Beth Hall-USA TODAY Sports
Tajh Boyd and the Clemson offense that ranked No. 6 in points will try to find the endzone against Les Miles' tough defense on New Years' Eve in a matchup of top 15 teams in the Chick-fil-A Bowl.
One of the highest-scoring offenses in the country takes on one of the best defenses in a battle of Tigers, as No. 14 Clemson will try to knock off No. 8 LSU.
The Georgia Dome will host what should be one of the best non-BCS bowls this season, and the only one to feature two top 15 teams. There was only room for two SEC teams in BCS games, leaving several elite teams, including LSU, wanting, while Florida State essentially won the ACC's spot in a de facto conference title game against Clemson in September.
Tajh Boyd is the star for Clemson, throwing for 3,550 yards while running for 492. It only scored under 38 points twice on the season, both times against SEC teams: It scored 26 points in a win over an Auburn squad that turned out to be among the conference's worst in Week 1, and only was able to put up 17 points in a loss to South Carolina. On the other sideline, Zach Mettenberger hasn't been the best at quarterback and his receivers haven't helped him out, but Les Miles' squad were able to be an elite team on the strength of a vicious defense:, LSU only allowed over 25 points once, in a 41-35 win against Ole Miss.
Both teams only lost two games this year, but there's a difference in strength of schedule: Clemson's two losses came in their only two games against ranked teams, while LSU knocked off three ranked opponents, including a win over a South Carolina team that beat Clemson, 27-17.
LSU blog And The Valley Shook took a look at the matchups and similarities between the teams, while Clemson blog Shakin the Southland was worried their team could get physically dominated by a bigger, faster LSU team.
Here's the info on the New Years' Eve game and how to watch it:
Game date and time
7:30 p.m. ET Dec. 31
Location
Georgia Dome, Atlanta
Spread
LSU opened as 3-point favorites
TV schedule
ESPN
Watch online
WatchESPN
Radio schedule
ESPN Radio
Last year’s game
Auburn, 43, Virginia, 24
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