SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Urban Meyer was giving the abridged version of the core values he has instilled in Ohio State football, the pillars upon which he has built the Buckeyes.
There is 4 to 6, A to B, in reference to the effort expected on each play. Power of the unit focuses on each position group. Competitive excellence, which sort of speaks for itself.
"You mean the game-day underwear, that's not the key ingredient?" Clemson Coach Dabo Swinney chimed in, getting a smile from Meyer.
"I'm not saying I don't wear them," Meyer said in response.
Swinney and Meyer shared the stage Friday morning for the final news conference before the second-ranked Buckeyes (11-1) and Tigers (12-1) face off in the Fiesta Bowl. The coaches exchanged handshakes and kind of a half-hug, pat-on-the-back thing before posing for photos with an ostentatious trophy that goes to the winner of tonight's game -- along with a trip to the College Football Playoff championship game.
Meyer, 52, has a resume nearly unmatched in college football. No current coach who has at least 10 seasons of experience has a higher winning percentage than Meyer's .854. He has won three national championships, including the first College Football Playoff title two years ago.
Swinney compared Meyer to Notre Dame legend Knute Rockne at the beginning of the week and joked about how he needed to quickly read Meyer's book to gain some insight.
Swinney, 47, talks up Meyer with reverence, but Swinney is on the short list of current coaches who can claim Meyer-like levels of success. Clemson needed a bigger overhaul when Swinney took over during the 2008 season than Ohio State did when Meyer became coach in 2012. But since 2011, Swinney is 68-14 (.829), including a victory against Ohio State in the 2014 Orange Bowl, one of two postseason losses on Meyer's record (10-2).
Winning a national championship is the only thing Swinney and Clemson have not accomplished during this run. Deshaun Watson and the Tigers came up short last year against Alabama. Watson, the Heisman Trophy runner-up, was productive against the Tide and followed it up with a season during which he passed for 3,914 yards and 37 touchdowns.
"I would think that you would see his poise," Swinney said of Watson. "And to me his poise really makes him incredibly unique, because he just -- he just never changes."
Clemson returns to the stadium where it lost 45-40 to Alabama last January. Meyer has fond memories of University of Phoenix Stadium, where the Florida Gators won the 2006 BCS title in Glendale, routing Ohio State.
"That was the first one, and I still, to this day remember, everybody on the sideline celebrating, screaming it's not over yet. And it was pretty much over. And then we ran a bubble screen with about a minute and a half left to Percy Harvin, and he nudged the ball past the first-down marker, and I thought, even us, we can't screw this up now," Meyer said. "The knees started shaking and it was a special moment, though."
Swinney played on the 1992 Alabama team that won the national championship.
"So I can definitely see it and visualize that and hopefully we'll have our opportunity to hold the trophy up one of these days," Swinney said.
One necessity for Clemson is productive play from tailback Wayne Gallman, who has recorded a Clemson record 17 100-yard rushing games in his career and the Tigers are 17-0 in those games.
"Once he gets to the next level, it's hard to take him down," Ohio State linebacker Raekwon McMillan said about Gallman.
Sports on 12/31/2016