Clemson, Ohio State fans cheer their teams

Clemson University alumnus Benjie McGill hasn’t missed a home football game in 40 years.

He and his wife, Deegie, who also graduated from Clemson, have been to all bowl and championship games Clemson has played in since the 1970s. This year is no different.

The McGills, who live in Clemson, South Carolina, made the trek to Glendale to cheer on the Tigers in Saturday’s 2019 PlayStation Fiesta Bowl against Ohio State.

They’re two of the thousands of fans, many from out of town and others who live in metro Phoenix, who braved the cold weather to support their teams in the College Football Playoff semifinal.

This is the second time Clemson and Ohio State have faced off in the Fiesta Bowl. Clemson beat Ohio State 31-0 in the 2016 match.

The McGills weren’t expecting a blowout this year but they did expect to win, they had said before the kickoff.

“I don’t care what the final score is as long as we get the ‘W,’ ” Deegie McGill said.

Family-friendly affair

Despite temperatures hovering around 50 degrees throughout the day, fans, bundled up in heavy coats and winter attire, headed out in droves to State Farm Stadium for the pregame festivities.

A sea of red and black Ohio State flags and orange Clemson flags waved fervently in the breeze Saturday afternoon.

Fans set up tables and chairs in the parking lot where they shared hot dogs and hamburgers with family and friends while others tossed around footballs with the kids.

Maggie Shytle and her father, Jason Banks, made the roughly 12-hour drive from Live Oak, California, to root on the Tigers.

Originally from South Carolina, Banks said he and his family have made a family vacation out of going to the bowl games the last five years to support their team.

Banks, who graduated from Clemson and was dressed as the university’s tiger mascot Saturday, passed out $2 bills stamped with an orange tiger paw prior to the game.

“Wherever we go, we flood the towns with $2 so they know we’re here,” he said.

The tradition started in 1977 when Georgia Tech decided it would no longer play football games against Clemson, according to Clemson’s website. Clemson students and alumni stamped $2 bills with tiger paws and used them in Atlanta to show the money Tiger fans spent at athletic events as a form of protest.

Banks, who attended the 2016 Fiesta Bowl, said he expected a closer game this year. The teams were more evenly matched and there would be a higher level of play on the field, he said. Shytle was a little more confident. “It could be anybody’s game, but of course I expect Clemson to win,” she said. “We’ll be cheering loudly inside.”

Inside the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl Fan Fest, people sporting jackets and jerseys from both teams listened to live music, ate from a variety of local food trucks and participated in raffles and other giveaways.

Sisters Leah Geer and Anna Williams and their friend Amy Moon traveled to the Valley from South Carolina to watch Clemson take on Ohio State. While it was Moon’s first bowl game, cheering on the Tigers is a family tradition for Geer and Williams, who attended the 2016 match.

Ohio State fans were seeking redemption

Before the game, Chandler resident Janice Fennig, who graduated from Ohio State in 1986, joked that the final score would again be 31-0 but this time in Ohio State’s favor.

Josh Phillips, who is originally from Ohio, said he hasn’t missed a Fiesta Bowl game since he moved to the Valley 12 years ago. This was his fourth time seeing Ohio State play locally.

He was joined by more than a dozen family and friends in the parking lot, where they ate bratwurst and hamburgers and streamed the Peach Bowl on a TV set up in the back of an SUV.

The Cave Creek resident said he was hoping to see a close game but hoped for a better outcome than in 2016.