Clemson’s 125th season of college football came to a close on New Year’s Day as the 2nd-ranked Tigers fell to Ohio State in the Allstate Sugar Bowl by a score of 49-28 on Saturday night. Clemson ended the season with a 10-2 mark overall after it reached a 6thconsecutive College Football Playoff.

The 3rd ranked Buckeyes took their first lead of the game with 10:35 remaining in the 2nd quarter and never surrendered the advantage. With the loss, Clemson dropped to 6-4 all-time in College Football Playoff games.

Heisman Trophy finalist Trevor Lawrence fell to 34-2 for his career as Clemson’s starting quarterback while throwing for 400 yards on 33-48 passing. He opened up a highscoring 1st quarter on the 1st possession of the game with a 2-yard rushing touchdown.

The Buckeyes responded with a 32-yard touchdown run by Trey Sermon to even the score at 7-7 apiece.

Travis Etienne, in his last collegiate game, found the end zone on a 3-yard rush, and in the process became the ACC’s all-time leading scorer (468), surpassing Florida State kicker Dustin Hopkins’s record of 466 set from 2009 to 2014.

Ohio State tied the game again on its ensuing drive on an 8-yard touchdown pass by quarterback Justin Fields to Luke Farrell.

After a Clemson 3-and-out, the Buckeyes took their 1st lead of the evening on a 9-play, 84-yard touchdown drive as Fields found Jeremy Ruckert for a 17-yard touchdown.

Fields had 2 more touchdown passes to cap off a run of 28 unanswered Ohio State points, resulting in a 35- 14 halftime deficit for the Tigers. The Buckeyes’ run coincided with Clemson linebacker James Skalski’s ejection after a targeting call in the second quarter.

On the 1st possession of the second half, Mike Jones Jr. intercepted Fields in the Clemson end zone to give the Tigers a chance to recapture the momentum. Clemson capitalized on the turnover with a 9-play, 80-yard drive, culminating in a 10-yard touchdown pass from Lawrence to Cornell Powell.

The Tigers’ comeback effort was quickly thwarted when Fields connected on a 56-yard touchdown bomb with Chris Olave to extend the Buckeye lead to 42-21. Fields’ 6th touchdown pass early in the 4th quarter put the game out of reach.

Lawrence found Powell for another touchdown, but the Buckeyes secured their 1st ever win over Clemson and advanced to the College Football Playoff National Championship. They will face top-ranked Alabama for the title at 8 pm Jan. 11 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Fla. The game will air on ESPN.

“Okay. Well, obviously not our night,” Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said post-game. “Incredibly disappointed in how we played. But, man, super proud of our fight in the second half. Obviously the game got away from us and our guys continued to compete, all the way down to the last play. And I’m really proud of that. Proud of how they battled.

“We had great preparation but wasn’t our night, and you have to give Ohio State credit for that. They were awesome. They absolutely dominated the line of scrimmage. You can’t win games like this if you can’t stop the run and the big plays.”