Clemson super fan Gordon Thorne is Bayou-bound with high hopes for the Tigers. Thorne, along with his mother, Betty, and daughter Hayden, a Clemson student, left today for New Orleans, to watch the Tigers tangle with Alabama in the College Football Playoff national semifinal at the Sugar Bowl. The game marks the third time in as many seasons, the 12-1 Tigers and Tide, 11-1, have dueled in the national playoffs.