Dabo Swinney and the Tigers celebrate their Chick-Fil-A Bowl victory Monday night
Clemson took down 7th ranked LSU in the Chick-Fil-A Bowl Monday night in Atlanta, and while the game came down to a final play field goal, this was a game Clemson totally dominated.
The Tigers more than doubled LSU in total offense and in number of plays. Clemson had more than three times the number of first downs, had five more third down conversions and held the ball nearly 13 minutes longer.
Tajh Boyd and DeAndre Hopkins treated the LSU secondary like it was Duke’s. Boyd completed 36 passes for 346 yards. Hopkins caught 13 of them for 191 yards and had both touchdown receptions. But Boyd spread the ball around with Brandon Ford catching 9 passes and Adam Humphries 8.
AUDIO: OC Chad Morris talks about the offensive production [5:25]
AUDIO: QB Tajh Boyd on his big offensive night [2:45]
Defensively, Clemson held LSU to its second lowest output of the season at 219 yards. Take away the 57 yard touchdown run by Jeremy Hill on the first play of the second half, and LSU mustered only 162 yards against a Clemson defense that yielded over 400 yards per game in the regular season.
The Tigers accumulated a season high six sacks, two by senior defensive end Malliciah Goodman, who also had three tackles for loss.
LSU quarterback Zach Metternberger faced constant pressure from Clemson’s defense and managed only 14 completions. Hill did rush for 124 yards and 2 scores but he got 74 of those on two runs.
The Tigers did have a couple of hiccups on special teams, but at the end of the night, the special teams came thru with the big kick and the win.
AUDIO: DB Brent Venables on the play of the defense [2:14]
AUDIO: LB Tig Willard says Clemson’s defense came to play [2:01]
AUDIO: CB Xavier Brewer relishes the win over LSU [2:04]
