2016 Fiesta Bowl (December)

College Football Playoff Semifinal bowl game February 2020 Fiesta Bowl College Football Playoff Semifinal46th Fiesta Bowl PlayStation 200px December 31 2016 2016 University of Phoenix Stadium Glendale, Arizona Ohio State Buckeyes 11–1 Big Ten 2 2 3 Urban Meyer 0 0 0 Clemson Tigers 12–1 ACC 3 3 2 Dabo Swinney 10 7 7 7 Deshaun Watson (QB, Clemson) Clelin Ferrell (DE, Clemson) Ohio State by 1 Bands from participants Land Clark (Pac-12) 70,236 ESPN Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit, Samantha Ponder and Tom Rinaldi ESPN Deportes 2016 (Jan.) 2 vs. 3 Seed CFP Semifinal Game 2015 Cotton 2018 Rose thumb|University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, hosted the Fiesta Bowl. The 2016 Fiesta Bowl (officially known as the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the 2016 PlayStation Fiesta Bowl for sponsorship reasons) was a college football bowl game played on December 31, 2016, at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. It was the 46th playing of the Fiesta Bowl and the second semifinal of the 2016–17 College Football Playoff (CFP), part of the slate of bowl games that concluded the 2016 FBS football season. The game featured two of the four teams chosen by the CFP selection committee: the No. 2 Clemson Tigers from the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and the No. 3 Ohio State Buckeyes from the Big Ten Conference. The winner qualified for the 2017 College Football Playoff National Championship against the winner of the other semifinal, hosted by the Peach Bowl. The game was broadcast on ESPN, ESPN Radio, and ESPN Deportes. Clemson became just the second team in college football history to shut out Ohio State (11–2) in a bowl game, joining Cal in the 1921 Rose Bowl. The game also marked the first time that Buckeyes head coach Urban Meyer was shut out in his career, in about 193 games, and his second major loss to Dabo Swinney in the past four seasons.https://nypost.com/2016/12/31/clemson-destroys-ohio-state-to-set-up-title-rematch-with-tide/ Clemson destroys Ohio State to set up title rematch with Tide Braziller Zach 2017-01-01 New York Post 2017-01-01 The game also marked the second consecutive advance to the CFP National Championship game by the Clemson football program.https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/31/sports/ncaafootball/clemson-ohio-state-fiesta-bowl.html Clemson Pounds Ohio State to Set Up a Rematch With Alabama Crouse Karen 2016-12-31 The New York Times 0362-4331 2017-01-01 Teams On Sunday December 4, 2016, the CFP Semifinals was announced with #2 Clemson vs. #3 Ohio State playing in the Fiesta Bowl. This was the third meeting between the schools, with Clemson having won both of the previous matchups. The most recent meeting was the 2014 Orange Bowl, where the Tigers defeated the Buckeyes by a score of 40–35.Winsipedia – Clemson Tigers vs. Ohio State Buckeyes football series history Game summary Scoring summary Ohio State Clemson 1 9:16 Clemson 7 42 2:36 FG 45 Greg Huegel 0 3 1 2:16 Clemson 10 70 3:43 RushTD Deshaun Watson 1 good Greg Huegel 0 10 2 2:21 Clemson 8 83 3:44 RecTD C.J. Fuller Deshaun Watson 30 good Greg Huegel 0 17 3 2:06 Clemson 5 40 2:03 RushTD Deshaun Watson 7 good Greg Huegel 0 24 4 8:51 Clemson 2 7 0:34 RushTD Wayne Gallman 7 good Greg Huegel 0 31 0 31 Statistics +Team statistical comparisonCollege Football Playoff at the Playstation Fiesta Bowl - Final Stats https://collegefootballplayoff.com/documents/2025/7/24/161231gamebook_fiestabowl.pdf College Football Playoff July 27, 2026 December 31, 2016StatisticOhio StateClemsonFirst downs 9 24First downs rushing 3 12First downs passing 4 12First downs penalty 2 0Third down efficiency 3–14 8–17Fourth down efficiency 0–2 0–1Total plays–net yards 56–215 85–470Rushing attempts–net yards 23–88 48–205Yards per rush 3.8 4.3Yards passing 127 265Pass completions–attempts 19–33 24–37Interceptions thrown 2 2Punt returns–total yards 1–(−1) 2–16Kickoff returns–total yards 5–128 0–0Punts–average yardage 7–49.7 5–41.2Fumbles–lost 2–1 0–0Penalties–yards 8–72 5–60Time of possession 22:47 35:51 +Ohio State statisticsBuckeyes passingC–A Completions–AttemptsYds Passing yardsTD–INT Passing touchdowns–Interceptions thrown J. T. Barrett 19–33 127 0–2Buckeyes rushingCar CarriesYds Rushing yardsTD Rushing touchdowns Curtis Samuel 6 67 0 Mike Weber 5 24 0 TEAM 1 −1 0 J. T. Barrett 11 −2 0Buckeyes receivingRec ReceptionsYds Receiving yardsTD Receiving touchdowns Curtis Samuel 9 43 0 Corey Smith 2 27 0 Binjimen Victor 1 21 0 Noah Brown 2 17 0 K. J. Hill 1 8 0 Terry McLaurin 1 7 0 Mike Weber 3 4 0 +Clemson statisticsTigers passingC–A Completions–AttemptsYds Passing yardsTD–INT Passing touchdowns–Interceptions thrown Deshaun Watson 23–36 259 1–2 Nick Schuessler 1–1 6 0–0Tigers rushingCar CarriesYds Rushing yardsTD Rushing touchdowns Wayne Gallman 18 85 1 Deshaun Watson 15 57 2 Nick Schuessler 1 19 0 Adam Choice 4 16 0 Tavien Feaster 3 12 0 Artavis Scott 3 8 0 Ray-Ray McCloud 2 8 0 C.J. Fuller 1 3 0 TEAM 1 −3 0Tigers receivingRec ReceptionsYds Receiving yardsTD Receiving touchdowns Mike Williams 6 96 0 Hunter Renfrow 5 50 0 C.J. Fuller 3 45 1 Ray-Ray McCloud 4 29 0 Artavis Scott 2 16 0 Wayne Gallman 1 10 0 Deon Cain 1 9 0 Garrett Williams 1 6 0 Jordan Leggett 1 4 0 See also 2019 Fiesta Bowl (December) – Also a CFP Semifinal featuring Clemson and Ohio State, won by Clemson 2021 Sugar Bowl – Also a CFP Semifinal featuring Clemson and Ohio State, featured Ohio State's first overall win against Clemson References Category:2016–17 NCAA football bowl games Category:Fiesta Bowl Category:2016–17 College Football Playoff 2016 Fiesta Bowl 2016 Fiesta Bowl Category:December 2016 sports events in the United States Category:2016 in sports in Arizona