3 Reasons Why the Clemson Tigers Will Win the National Championship

Written by Max Mier

Twitter: @m_3times

On Monday, January 13, the No. 3 Clemson Tigers (14-0, 8-0 ACC) will take on the No. 1 LSU Tigers (14-0, 8-0 SEC) in the College Football National Championship Game. LSU comes into this game after dismantling Oklahoma in the semi-finals (63-28) putting to bed any doubt that they should be ranked No. 1 in the country. Clemson enters in different fashion, having battled back to grind out a tough win over Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl (29-23). Each team is looking to finish off their undefeated season in the best possible way; with a national championship.

This game will surely be a close contest throughout and come down to the wire, but here are the three main reasons why Clemson will win the game.

Clemson’s Defense

Clemson enters this game with the nation’s second-best defense in the country. They have been stout all season, giving up only 264 yards per game on average and totaling 41 sacks on the season. They are also an opportunistic bunch, gaining 30 turnovers on the season, including two timely interceptions in the win against Ohio State. After giving up a long opening drive leading to a field goal and a subsequent 1-play touchdown drive, the Clemson defense settled in to keep the Tigers in the game, holding Ohio State to only two field goals to close out the half forcing punts.

The offense finally joined the scoring late in the second quarter, putting together back-to-back touchdown drives to close out the half and the Tigers went to the locker room only down by two. In the second half, the Clemson defense kept the pressure on, shutting the Buckeyes out in the third quarter and ending a promising Ohio State drive with an interception. The Tigers gave up a touchdown early in the fourth quarter on a blown coverage, but it would be the only points they allowed in the second half, and they sealed the win for Clemson by picking off Justin Fields on the Buckeyes last drive of the game.

Ohio State entered the semifinal game with 87 offensive touchdowns, tied for best in the country with LSU, and the Clemson defense held them to only two touchdowns in the game. The Tigers defense showed the “bend but don’t break” mentality that makes them such an elite group by holding Ohio State to three field goals on three red zone drives and forcing two turnovers at key points in the game.

Resilience

Resilience will be a big factor in this game for Clemson, as the national championship will act as a pseudo-home game for LSU, being played only one hour and 20 minutes from the LSU campus. Clemson has shown its resilience all season, and their semi-final win over Ohio State was a fantastic showing of it. Despite being defending national champions, finishing a second-straight season undefeated, and ACC champions, Clemson entered the playoffs ranked No. 3 in the country, behind the only other undefeated teams in college football in LSU and Ohio State.

The Tigers held steady at No. 3 in the country all season, never being able to unseat Ohio State or LSU due to a lack in strength of schedule because of a poor ACC this season. Clemson did not boast any Top 10 wins, and their best wins of the season were merely an early season win over Texas A&M, who would finish 8-5, and a conference championship win over No. 24 Virginia. The semi-final match-up against Ohio State would by far be the biggest test of the season for Clemson, and a chance for them to prove they weren’t just a beneficiary of a bad conference.

The Tigers looked flat for most of the first half, falling behind 16-0. The offense couldn’t sustain any drives and if it weren’t for three big red zone stands by the defense, Clemson would have been facing an even larger deficit. Finally, at the seven-minute mark of the second quarter, the Tigers found their footing. The offense went on a 10-play 75-yard touchdown drive, and after the defense forced a quick three-and-out, the Tigers scored again to cut the deficit to only two points going into the break. On their second drive of the of third quarter, the Tigers went on a 7-play, 99-yard touchdown drive that lasted only two minutes and 45 seconds and took the lead. The defense kept the pressure on, holding Ohio State scoreless through the third quarter, but with 11:46 left in the fourth quarter the Buckeyes broke off a 23-yard touchdown on a fourth and 1 play to take the lead.

Clemson couldn’t respond and was forced to punt on their next drive, and after a short 10 play drive that milked the clock, Ohio State was forced to punt and give the ball back to Clemson. The Tigers got the ball back down two at their own 6-yard line with 2:55 on the clock. Four plays and 1:18 seconds later the Tigers took the lead and made the two-point conversion to take a 6-point lead. Ohio State drove down the field in an attempt to take the lead and win, but once again the defense stood tall and picked off Justin Fields in the end zone to seal the game for Clemson.

Trevor Lawrence

Perhaps no one player will have a bigger impact on this game for Clemson than sophomore quarterback Trevor Lawrence. After a mediocre start to his sophomore campaign and a close win over North Carolina, Lawrence has been brilliant for the Tigers throwing 22 touchdowns and zero interceptions over his last seven games. On the season Lawrence has thrown for over 3,400 yards and 36 touchdowns leading the Tigers to the third best offense in the country, averaging 538 yards per game. He has been masterful in prime-time, throwing for 933 yards, eight touchdowns and zero interceptions in his three career playoff games.

In addition to his excellence through the air, Lawrence showed his dual threat ability against Ohio State in the semi-final, running the ball a career high 16 times for 107 yards, including an impressive 67-yard scamper at the end of the first half that pulled Clemson right back into the game. LSU has been good against the run all year, giving up only 118 yards per game, but Lawrence’s ability to be effective running the ball will be help to open up space for Clemson’s star running back Travis Etienne. Lawrence has been his best in the biggest games of his career, and he will need to continue this streak to take some pressure off the Clemson defense and attack an LSU defense that has been middle of the road in the passing game, allowing over 3,100 yards through the air on the season.

*Get the perspective going the other way:

3 Reasons Why the LSU Tigers Will Win the National Championship

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Photo credit: Sports Illustrated; Trevor Lawrence