In front of a sellout crowd of 71,279 at University of Phoenix Stadium, No. 2 Clemson dominated No. 3 Ohio State in all phases of the game, earning a trip to its second consecutive national championship game with a 31-0 win over the Buckeyes in the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the 46th Annual PlayStation® Fiesta Bowl.
Deshaun Watson earned offensive player of the game, going 23-36 for 259 yards passing and 3 total touchdowns. It was the Tigers' first appearance in the Fiesta Bowl, while Ohio State dropped to 4-3 all-time in the game's history.
Where:
University of Phoenix Stadium
Glendale, AZ
When:
December 31, 2016, 7 p.m. ET
Attendance:
71,279
Offensive Player of the Game:
QB Deshaun Watson, Clemson
Defensive Player of the Game:
DE Clelin Ferrell, Clemson
Head Coaches:
Dabo Swinney, Clemson; Urban Meyer, Ohio State
Total average minute audience of 19,727,621 viewers +14% from last year
Streaming provided a 2.3% lift to the TV audience +up 1.8% lift from last year
- 440K streaming viewers per minute and 1.3 million total unique viewers (+ double-digits from last year)
- Ranking as the most-streamed non-Championship college football games ever on ESPN
Ranking as the 3rd and 4th most-watched cable telecasts in 2016 behind the 2016 College Football Playoff National Championship game
Top 25 all-time for cable telecasts across all networks
Television Average Minute Audience: 19,236,397
Streaming Average Minute Audience: 402,012
TV + Streaming Average Minute Audience: 19,638,409
Lift: 2.0%
Streaming Uniques: 1,173,949
Streaming Minutes: 84,422,539
Social Interactions: 2.9M
Total Day ESPN.com Uniques: 12,887,022
(+15% compared to past rolling year daily unique average)
Total Day ESPN App Uniques: 8,099,780
(+57% compared to 2016 daily unique average)
Source: Nielsen Media, Live + SD Ratings