MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — In the week leading up to the Capital One Orange Bowl in pregame and in the first and second quarter, all No. 1 Clemson heard was Oklahoma players running off at the mouth.

But when the Tigers took the ball to start the second half and drove it 75 yards on 12 plays, which running back Wayne Gallman capped with a 1-yard touchdown, things got a little quiet. When the Clemson defense followed Gallman’s touchdown by forcing a three-and-out on the ensuing possession, which included one of its five sacks on quarterback Baker Mayfield, the Sooners stopped talking.

“There was a lot of talking but they kind of got quiet going into the third and fourth quarter,” Clemson cornerback Cordrea Tankersley said.

Oklahoma got quiet because it did nothing in the second half. The Tigers outscored the No. 4 team in the country 21-0 in the last 30 minutes, limiting the Sooners to 121 total yards.

“We just came together as a unit and did what we do best,” Tankersley said. “We tried to lock everything down and we challenged each other, and it paid off.”

It paid off with a 37-17 victory that advances the Tigers to the National Championship Game where they will face No. 2 Alabama at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.

“We just came out and did what we do best. We just wanted to show the world what we are capable of and that we are still not finished yet,” Tankersley said.

Mayfield picked apart the Tigers in the first half as he completed 17 of 26 passes for 226 yards and a touchdown to tight end Mark Andrews that gave the Sooners a 17-16 halftime lead.

“We kind of did not give ourselves a chance there in that first half, but our coaches told us we needed to step it up a little bit,” Tankersley said.

“They are the No. 4 team in the country. They earned their way here as well. We knew they were going to make plays, but we just had to limit them.”

And that’s what they did. The Tigers got after Mayfield in the last 30 minutes. They held him to 9 of 18 passing for 85 yards, while intercepting two of his passes. Linebacker B.J. Goodson picked off a pass in the third quarter on what could have been a potential scoring drive for the Sooners, and then linebacker Ben Boulware intercepted a pass in the fourth quarter at the Clemson two to stop another potential scoring threat.

“I will take them. Sometimes we in the secondary don’t have to catch it. If they punt it, we win anyway, so I’ll take it. But it doesn’t matter. Congrats to those two for helping us by snagging those picks and giving us momentum.”

And that just kept Oklahoma quiet.

“We had some of our players acknowledge it a little bit. It motivated us some. It made us go out there and compete even better and we got the results we wanted,” Tankersley said.