Clemson edges LSU in Chick-fil-A Bowl

Clemson did it with “Fiscal Cliff” drama, scoring a touchdown with 2:47 left and then the game-winning 37-yard field goal with no time left in a masterful performance by quarterback Tajh Boyd. Despite being sacked five times and hit hard countless others, the reigning ACC player of the year completed 36 of 50 passes for 346 yards and two touchdowns to win the bowl game’s offensive MVP award.

“Football is about playing with passion and winning that inch play after play,” Boyd said. “You live for the grind and for the moments where you shed tears with your teammates afterward.”

DeAndre Hopkins was his favorite target, catching 13 passes for 191 yards and touchdowns. Jeremy Hill led LSU with 124 rushing yards and two touchdowns.

“Tajh Boyd was phenomenal,” LSU coach Les Miles said. “I didn’t expect his heroic, if you will, efforts that he had.”

The set-up was poignant. Clemson (11-2) entered the game with one of the most productive offenses in ACC history, averaging 42.3 points per game. Its 518.3 yards-per-game average was fourth-best in ACC history. Their only two losses came at ACC champion Florida State (49-37) and South Carolina (27-17).

LSU (10-3) came into the game with the nation’s No. 8 defense, holding opponents to 246 yards per game in what Swinney described earlier in the week as one of the physical teams he has seen in a while. LSU allowed an average of 16.9 points per game, 11th best in the country. Its two losses came at Florida (14-6) and against Alabama (21-17).

Clemson’s offense didn’t have much trouble moving the ball most of the night logging a mind-boggling 100 plays, but it could never take the lead until time ran out. Clemson outgained LSU in yards 445-219, while its defense had six sacks to LSU’s five.

But Clemson showed its class when it absolutely needed to.

“When two great teams play it can come down to just a few plays,” Swinney said.

Trailing 24-16 in the fourth quarter with 7:08 left in the game, Clemson began to drive, helped by a delay of game call against the defense (the end twitched and forced the tackle to move) that gave Clemson a first down and than a hook-and-lateral play when Boyd hit Adam Humphries, who tossed it back to Andre Ellington for a 21-yard gain.

After a 20-yard pass to Brandon Ford, Boyd capped the drive with a 12-yard laser-like pass to Hopkins just before he ran through the back of the end zone for his second touchdown of the game.

Needing the 2-point conversion to tie, Clemson spread the field. Boyd rolled right, trying to find Ford again. But Boyd’s pass skipped off the grass, preserving LSU’s 24-22 lead.

But Clemson’s defense held on LSU’s next drive, giving Boyd and company one more chance from its 20-yard line with 1:39 left.

“1:39 is like 10-15 minutes for us,” Boyd said. “When I saw that clock and that we had three timeouts I said ‘Let’s get it.’ It didn’t look promising after the first few plays but it became a special moment.”

Indeed. The drive started with two incomplete passes that were followed by a sack on third down. Then came the play of the night. On fourth and 16 with 1:22 left, Boyd found Hopkins in the middle for a 26-yard gain to the 40.

“Boy, did he make some big, big, big throws,” Swinney said.

Boyd hit Hopkins again, this time on the sideline, for a 7-yard gain. LSU was next called for pass interference trying to stop Hopkins from catching another pass, giving Clemson 1st and 10 on LSU’s 42-yard line with 47 seconds left. After an incomplete pass, Boyd hit Hopkins at the 26-yard line. Boyd followed with a pass to Humphries that set up the game-winning field goal by Chandler Catanzaro.

“It was unbelievable,” Catanzaro said. “I have to thank the team for setting me up. It seemed like that last drive was meant to be.”

Clemson dominated LSU in the first half, rolling up 248 yards and 18 first downs in offense compared to LSU’s 106 yards and six first downs. But the Bayou Bengals had a 14-13 lead.

LSU needed one play in the second half to extend its lead to 21-13. After Michael Ford returned the second-half kickoff to the 43-yard line, Jeremy Hill ran up the middle, cut to the right, and outraced Clemson’s defense to the end zone for a 57-yard touchdown. It was Hill’s second touchdown and the second to come before most fans had a chance to sit down. His first came on a 17-yard run just 55 seconds into the game.

LSU added a field goal to push its lead to 24-13 later in the third quarter after an Ellington fumble was recovered by safety Eric Reid at Clemson’s 29.

LSU set up a 1st-and-goal at the 9-yard line after a 16-yard run by Hill, but were unable to score a touchdown and settled for the short field goal.

“Holding them to a field goal was the difference in the game,” Swinney said.

Clemson answered in the fourth quarter and stayed within one score with a 26-yard field goal by Catanzaro to cut LSU’s lead to 24-16 with 9:26 left. Clemson had first and goal at the 10-yard line after LSU was called for pass interference on the previous third-down play. But the Tigers couldn’t advance more than two yards.

LSU had a chance to respond after Ford returned the ensuing kickoff 48 yards. But on third and 8 at the 50-yard line, Zach Mettenberger was sacked for the sixth time to force a punt that set up Clemson’s touchdown.

LSU’s defense jumped on Clemson quickly in the first quarter, forcing a fumble on Clemson’s second play of the game. Craig Loston recovered the loose ball for LSU on the 23-yard line. Ballcarrier Sammy Watkins, normally a wide receiver, was injured on the play and couldn’t put any weight on his right leg as he was helped off the field. He was later diagnosed with an injured ankle that prevented him from returning.

LSU needed two plays capitalize with Hill running 17 yards to give his team a 7-0 lead just 55 seconds into the game.

Clemson answered, led by Boyd, who scored on an 11-yard run to cap an 11-play drive in which he rushed five times for 28 yards and completed all three of his pass attempts for 38 yards. LSU’s defensive line was able to pressure Boyd but it couldn’t sack him often early. He used his speed to elude defenders to scramble for more yards or to keep pass plays alive numerous times.

LSU took a 14-7 lead on a 6-yard touchdown pass from Mettenberger to Jarvis Landry with 13:12 left in the first half. Mettenberger, a one-time Georgia player, showed off his arm earlier on the drive, including a rollout to the right in which he zipped a 17-yard completion to Landry that was so well-covered it looked like it would be an interception. Instead the ball stayed on a straight line over the Clemson defender right to Landry. It was one of the few times in the early part of the game in which he had time to throw as Clemson’s defense harassed him for most of the first quarter, sacking him four times.

Clemson cut LSU’s lead to 14-13 on an 11-yard pass from Boyd to Hopkins with 5:43 left in the half. The two hooked up earlier in the drive for a 31-yard reception down the sideline. The point-after attempt was blocked by Bennie Logan. It was the 10th consecutive game Hopkins caught a touchdown pass, breaking an ACC record formerly held by Virginia’s Herman Moore (1990). It also marked the first time this season that Clemson trailed at the half.

“It comes down to a few plays and tonight the Clemson Tigers made them,” Swinney said.