Staff Report @TheESP_ (via Fiesta Bowl Communications)
"Well, that had to be a great game to watch."
"I'll tell you, unbelievable performance. What a night. What a journey for our team. What a way to end a great decade tonight. Unbelievable decade that we just finished up. And just really proud of our guys. Proud of these seniors. Got their 55th win tonight. That ties a college football record. The resiliency, the will to win, the heart, the character, just special. Just really proud. I wrote two things down on my call sheet this morning. I wrote down 'quarterback run' and 'running back pass.' And as it turns out, Trevor [Lawrence] had 107 yards rushing. Travis Etienne had three catches for 98 yards and two touchdowns receiving. It is just amazing how it all kind of came together, like I hoped it would."
"But I'm just going to tell you what a great football team Ohio State is. They had a great start. We did not start off very well at all. We did not take care of the things that Clemson should handle. Twelve men on the field, dropped ball. Had a pick six that we dropped, missed a field goal. Just gave up two big plays off of base routines where we just didn't play our job at the end. So it was pretty frustrating, but I thought our defense played great. I think that was a real key in the game, they were able to hold them, miss a bunch of field goals. That gave us a chance to find some rhythm offensively. But just a heck of a game."
"Winning the turnover margin was big. Chad Smith, fifth-year senior, had 12 tackles. DK [Derion Kendrick] had a huge game and [Baylon] Spector, two sacks. Also, Will Spiers was amazing. That was one of the things I told the team last night, a punt is one of the best offensive plays you can have in a game like this. I think he [Will Spiers] had seven punts for 44 yards, five inside the 23 of 50-plus to give us some field-position opportunity. Just really proud of our team, especially the 94-yard drive to win it. Defense getting the stop to set it up and then Nolan Turner finishing it. He gave up the big fourth-down touchdown. And for him to come back and make the game winner was awesome. Unbelievable night."
"Just appreciate the Fiesta Bowl for a great week. We've had an awesome week here. Just great hospitality and our players have really enjoyed it. And also want to thank our fans. I think we're probably outnumbered three to one here tonight, but our fans were great. They hung in there with us and did not give up on us. More importantly, our team and staff hung in there. Just really appreciate the opportunity to be here."
"We're going to celebrate this one, and then give these guys a couple of days off. Then we're going to get focused on trying to find a way to win one more. It's going to be a heck of a task, but we're thankful that we got the opportunity. Just so proud of our team for their heart and their fight tonight to win the game."
"Again, congratulations to Ohio State on an unbelievable season. Their quarterback, that defense, their running back – is special. It was a back-and-forth game. A tough one for either team to lose, but in the end, these guys found a way to get it done."
Q - It was like a heavyweight fight tonight. Felt like punch after punch, each team having to take out the adversity and move on from it. What did you guys take from earlier in the season to face this adversity today and win this game?
"It is just the DNA. It is our program. It's not just this season. That's just how we're built. One of the things I told them at the half, I thought we took their best punch. I don't think we could have played worse, but we took their best punch, and it was 16-14. My message to them at the halftime was: We have to find a way to get the lead in the third quarter, because when we take a lead in the fourth quarter, we finish."
"I think we're now 102 when we take a lead in the fourth quarter, 102. So that's not just this year. That's just who we are. It is just what we do. We finish. That's the mindset and the DNA of our program. So that's everything – your off-season, spring practice and how you meet. That's your camp. It is how you practice every week, all of that stuff. It is your staff, the leadership and the development of leadership on your team. It is culture. That's what it is. It was awesome to see."
Q - When you walked into the offensive huddle before that "go ahead and drive," what you did tell the team? What was your message in that moment?
"Well, I just said, 'Let's go win it, man.' Trevor [Lawrence] kind of took over the huddle, to be quite honest with you. He called the guys up, and he just said, 'Hey, man, I love all of you guys. Let's go win this thing.' It was just a real poise. There was never one second that I did not think we were not going to win the game. That's the honest answer."
"Trevor and I talked about it on the sideline, 'Man, is this fun or what? I'm not real sure how we're going to win this thing, but we're going to win the game and it is going to be an epic thing.' I actually went over and met with him right before the last drive there, and we talked about two or three things that I felt like we had set up."
"And one of them was the play to Travis [Etienne]. We had run a little quarterback counter a couple of times there. So it was set up. Don't have to have great protection. It is a really hard run fake. He really executed it beautifully and Travis found a way to get through the trash and took it to the distance. Just a huge -- I thought we might have scored a little too quick, but it was kind of like, Maybe he was down at the one, but then it's up to your defense to go win the game."
"Listen, they went right down -- they made plays. That's a well-coached team, and that team has a lot of heart and character as well. You saw that in them tonight. But we just talked about, let's settle in. We were ten personnel and put our best athletes on the field. This is what we do. We're four-down territory the whole way."
"We've got plenty of time left, so let's go win the game."
"He [Trevor Lawrence] had a nice quarterback draw. We hit Amari [Rodgers]. Amari kind of had been quiet and hadn't had much opportunity. I told Amari, you're going to get a big play somewhere. Just stay focused, stay ready. It was a huge play by Amari. Just again, I think we came right out, hit a slant maybe to [Justyn] Ross, just to kind of get us some rhythm. When you're putting drives together at the end of the game like that, and getting in rhythm early, getting that first down is critical."
"We were able to do that, and then just made big plays. This guy right here was amazing tonight, both of these guys. How about Chad Smith? Fifth-year senior. Never started a game ever at Clemson until this year. Got two degrees. He graduated a couple and could have left two years ago. He graduated so early, but he stayed at Clemson and stayed the course. He hung in there and kept believing in himself and kept working. Here he is getting MVP on a stage like this tonight. 12 tackles. He's the epitome of what our program is all about."
Q - What did y'all see in preparation for Ohio State that led you to put so many quarterback runs into the game plan? And when you were down 16-0, did you think maybe you were a little too heavy with Trevor [Lawrence] running the football?
"No, no. We weren't doing a very good job of third-down miss. We dropped a couple balls. Just had a couple missed opportunities, but just were not executing crisp. They're a one-safety team and we knew that -- and they're really good in the secondary. Probably everybody on that defense is going to be drafted, literally. Probably every single one of those guys, and most of the back-ups."
"That's a really good defense and really good guys on the outside. We felt like that Trevor would be an equalizer a little bit for us. We knew they would play a lot of man coverage. The quarterback draw, they got to run with us. We ran them off and set the rush lanes. He took off and how far was that run? It was a long ways. Sixty-some? This guy can move, man. People don't really realize that."
"That's one of the things that's changed his game, is he's gotten as much confidence in his legs now as he does his arm. He picks his spots, but we don't win the game tonight if we didn't have his legs, because they're going to always outnumber you in the box by nature of what they do. Always. Every snap. It's not like they're a two-safety team. They're going to play 100%, outnumber you in the run game. And you have to force the issue a little bit. We did and were able to pop a few runs. It was a great touchdown run on the option to [Travis] Etienne. So we found ways to get it."
"They're a good front, good back, well-coached, and just outnumber you all the time. The quarterback run is a little bit of an equalizer. We needed to keep them honest enough to where we could get some stuff in the play-action game, and biggest play of the game came off the quarterback run that we had set up the whole game."
Q - You mentioned this decade at Clemson. I think in 2010, you were 6-7. In 2011, you beat West Virginia in the Orange Bowl. If you went back to 2010 or 2011 and told yourself this is the kind of success you guys would have had, and you would be here tonight possibly playing for your second national title in a row, what are your thoughts like? Is this something you ever dreamed of?
"Absolutely. I mean, I said in 2010, after a six-win season, we're fixing to have the winningest decade in Clemson history. I dream big. Actually, we're a little short. I dreamed a little bit bigger. We missed a couple, but we've had a great run."
"It's been an unbelievable decade."
"What we've done on the field and off the field, it gets lost a lot of times what we've done academically. We've been top ten 9 out of 11 years, 8 out of the last 9 years: Us, Duke and Northwestern. So these are a bunch of graduates and great young men who have come through our program. We've stayed committed to the purpose of our program. And it's been a great decade."
"But as I told them, we've got a windshield mentality in our program. That's why we're consistent. It is always about what's next. Our dreams are always greater than our memories and that's just the way it is."
"So we're just getting started. The best is yet to come."
Q - Nolan Turner sealed the deal for you guys with that interception at the end of the game. Can you talk about the special relationship you have and how special it was for you, as well as for him to seal the deal for you guys in this one?
"So proud of him, man. I love him like a son, and obviously great friends and teammates with his dad. Actually worked with his dad for the two years I was out of coaching in '01 and '02. His dad was actually a GA (graduate assistant) for me a little bit while I was the interim. So obviously deep relationship and just an unbelievable story. And to see him grow and develop and just to see his -- Listen, you go out there and it is fourth and two, and you give up a play like that. He was a little too far outside, no post help. [Justin] Fields made a great play. He was very disappointed in himself and felt like he let the team down."
"Unfortunately, they were going to score. That's one thing I told him: You gotta keep your head up. You're going to make a winning interception and just have to go to the next play. So it was just pretty amazing to watch it all play out. He's been a really good player for us and had a big interception in the Notre Dame last year in the Cotton Bowl."
"I don't even know if he was a one-star recruit, but he's really, really good. He's a really good player and was going against elite guys out there tonight. That was a huge play. Just happy to see him be able to have that moment and I know his dad is up in heaven smiling down on him. No doubt in my mind. Just really cool."
Q - Tee [Higgins] was probably the hottest wide receiver in the country coming into the game. Eight touchdowns in the last three games. Just how difficult was it to run the offense without him in the first half? And can you elaborate on the status of his injury?
"Yeah, I didn't even know what happened. They just said he was out, said they were going to take him in to x-ray or something. I really don't know. I just was so into the game, we just put the next guy in, [Diondre] Overton and [Joseph] Ngata. How about that play Ngata had? What an incredible catch on the slant. That was a terrible throw. He caught it like on the ground. It was unbelievable. Took a shot."
"We just -- we just were kind of -- Jeff [Scott] and I were trying to shuffle everybody. We had [Justyn] Ross moving. We had Overton in different spots. It kind of flustered us a little bit as far as getting everybody in the right spots. But we just kept playing. I didn't know what was wrong with him. They just said that they were taking him into the locker room and when I got in there, he said he felt like he was going to be able to go. That was really it, but it was good to get him back. Had a couple of nice ball possession plays in the second half."
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