Alabama Crimson Tide

Clemson caps off perfect season, leaves no doubt to committee on No. 1 team

Published Dec. 6, 2015 3:52 a.m. ET

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Going into Saturday's slate of conference championship games, there were two remaining FBS schools with an undefeated record. But after Iowa's 16-13 loss to Michigan State in the Big 10 Championship Game, only one remains: The 13-0 Clemson Tigers.

"We're the only undefeated team left," said Clemson coach Dabo Swinney, who was a national champion as a wide receiver in 1992 at Alabama. "In 1992, we were 13-0 and we were national champions, but that don't get it done anymore. You've got to keep playing, and that's exactly what we're going to do."

Clemson will be assured of that opportunity on Sunday when the College Football Playoff committee releases its final rankings and official four-team playoff. All signs point to the Tigers being the No. 1 ranked team heading to the Orange Bowl for the semifinals, and that's a ranking that they'll deservingly earn after Saturday night's 45-37 win over the North Carolina Tar Heels.

"One of the things we talk about all the time is, again, you've got to earn it, and this team earned their way to the College Football Playoff," said Swinney. "We started talking back in August ... we said 15-for-15. Why not? Dream big ... dream big.

Why don't we be the best team ever? There's never been a 15-0 college football team. Why not at Clemson? Our guys are not afraid to dream. They're not afraid to work, and they're not afraid to get off the bank and get out in the deep water every now and then. These guys are special, and I think it showed."

That 13-0 record didn't come without a bit of adversity though, and much of it came on Saturday night in Charlotte as the Tar Heels battled back late in the game after they seemed buried when the Tigers took a 19-point lead with just over 11 minutes to play in the game.

Instead, North Carolina found the end zone with 1:13 to play to pull within eight points with an onside kick attempt ensuing.

The Tar Heels recovered the onside kick ... but an offside penalty was called ... a penalty that was widely talked about after the game.

"I had a chance to look at it, and they missed it," said North Carolina coach Larry Fedora. "They were wrong. That's all I'm going to say about ... they were wrong."

After the penalty, the Tar Heels once again had an opportunity to recover the onside kick, but it squirmed away from reaching hands, and the Tigers came away with the ball that would send them into the playoff.

As he has been all season, sophomore quarterback Deshaun Watson was a leading factor in Clemson's win, which gave the Tigers an FBS-leading 16 consecutive victories dating back to November 2014. Watson finished the game with 420 yards of total offense and five touchdowns. Late in the game, he gave a possible sign of things to come when he struck the Heisman pose.

"I watched (Watson) get the ACC Player of the Year trophy last night, and he's not just the best player in this conference, he's the best players in the country," Swinney said. "If you sit down and watch all 13 games, I don't know how you can argue with that. I sure am glad he's on our team."

Rivaling Watson's performance offensively was sophomore running back Wayne Gallman. Gallman managed only 22 yards in the first half, but he exploded in the second for 165.

"I just needed to provide a spark for the offense in the second half," said Gallman. "You know, you saw things were moving kind of slow in the first, and all the stopped drives on third down, and it was just time to change that, so I just got my mind together."

Despite the Tar Heels coming away with 37 points, defensively, the Tigers created pressure all night that caused North Carolina quarterback Marquise Williams to become uncomfortable in the pocket and force hurried throws.

Williams completed just 11 of 33 passes in the game after completing over 61 percent of his passes during the season. It's been the theme of the season for a Clemson defense that lost 10 defensive players to the NFL from last season, yet has managed to reload and wreak havoc on opposing offenses.

"We knew we had to put pressure on him," said junior defensive lineman Shaq Lawson. "(We knew) all week he liked to stand in the pocket a lot, so we knew we had an opportunity to make plays on him. (They) gave up the least sacks in the ACC, so we knew coming in we had to get to the quarterback."

With 13 down and two to go, the Tigers now head into the College Football Playoff with one of the most impressive resumes you'll ever see in a college football season.

Combining with the fact that Clemson is the only FBS team undefeated, the Tigers were the only team in the nation to defeat three different top-10 teams. Both Notre Dame and Florida State came into the matchup with Clemson undefeated, and the Tar Heels were riding an 11-game win streak. The Tigers also have balance ... having shown the ability to beat teams in a number of different ways. In the regular season, Clemson ranked 15th in scoring offense and 17th in scoring defense.

Whether it's Alabama, Oklahoma, Michigan State, or a surprise team that the Tigers face in the semifinal, they've shown there should be no problem adjusting to styles of play. Clemson has also shown it has no problem matching up with a big-time opponent in a bowl game. Clemson's last three bowl games? Oklahoma, Ohio State, and LSU ... all wins.

"We'll obviously have a great opponent," said Swinney. "I don't know who it'll be, but it'll be a big-time opponent. That's kind of par for the course around here. We know how to get ready, and we'll do what we've always done, and we'll get the team ready to go."