NO. 1 CLEMSON 38 NO. 7 MIAMI 3
Defending champs want Sugar Bowl as Bryant leads them back to final four.
Defending champion Tigers can rest easy, say they want to play in the Sugar Bowl next.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — No. 1 Clemson emphatically claimed its spot in the College Football Playoff with a 38-3 victory over No. 7 Miami in the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game Saturday night.
The Tigers (12-1) came in ranked atop the CFP and should remain that way following Sunday’s final poll after their decisive show left little doubt the defending national champs are looking to go back-to-back.
Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said in the postgame celebration he hadn’t been to New Orleans since going with Alabama in 1992, then a wide receiver on that national championship squad. This time, the Tigers as top seed get their pick of sites and Swinney left no doubt about it.
“Get ready, Sugar Bowl,” he shouted. “Here we come.”
Kelly Bryant set a championship game record — and surpassed his friend and former teammate Deshaun Watson’s mark of 13 — by completing his first 15 passes and finished with 252 yards passing and a 27-yard TD pass to Deon Cain on the way to Clemson’s third straight ACC crown.
“It’s just in our DNA. We’re built for moments like this,” said Bryant, named the game’s MVP.
Bryant had one of Clemson’s four rushing touchdowns and the Tigers defense made it stand up against a Hurricanes team that has been spurred on to its turnaround season by their glitzy, bling-covered “Turnover Chain” — jewelry worn by any Miami player with a pick or a fumble.
Instead, it was the Tigers who won the turnover battle (3-1) and held Miami to its fewest points and yards of the season to spoil the Hurricanes’ first appearance in the contest since the onetime powerhouse joined the league in 2004.
Clemson’s Travis Etienne opened the scoring with a four-yard touchdown before Bryant’s twisting, 11yard run for a 14-0 first-quarter lead. It was essentially over after that as the Hurricanes (10-2) have lost two straight after rising to No. 2 in the CFP two weeks ago.
“Obviously, it didn’t go well at all,” Miami coach Mark Richt said. “It just shows they’re the class of our league.”