Oklahoma Football: Sooners Gassed, Gashed by Clemson Ground Assault

The 2015 Oklahoma football season came to a crushing end in a 37-17 Orange Bowl loss in the College Football Playoff to top-ranked Clemson.

The Sooners never were able to establish a running game, and by the end of the game they were without the two guys they had counted on all season to carry the ground game. Samaje Perine and Joe Mixon both went down with injuries in this game. Perine left the game in the third quarter with an apparent ankle injury, and shortly after Perine left the game, Mixon was injured throwing a block on a Clemson defender. Perine would re-enter the contest, but Mixon was done for the game

The wasn’t much that went right for Oklahoma in this game.

Unable to get anything going on the ground left the high-powered Oklahoma offense one dimensional  and vulnerable to the Clemson pass rush, which had Baker Mayfield in their sights and scrambling for his life a good part of the game and especially in the second half when the Sooner offense became way too predictable.

Dec 31, 2015; Miami Gardens, FL, USA; Oklahoma Sooners wide receiver Dede Westbrook (11) controls the ball against Clemson Tigers safety T.J. Green (15) during the second quarter of the 2015 CFP semifinal at the Orange Bowl at Sun Life Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 31, 2015; Miami Gardens, FL, USA; Oklahoma Sooners wide receiver Dede Westbrook (11) controls the ball against Clemson Tigers safety T.J. Green (15) during the second quarter of the 2015 CFP semifinal at the Orange Bowl at Sun Life Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

The Sooners took the opening kickoff and marched 75 yards downfield in 10 plays to take an early 7-0 lead and led 7-3 at the end of the opening quarter. The Clemson offense got off to a slow start its first couple of possessions, but definitely had things rolling in the second quarter.

The gap in the quarterback talent that the Sooners faced in their final three wins in the regular season and the degree of difficulty posed by Clemson QB and third-place Heisman vote-getter this season, Deshaun Watson, became readily apparent in the second quarter. Watson repeatedly called his own number in the first half, gaining over 100 rushing yards in the opening 30 minutes alone. It was a five-yard touchdown run by Watson with just over two minutes gone in the second quarter that gave the Tigers their first lead of the game, 10-7

Top-ranked Clemson all but owned the second quarter, but Mayfield led Oklahoma on a four-play, 76-yard touchdown drive in just 43 seconds, the big play a 42-yard pass from Mayfield to Dede Westbrook, followed by an 11-yard scoring pass to tight end Mark Andrews. That turned a 16-10 Clemson lead into a one-point OU advantage at 17-16.

Clemson had an opportunity to regain the lead, marching 65 yards in a little more than a minute, but an interception by the Sooners’ Zack Sanchez in the end zone squashed the Tiger scoring opportunity and swung the momentum back Oklahoma’s way heading into halftime.

Dec 31, 2015; Miami Gardens, FL, USA; Oklahoma Sooners running back Samaje Perine (32) is assisted to the sidelines after suffering an injury against the Clemson Tigers in the third quarter of the 2015 CFP Semifinal at the Orange Bowl at Sun Life Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 31, 2015; Miami Gardens, FL, USA; Oklahoma Sooners running back Samaje Perine (32) is assisted to the sidelines after suffering an injury against the Clemson Tigers in the third quarter of the 2015 CFP Semifinal at the Orange Bowl at Sun Life Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Clemson took charge from the moment of the second-half kickoff, storming down the field, covering 75 yards in 12 plays for the third lead change in the game, taking a 23-16 lead and seizing the momentum right back from the Sooners. Oklahoma did not score in the second half, something that had not happened all season long.

It may have been way too early to throw in the towel, but the handwriting was pretty much on the wall when Oklahoma’s first possession of the second half netted minus-13 yards in three plays.

But when the air really appeared to go out of the balloon was when, faced with a fourth-down-and-one at the Clemson 30-yard line with around five minutes to go in the third quarter, Perine was stopped for no gain, ending the OU drive, and Clemson took over on downs.

It took Clemson just four plays to go 70 yards for another third-quarter score that expanded the lead to 14 points, at 30-17, and all but put the game on ice, even with another full quarter to go. The Sooners were clearly showing the signs of being outworked in the trenches at the point of attack and being physically worn down.

By about the midway point of the third quarter, and with Clemson having run close to 75 total plays to that point, you could tell that the Oklahoma defense was becoming fatigued brought on by the length of time on the field and a game temperature that was well into the 80s on the field.

Mayfield threw for 311 yards in the game, but also was intercepted twice in Clemson territory, both coming in the second half. Prior to that point, the junior Sooner quarterback had thrown only five interceptions all season. The only other time this season he had two passes picked off in a game was at Tennessee in the second game of 2015.

The Sooners were outgained on the ground, though, by a whopping 245 yards (312 to 67). Oklahoma had been averaging 235 yards rushing coming into the game. The story of the game can be summed up in two words, though: Deshaun Watson. Arguably the best quarterback in the country this season, Watson accounted for almost as many total yards (363) in this game than the entire Oklahoma team (378).

It was a disappointing loss for sure and a hard way to end the season, but it should not take away from the tremendous turnaround in 2015, improving from an 8-5 record a year ago to 11-2 this season and a spot in the College Football Playoff.

Unfortunately, the Sooners ended the season with a loss to the same team that closed out the Oklahoma season a year ago. Same two teams and a similar result, but believe me, the feeling this time is much different than it was one year ago.