ORLANDO, Fla. – The Russell Athletic Bowl got off to a rocky start for the Sooners as they were outscored at every turn and found themselves behind by almost four touchdowns at halftime.
Just seconds after the OU defense took the field for the first time, Clemson quarterback Cole Stoudt threw a pass to Artavis Scott, who ran 65 yards to the endzone.
As the Sooners got the ball back on offense, quarterback Trevor Knight was immediately sacked by defensive end Vic Beasley.
Clemson was able to score again on its second possession of the ball game.
It looked like the Tigers were poised to score a touchdown but were stopped following a Sooner sack on Stoudt by Okoronkwo.
After originally missing a field goal, Clemson was able to try again following a foul by the Sooners.
They scored the field goal on that second attempt.
Knight had a few successful passes and a good run by Perine to move the chains.
Just when it looked like things were turning around for the Sooners, the momentum changed toward Clemson again.
Following a pass down the field to Neal, the officials brought it back, citing a holding call on wide receiver Sterling Shepard.
The next play, Knight’s pass was intercepted.
Fortunately for the Sooners, Eric Striker wanted to show his talents to a hometown crowd.
The junior linebacker sacked Stoudt, forcing the Tigers to try for another field goal.
That sack also put Striker in the OU record books as the linebacker with the most sacks in OU history.
Striker’s 15th sack beat out Rocky Calmus’ record, who had 14 at the end of his Sooner career.
When Clemson attempted the field goal, Zach Sanchez got in the way and blocked it, giving the ball back to the offense.
However, it didn’t last long.
A pass by Trevor Knight was intercepted by linebacker Ben Boulware and taken back for a touchdown.
Starting off the second quarter, Clemson quarterback Cole Stoudt had his first incompletion of the game.
However, it didn’t stop the Tigers from scoring on that drive.
Clemson settled for a field goal and led OU by 20 points.
With a little more than eight minutes to go in the second quarter, the Tigers were facing a fourth and short situation.
Head coach Dabo Swinney decided to go for it.
Stoudt threw the pass, which was tipped and caught by defensive end Charles Tapper, who ran it back to the endzone.
That would have been the Sooners’ first points of the game.
However, the defense was offsides, which gave Clemson the ball and the first down.
On that drive, Stoudt threw a pass to Mike Williams, who broke a tackle by Jordan Thomas and ran into the endzone.
With less than three minutes to play, it appeared like Samaje Perine would actually get a little running room.
He pushed forward for eight yards before running for 19.
Following an incompletion by Knight, Perine got the ball again and fumbled.
Clemson led the Sooners 27-0 at halftime.
After the half, it didn’t get much better for the Sooner faithful.
With 9:24 left in the third quarter, Clemson quarterback Cole Stoudt ran three yards for a touchdown.
The defense thought they had stopped Clemson after recovering a fumble.
However, that call was overturned by the officials, giving Clemson another chance to move down the field.
A short time later, Stoudt completed a pass to Germone Hopper for a touchdown.
The Tigers missed the extra point, bringing the lead to 40-0.
As Knight and the Sooner offense was moving down the field, runningback Keith Ford fumbled, giving the ball back to the Tigers at the end of the third quarter.
During the fourth quarter, the Sooners were finally able to make their way onto the scoreboard.
A drive that lasted for five plays was capped with a run by Alex Ross into the endzone.
However, the extra point attempt by Michael Hunnicutt was blocked.
The game ended with Clemson defeating the Sooners 40-6.
Runningback Samaje Perine recorded 148 yards, with most of those coming in the fourth quarter.
Trevor Knight was listed as completing 17 passes out of 37 attempts and three interceptions.
In all, his passing yards was just 103 yards.
Clemson quarterback Cole Stoudt had 26 catches out of 36 attempts and three touchdowns.
He recorded 319 passing yards.