Rex Brown/Courtesy The Journal

(Left) Clemson defensive tackle Christian Wilkins sprints downfield after catching a pass from punter Andy Teasdall on a fake play (Right) Clemson’s Shaq Lawson, a former Daniel High School star, sacks Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield during the Orange Bowl.

By Eric Sprott
Courtesy The Journal

rtinsley@upstatetoday.com

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — When Deshaun Watson was intercepted just before halftime Thursday night, Oklahoma seemed to have everything going in its favor heading into the break.

The Sooners found themselves with a one-point lead, and they made no secret about how happy they were, as quarterback Baker Mayfield took off and celebrated their 17-16 advantage in front of a large section of Oklahoma fans. Add in the fact they had all the momentum following the interception and were enjoying the prospect of not having to face Clemson defensive end Shaq Lawson for the remainder of the night, and things were downright peachy for the Sooners.

Rex Brown/Courtesy The Journal
A gang of Clemson defenders takes down Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield on Thursday.

But that was the last bit of celebrating for Oklahoma on the night, as the Tigers’ defense put the clamps down, shutting out the Sooners the rest of the way and holding them to just 121 yards in the second half on the way to their 37-17 victory, which secured them a spot in the College Football Playoff national championship game in Glendale, Ariz., on Jan. 11.

“They’re a good team, but they just ran into us today,” Clemson defensive tackle D.J. Reader said. “We eliminated our mistakes, and we felt like we did a great job coming out and setting up the second half. We felt disrespected, and we felt like we were going to take over.”

After the No. 1 Tigers (14-0) came out and scored on their first drive to take the lead for good at 23-17, Reader helped set the tone early in the second half.

The No. 4 Sooners (11-2) saw Mayfield throw an incomplete pass on first down, and Reader followed with a crushing blow to Samaje Perine — a 3-yard loss — that sent the Oklahoma back out of the game, then Kevin Dodd came up a 9-yard sack to end the drive.

“We pretty much turned it loose after halftime,” said Dodd, the Tigers’ starter opposite of Lawson. “Shaq told me I had to step it up a little bit, and he was pretty much crying and in tears.”

Lawson, a Daniel High School graduate who recently earned first-team All-American honors, said after the game he expects to be back in time for the title game, saying his knee injury doesn’t feel overly serious.

“It’s just a banged-up knee — nothing too serious,” he said. “I’ll probably get an MRI on Monday and make sure it’s not too bad. I’m going to play still.”

And he was certainly not surprised with how the Tigers’ defense responded in the second half, shutting down one of the nation’s most prolific offenses, which was second in the country in points per game (45.8) and sixth in total offense (542.9 yads per game).

The Sooners finished with just 378 total yards, and the Tigers finished with five sacks and interceptions from both B.J. Goodson and Ben Boulware, the latter of whom was named the game’s Defensive MVP after his interception with 7:23 left to play virtually iced the game.

“They played great,” Lawson said. “That just shows what our team can do. I’m just proud of all them boys.”

Funnily enough, defensive coordinator Brent Venables said in the locker room following the game he didn’t even know Lawson was out after his first-quarter sack of Mayfield.

“I saw him limping around without his pads at halftime,” Venables, a longtime Oklahoma assistant, said. “I was like, ‘What the heck happened to you?’ I had no idea … I’m just calling the defense.

“So, really, I didn’t find (Austin) Bryant and (Richard) Yeargin and say, ‘OK, now you’ve got to play like Shaq.’ No, I expected them to do that.”

The Tigers’ defense has made a habit of letting teams hang around, particular late in the season, which many pundits pointed to as a weakness heading into the Orange Bowl, in part helping make Clemson a three-point underdog according to Las Vegas odds.

The way the Tigers finished against Oklahoma, Venables said, was a return to form — made that much more impressive without Lawson for the majority of the night.

“I thought we made enough plays as a team on defense in the second half to pull away and finish the job,” he said. “We hadn’t really done that in the second half of the year where we took control.

“We were a lot better than dysfunctionally good. We had been that the second half of the year, but tonight, we looked like a really good football team.”

“Our goal is to beat them every snap,” Boulware added. “I think we did that tonight.”