This past Monday, the 29th of December, 2014, was the Russell Athletic Bowl, played at the Florida Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Florida. It started at 5:30 PM ET and was seen on ESPN. The 8-5 Oklahoma Sooners (Big 12) played the No 17 Clemson Tigers 10-3 (ACC Atlantic), as the Tigers walloped the Sooners with the Clemson QB Stroudt’s 4 touchdowns. Final score: 40-6. Let’s recap how the game went down.
Most fans thought the Sooners would fare better in this game than the scoreboard and statistics indicate. On the scoreboard they only managed 6 points in the 4th quarter on an 11 yard TD, their lone points of the game. Where it was just the reverse for the Tigers as they score 17 points in the 1st, 10 points in the 2nd with the half-time score Tigers 27 Sooners 0. In the 3rd the Tigers scored 13 points and in the final 4th quarter they went scoreless, thus the final score Clemson 40 Oklahoma 6.
Statistically the Tigers had 22-1st downs for 387 total offensive yards, with 319 passing and 68 rushing with no turnovers, while possessing the ball for 32:24 minutes of the game. The Sooners had 17-1st downs for 275 total yards, with 103 passing and 172 rushing with 5 costly turnovers, and possessed the ball for 27:36 minutes of the game.
Leading the Tigers offensively were QB Stoudt (MVP of the Game), who completed 26 or 36 passes for 319 yards and 3 touchdowns with no interceptions or sacks. RB’s Gallman & Dye who combined for 25 carries for 68 yards and no touchdowns. Receivers Scott & Williams combined for 17 receptions for 226 yards with Scott scoring 1 TD and Williams scoring 1 TD.
The Sooners offensive leaders were QB Knight, who completed 17 of his 37 passes for 103 yards and 3 interceptions. RBs Perrine & Ross combined for 25 carries for 165 yards with Ross scoring 1 TD. Receivers Quick & Perine combined for 10 receptions for 68 yards with no touchdowns.
The Clemson Tigers with this win are 10-3 for 2014 and they completed double digit wins for the last 4 straight seasons, as in 2013 they were 11-2, 2012 at 11-2, and 2011 at 10-4. This win for the Tigers over the Sooner, gave the Sooners their 2nd worst defeat since back in 1999 when Coach Stoops took charge of the Sooners team.
In this game the Oklahoma Sooners, both of offense and defense were certainly not synchronized especially in the 1st half of the game. Their QB Knight only completed 5 of his 14 passes and was intercepted twice, and RB Perine who rushed for 62 yards, also had a crucial fumble that ended the Sooner best offensive drive of the 1st half of the game. The only spark for their defense came as they trailed the Tigers 20-0, the Sooner DB intercepted Clemson QB Stroudt’s pass for a TD, but was called back for his team being offside.
So if you are a college bowl game fan, and bet on college football at SBG Global, don’t fret or sweat it, as they have quite a few more college bowl games coming your way through the 4th of January 2015.