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Clemson football’s incredible journey to becoming Alabama’s equal

By Justin Heisey

SANTA CLARA, CA - JANUARY 07: Head coach Dabo Swinney of the Clemson Tigers celebrates his teams 44-16 win over the Alabama Crimson Tide with the trophy in the CFP National Championship presented by AT&T at Levi's Stadium on January 7, 2019 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
SANTA CLARA, CA - JANUARY 07: Head coach Dabo Swinney of the Clemson Tigers celebrates his teams 44-16 win over the Alabama Crimson Tide with the trophy in the CFP National Championship presented by AT&T at Levi's Stadium on January 7, 2019 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /
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December 31, 2012

Clemson’s 2012 team didn’t quite live up to their 2011 success after losing to EJ Manuel-led Florida State in Tallahassee and dropping yet another game to in-state rival South Carolina.

The Tigers’ season began with high hopes with a win over the No. 25 Auburn Tigers but that win didn’t age well as the Tigers would finish 3-9.

When the bowl schedule was released, Clemson found itself back in Atlanta against the No. 9-ranked LSU Tigers. LSU’s offense featured quarterback Zach Mettenberger and skill players Jeremy Hill, Odell Beckham Jr., Jarvis Landry, Alfred Blue and Spencer Ware while their defense featured Eric Reid, Bennie Logan and Barkevious Mingo.

LSU entered the game as a 4.5-point favorite and many thought that they would pull out the victory after taking a 24-13 lead over Clemson at the start of the fourth quarter. The fourth quarter saw Chandler Catanzaro cut the Tiger lead to eight with under 10 minutes left to go in the game.

The defense held strong and gave Tajh Boyd the opportunity to tie the game up. Although the Tiger would find the endzone, they would fail the two-point conversion and need a stop to try to get a field goal. Clemson held LSU to a third straight three-and-out and got the ball back at their own 20.

After a sequence of plays Clemson found themselves facing fourth-and-16 and not in field goal range, they had to make a play here. They lined up and sent tight end Brandon Ford long and sent DeAndre Hopkins over the middle on a post route, Boyd threaded the needle for a 26-yard gain after the safety bit on Ford going downfield. Several plays later, Catanzaro would boot a game-winning field goal from 37 yards out.

Although this was a bowl game, this was the first time in a long time Clemson was able to defeat a highly ranked non-conference team. This was the first glimpse of what Clemson could become, they were no longer a good team that couldn’t get the job done — but a team that could actually contend with the best in the nation.

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