into next season when we open up at home against another great SEC team in the form of Georgia. Enjoy this one for a while Clemson nation, cause I know I'm going to! Happy New Year and Go Tigers!! See you in the REAL Death Valley in the fall! ALL IN....ALL THE FRIGGIN TIME! WE. TOO. DEEP! AYE! AYE!