Clemson’s late TD upends Ohio State

NO. 3 CLEMSON 29, NO. 2 OHIO STATE 23

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Trevor Lawrence connected with Travis Etienne on a 34yard touchdown with 1:49 left in the fourth quarter and No. 3 Clemson beat No. 2 Ohio State 29-23 Saturday night at the Fiesta Bowl to advance to the College Football Playoff championship game.

The Tigers (14-0) will play No. 1 LSU on Jan. 13 in New Orleans, looking for their third national title in the last four seasons.

The Tigers went 94 yards on four plays in 1:18, with Lawrence completing all three of his passes and mixing in an 11-yard run. The sophomore quarterback who has never lost a college start

passed for 259 yards and two scores and ran for a career-high 107 yards, including a 67-yard touchdown late in the first half.

Lawrence added a twopoint conversion to Tee Higgins, but it left plenty of time for Ohio State (13-1) and Justin Fields to respond. The Buckeyes drove to the Clemson 23, but on second and 7, Fields fired to the end zone and was picked off by Nolan Turner with 37 seconds left. Ohio State receiver Chris Olave had broken off his route and left Fields throwing to no one.

One more knee from Lawrence and defending national champion Clemson had secured its 29th consecutive victory and fourth trip to the CFP Championship Game in five years.

Ohio State blew a 16-point first-half lead and went into the fourth quarter trailing 21-16, and with everything seemingly going Clemson’s way.

Fields heated up and orchestrated an 84-yard drive, capped with a fourth-and-short, 23-yard touchdown pass to Olave to give Ohio State back the lead at 23-21 with 11:46 left in the fourth.

Fields, who went to high school 20 miles from Lawrence in the northwest suburbs of Atlanta, passed for 320 yards and a touchdown. But he was picked off twice after throwing just one interception in the regular season.

It was the first matchup

(AP/Rick Scuteri) Clemson running back Travis Etienne (right) runs for a touchdown against Ohio State during the second half of the Fiesta Bowl on Saturday in Glendale, Ariz. Etienne also had two touchdown receptions in the Tigers’ 29-23 victory.

(AP/Ross D. Franklin) Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence runs for a 67-yard second-half touchdown against Ohio State in the Tigers’ 29-23 victory in the Fiesta Bowl on Saturday night. Lawrence passed for 259 yards and ran for 107 yards in the game.