College football's first attempt at a New Year's Eve party produced a mixed bag, to say the least. But the sport's first ever Dec. 31 national semifinal culminated in No. 1 Clemson advancing to face to No. 2 Alabama in the 2016 College Football Playoff Championship.
College Football Playoff highlight videos, for people who actually went outside on New Year’s
If you were out enjoying your New Year’s Eve, fear not. Here’s everything you might’ve missed from the 2015 Orange and Cotton Bowls.
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The Orange Bowl
After a bizarre first half that bore witness to chippiness, missed officiating calls and some real knock-down-drag-out football, a semifinal that looked destined to produce a street fight instead turned into an Orange Bowl coronation as Clemson outclassed Oklahoma for the second time in as many years.
Looking up at a 17-16 lead at halftime, Dabo Swinney’s Tigers wasted no time exploding out of the gates in the third quarter and never looked back. OU wouldn’t score again as Clemson reeled off 21 second-half points in a 37-17 victory.
With sophomore quarterback Deshaun Watson in a rhythm and a relentless defense never letting up, the Tigers answered the naysayers who second-guessed them after a late-season swoon and an up-and-down performance against North Carolina in the 2015 ACC Championship.
Sooners fans stuck with the afternoon’s first tilt as long as they could, but even as early the third quarter, the deficit all but felt like an impossible mountain to climb:
The Cotton Bowl
Though expectations were that former Michigan State head coach Nick Saban’s bout against one-time assistant Mark Dantonio and Co. could be a defensive struggle, few anticipated the early lack of fireworks would be this pronounced.
Even before a second-quarter interception of Spartans quarterback Connor Cook, Alabama's 10-0 lead felt insurmountable, given how the Tide's defense was playing.
With the Alabama offense coming to life in the second half, there was no stopping the Tide. Up 31-0 entering the fourth quarter, Bama was so dominant that Vegas named them a touchdown favorite over Swinney -- an Alabama alum -- and the Tigers with nearly 10 minutes to play.
Despite leveraging Heisman Trophy winner Derrick Henry in more of a decoy role early, there was no denying Alabama's dominance. And while he wasn't the bell cow he'd been en route to college football's highest individual honor, Henry still put together an absurd highlight folks will be talking about at water coolers across the country come Monday:
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