GLENDALE, Ariz. — Trevor Lawrence is back where he ended last season and began this season — as college football’s long-haired golden boy.

As the next great quarterback prospect. The player NFL teams are salivating over. He still hasn’t lost a game, improving to 25-0 as a starter.

He willed Clemson to its 29th straight victory in what may have been his finest moment yet Saturday night, a thrilling performance that showcased his grit and clutch gene. He shook off a 16-point deficit. He kept getting up, no matter how hard Ohio State hit him, and the Buckeyes sacked him three times, were in his face most of the evening. He even ran for a career-high 107 yards, including a stunning 67-yard touchdown run, taking a page out of friend and rival Justin Fields’ playbook.

And now Clemson and Dabo Swinney are headed back to the national championship for the fourth time in five years after its thrilling 29-23 victory over No. 2 Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl at State Farm Stadium.

“Let’s go win it. We’re built for this,” Lawrence told his teammates before the game-winning drive. “We got a chance to prove ourselves. Let’s go do it.”

The No. 3 Tigers will face No. 1 LSU in the title game on Jan. 13 in New Orleans, looking for their third title in four years.

Lawrence (18-of-33, 259 yards) took Clemson 94 yards in four plays, accounting for every inch of the go-ahead scoring drive he capped with the second of two touchdown passes to running back Travis Etienne with 1:49 left. Lawrence started the drive by hitting Justyn Ross for 11 yards. Then he ran for 11 more and found Amari Rodgers for 38 over the middle. On the next play, Lawrence faked a keeper, drawing in the Buckeyes linebackers and connected with Etienne on a Tim Tebow-esque jump pass for a 34-yard score.

“We’ve been saving that little play-action to Travis the whole game,” Swinney said. “It just felt like it was the right time to call it right there and it hit.”

Fields had Ohio State (13-1) in position to go back ahead, moving the ball to the Clemson 23, but receiver Chris Olave ran the wrong route on second down, thinking Fields was going to scramble, and Nolan Turner picked Fields’ pass off with 37 seconds left in the end zone.

The dramatic ending was fitting for the rare semifinal classic that featured several questionable calls — most notably a Jordan Fuller fumble recovery and 29-yard touchdown return that was reversed after video replay — and plenty of momentum turns. The lead changed hands three times in the second half, Lawrence and Fields — the sophomore quarterbacks who grew up a half-hour away from each other in northwest Georgia — trading scores.

“This is how a championship game ought to be,” Swinney said.

Fields’ 23-yard touchdown pass to Olave on 4th-and-1 gave Ohio State the lead with 11:46 left. That came on the heels of a 53-yard Lawrence-to-Etienne screen pass midway through the third quarter that gave the Tigers (14-0) their first lead after coming out sluggish and trailing 16-0.

A second quarter targeting call on Buckeyes cornerback Shaun Wade flipped momentum, giving Clemson a critical first down and leading to the Tigers’ first touchdown. On third-and-5 from the Ohio State 45, Lawrence was sacked by Wade, but after a review, he was called for leading with his helmet. Two plays later, Wade’s replacement, Amir Riep, was whistled for pass interference. Three plays later, Etienne scored from seven yards out, breaking a Fuller tackle behind the line of scrimmage to avoid a field goal.

After forcing a three-and-out, Clemson got even closer on Lawrence’s 67-yard quarterback keeper, a career-long rush. On 3rd-and-10, he took off, freezing linebacker Tommy Eichenberg with a quick cut and outlasted the Ohio State secondary down the left sideline. While Lawrence was getting Clemson back within striking distance, the defense was holding the Buckeyes without a point for five consecutive drives, picking off Fields twice, one more pick than he had thrown all season.

“It just showed the fight our guys had,” linebacker Isaiah Simmons said. “Nobody gave up. Nobody lost sight of what we wanted to do, even though we faced adversity. Even though we haven’t seen anything like that all year.”

Clemson entered this showdown unchallenged, coming out of the woeful ACC, beating its previous 13 opponents by a combined 467 points. There were questions how it would respond after taking a punch, if the young defense was as good as its impressive numbers. The Tigers’ jaw proved to be made of iron.

“Shoot, we got tested,” Lawrence said, “and I think we passed.”