CFN's 2007 Annual Ultimate
College Football Playoff
Final Four - Orange Bowl
East Champion No.
2 Wisconsin 28 ... South Champion No.
4 Clemson 21
Wisconsin appeared to be have things well in hand, cruising to an easy
lead before Clemson made a big change and almost pulled off a huge
comeback.
Freshman QB Willy Korn stepped in for an ineffective Cullen
Harper and went wild, completing 11-of-13 passes for 158 yards
and two touchdowns, along with 36 rushing yards, and had the
Tigers down to the Badger seven with five seconds to play. With
one final shot in the end zone, he threw into traffic and was
picked off by Shane Carter to put Wisconsin into the Ultimate
National Championship.
Until Korn came in early in the fourth quarter, the Wisconsin
defense dominated, allowing the great Tiger running tandem of
James Davis and C.J. Spiller to just 94 yards combined, and made
it a nightmare of a night for Harper, who completed just five of
18 passes for 68 yards before being pulled.
"Obviously everyone will be second-guessing us about whether or
not we should've put Willy in earlier," said Clemson head coach
Tommy Bowden. "But Cullen helped get us to this point and
has bounced back from rough stretches before. Obviously Willy
showed what kind of player he can become."
Wisconsin got out to a 21-0 lead thanks to a
44-yard touchdown catch from Paul Hubbard in the first quarter,
a six-yard P.J. Hill run early in the second, and a 11-yard Luke
Swan scoring grab with :21 to play just before the half.
"That was as efficient and as effective a half as we could
possibly play," said Wisconsin head coach Bret Bielema. "I
think our guys were making plans for the national championship
in the third quarter. They had their bags packed for New
Orleans, but we closed when we had to."
Clemson finally got on the board on its second drive of the
second half as Spiller got free for a 21-yard run and Harper
threw his best pass of the day on a perfect deep pass to Aaron
Kelly for a 33-yard touchdown.
Wisconsin had an answer, as Josh Nettles took the ensuing
kickoff down to the Clemson 29. Five plays later, Hill rumbled
in for a 12-yard touchdown and a seemingly insurmountable 28-7
lead going into the fourth quarter.
Korn scrambled for 11 yards on his first play, and then hit four
straight passes with a 12-yard strike to Jacoby Ford to start
the attempted comeback. Wisconsin ran off close to five minutes,
driving down to the Clemson 24, but a fumbled snap gave the ball
back to the Tigers, and Korn went to work, marching the offense
to a quick score on a 22-yard Tyler Grisham catch.
With just over three minutes to play, Wisconsin failed to gain a
yard and had to give it back to Clemson for its final drive that
came up just short.
Player
of the Game - Wisconsin RB P.J. Hill ran 33 times for 155
yards and two touchdowns
Fun Stat - Clemson yards in the first three quarters:
140 - Clemson yards in the fourth quarter: 227