The 2012 Chick-fil-A Bowl was a

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

bowl game In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For most of its history, the Division I Bowl Subdivis ...

held on December 31, 2012, at the

Georgia Dome The Georgia Dome was a domed stadium in the Southeastern United States. Located in Atlanta between downtown to the east and Vine City to the west, it was owned and operated by the State of Georgia as part of the Georgia World Congress Center ...

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

. With sponsorship from

Chick-fil-A Chick-fil-A ( , a Word play, play on the American English pronunciation of "wikt:filet#Pronunciation, filet") is an American fast food restaurant chain which is the country's largest which specializes in chicken sandwiches. Headquartered in Coll ...

, it was the 45th edition of the game known throughout most of its history as the

Peach Bowl The Peach Bowl is an annual college football bowl game played in Atlanta, Georgia since December 1968. Since 1997, it has been sponsored by Chick-fil-A and is officially known as the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. From 2006 to 2013, it was officially ...

. The game began at 7:30 p.m. EST and aired on

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

. It featured the

LSU Tigers The LSU Tigers and Lady Tigers are the athletic teams representing Louisiana State University (LSU), a state university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. LSU competes in NCAA Division I, Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Associat ...

from the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

(SEC) against the

Clemson Tigers The Clemson Tigers are the athletic teams that represent Clemson University, located in Clemson, South Carolina. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level (Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) s ...

from the

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the eastern United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC's fifteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

(ACC) and was the final game of the 2012 NCAA Division I FBS football season for both teams. Both Tigers accepted an invitation to the game after achieving a 10–2 regular season record. This was not the first time the two Tigers have met in the Chick-fil-A Bowl; the 1996 game also pitted them against each other, with

LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

topping Clemson by a score of 10–7. Their first meeting was the 1959 Sugar Bowl, which LSU won in a 7–0 shutout after being named the 1958 national champion in the end-of-season

AP Poll The Associated Press poll (AP poll) provides weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling 62 sportswriters and broadca ...

and

Coaches Poll The Coaches Poll is a weekly ranking of the top 25 NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) college football, Division I college basketball, and Division I college baseball teams. The football version of the poll has been known officiall ...

. Clemson won the game in a 25–24 upset. Despite out-gaining LSU by 445–219 in total yards, Clemson trailed for much of the game. Clemson was able to win after placekicker

Chandler Catanzaro Chandler Catanzaro (born February 26, 1991) is a former American football placekicker. He was signed by the Arizona Cardinals as an undrafted free agent in 2014 and later played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, New York Jets, and Carolina Panthers. ...

made a 37-yard field goal as time expired. Clemson quarterback

Tajh Boyd Tajh Khiry Boyd (born September 25, 1990) is an American football coach and former quarterback who currently is an offensive assistant at Clemson. He was drafted by the New York Jets in the sixth round of the 2014 NFL Draft. He played college fo ...

, who completed 36 of 50 passes for 346 yards, was named the game's

most valuable player In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

Teams

The 2012 Chick-fil-A Bowl marked the third meeting between Clemson and LSU, with LSU holding a 2–0 advantage coming into the game. The previous meeting was a 10–7 victory for LSU in the 1996 Chick-fil-A bowl.Chick-fil-A Bowl Matches #14 Clemson and #8 LSU in Prime Time on New Year’s Eve
cfabowl.com. 2 December 2012. Retrieved 3 January 2012.

LSU

Coming off an SEC Championship and a heartbreaking shutout loss in the 2012 BCS National Championship Game, the Tigers were early favorites to return to the national title game. However, despite a stellar 6–2 record in conference play, the Tigers finished one game behind the same

Alabama Crimson Tide The Alabama Crimson Tide refers to the intercollegiate athletic varsity teams that represent the University of Alabama, located in Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide teams compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I as a me ...

which had defeated them for the national title the previous January, being denied even a secondary BCS bowl game because of the two-team limit as well as the

Florida Gators The Florida Gators are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Florida, located in Gainesville. The University of Florida, its athletic program, its alumni and its sports fans are often collectively referred to as t ...

occupying that second spot. LSU entered the game with a defense that allowed only 16.9 points per game and 297.8 total yards per game. Leading LSU's defense was led by linebacker

Kevin Minter Kevin Christopher Minter (born December 3, 1990) is an American football linebacker who is a free agent. He was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals in the second round of the 2013 NFL Draft. He played college football at LSU, where he earned firs ...

, who led LSU's defense with 111 tackles. This was LSU's sixth Chick-fil-A Bowl; they had previously appeared in the 2008 game against

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

, where they won the game 38–3. LSU held a 5–0 record in the bowl game coming into the game.

Clemson

Coming off an ACC Championship, the Tigers kept their success going, actually finishing with a better record (both overall and in conference play) than their previous season, with their 7–1 conference record leading to an Atlantic Division Co-Championship. However, they would lose the tiebreaker to the other co-champion, the Florida State Seminoles, keeping the Tigers out of the 2012 ACC Championship Game. Clemson entered the game averaging 42.3 points per game and 518.3 yards of total offense per game. Leading Clemson's offense was quarterback

, who came into the game with 3,550 passing yards and 34 touchdown passes. The offense was also led by running back

Andre Ellington Andre DeAngelo Ellington (born February 3, 1989) is a former American football running back. He played college football at Clemson and was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals in the sixth round of the 2013 NFL Draft. High school career Ellingto ...

and wide receiver

DeAndre Hopkins DeAndre Rashaun Hopkins (born June 6, 1992) is an American football wide receiver for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Clemson and was drafted by the Houston Texans in the first roun ...

. Clemson was less impressive on the defense, however, allowing more than 27 points in half of its games.Becker, Matt
LSU-Clemson Preview

Yahoo! Sports Yahoo! Sports is a sports news website launched by Yahoo! on December 8, 1997. It receives a majority of its information from STATS, Inc. It employs numerous writers, and has team pages for teams in almost every North American major sport. B ...

. 26 December 2012. Retrieved 3 January 2013. This was Clemson's eighth Chick-fil-A Bowl; they had previously appeared in the 2007 game against Auburn, where they lost the game, 20–23. Clemson held a 2–5 record in the bowl game coming into the game.

Game summary

First quarter

Clemson fumbled on the second play of the game after LSU's

Barkevious Mingo Barkevious Levon Mingo (; born October 4, 1990) is an American football outside linebacker who is a free agent. He played college football at Louisiana State (LSU) and was drafted by the Cleveland Browns sixth overall in the 2013 NFL Draft. He ...

forced Clemson's Sammy Watkins to fumble. Watkins suffered a right ankle injury on the fumble and sat out the rest of the game. Taking advantage of the fumble, LSU jumped to a 7–0 lead on a 17-yard touchdown run from

Jeremy Hill Jeremy Hill (born October 20, 1992) is a former American football running back. He was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in the second round of the 2014 NFL Draft. He played college football at Louisiana State University (LSU). After a promisin ...

. Clemson was able to respond on its next drive, tying the game 7–7 on an 11-yard touchdown run from

. The rest of the first quarter remained scoreless as the two teams exchanged punts.Clemson edges LSU on last-second field goal

. 31 December 2012. Retrieved 1 January 2013.LSU Tigers vs. Clemson Tigers play-by-play

. 31 December 2012. Retrieved 1 January 2013.LSU Tigers vs. Clemson Tigers box score

. 31 December 2012. Retrieved 1 January 2013.

Second quarter

LSU opened the second quarter with a 3-yard touchdown pass from quarterback

Zach Mettenberger Zachary Rich Mettenberger (born July 16, 1991) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for three seasons, primarily with the Tennessee Titans. He played college football at LSU and was selected ...

Spencer Ware Spencer Raleigh Ware III (born November 23, 1991) is a former American football running back. He played college football at LSU, and played in the 2010 U.S. Army All-American Bowl. He was drafted in the sixth round of the 2013 NFL Draft by th ...

to go up 14–7. Clemson was able to respond with an 11-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Tajh Boyd to

. The point after attempt was blocked, however, making the score 14–13. The score remained 14–13 in LSU's favor going into halftime.

Third quarter

Clemson was held scoreless in the third quarter as LSU was able to further extend their lead. LSU opened the third quarter with a 57-yard touchdown run from Jeremy Hill to make the score 21–13. After forcing Clemson's

to fumble, LSU was able to extend their lead 24–13 on a 20-yard field goal from Drew Alleman.

Fourth quarter

Clemson's defense dominated the fourth quarter, as Clemson held LSU to only 1 yard of offense. Clemson was able to cut into LSU's lead early in the fourth quarter on a 26-yard field goal from Chandler Catanzaro to make the score 24–16. After forcing LSU to punt, Clemson was able to once again cut into LSU's lead on a 12-yard touchdown pass from Tajh Boyd to DeAndre Hopkins. The subsequent

two-point conversion In gridiron football, a two-point conversion or two-point convert is a play a team attempts instead of kicking a one-point conversion immediately after it scores a touchdown. In a two-point conversion attempt, the team that just scored must run ...

was unsuccessful, however, making the score 24–22 with 2:47 left in regulation. On LSU's next possession, LSU was unable to

run out the clock In sports, running out the clock (also known as running down the clock, stonewalling, killing the clock, chewing the clock, stalling, time-wasting (or timewasting) or eating clock) is the practice of a winning team allowing the clock to expire thr ...

or force Clemson to use any timeouts, thanks to a couple of incomplete passes from Zach Mettenberger. LSU punted the ball away, giving Clemson the ball back with only 1:39 left in regulation at Clemson's own 20-yard line. Clemson's drive started poorly, as Tajh Boyd failed to complete his first two passes of the drive. On the third play of the drive, Tajh Boyd was sacked by

Sam Montgomery Sidney Sammual Montgomery (born May 25, 1990) is a former American football defensive end. He previously played in the Canadian Football League (CFL) and before that the National Football League (NFL), into which he was drafted by the Houston Tex ...

. Facing a 4th and 16 at their own 14-yard line, Clemson was able to keep the drive alive on a 26-yard pass from Boyd to

was then able to lead Clemson to LSU's 20-yard line to set up a 37-yard field goal attempt for

. Catanzaro was able to kick the field goal as time expired, giving Clemson a 25–24 victory over LSU.

Game notes

With the victory, Clemson recorded its first 11 win season since its 1981 season. In addition, Clemson's

set an ACC record for most consecutive game with a touchdown catch, at 10. The 2012 Chick-fil-A bowl also marked LSU's first loss to an ACC team since 1955. Hopkins also set Chick-Fil-A/Peach Bowl records for receptions and receiving yards (13 receptions, 191 yards). Clemson also set Bowl records for most total first downs by one team (32), offensive plays by one team (100), and held LSU to a Bowl record low for offensive plays by a team (48).

Scoring summary

Statistical summary

For his game-winning performance, Clemson quarterback Tajh Boyd was named the game's

Most Valuable Player In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

. He completed 36 of his 50 passes for 346 yards and 2 touchdowns. Both of Boyd's touchdown passes went to DeAndre Hopkins, who had 191 receiving yards in the game. Boyd also led his team in rushing attempts at 29. Clemson outgained LSU 445–219 in total yards and Clemson's defense was able to limit LSU to 9 first downs. LSU quarterback Zach Mettenberger was sacked 6 times and was held to only 120 passing yards. LSU's leading rusher was Jeremy Hill, who rushed for 124 yards and 2 touchdowns on 12 carries. LSU's no. 2 rusher was Spencer Ware, who rushed for 9 yards on 3 carries. Clemson's leading rusher was Andre Ellington, who accumulated 50 yards on 11 carries. Clemson's no. 2 rusher was Roderick McDowell, who rushed for 26 yards on 7 carries.

References

{{Clemson Tigers bowl game navbox Chick-fil-A Bowl Peach Bowl LSU Tigers football bowl games Clemson Tigers football bowl games Chick-fil-A Bowl December 2012 sports events in the United States 2012 in Atlanta