CLEMSON, South Carolina -- Nearly 37 years ago, legendary Ohio State coach Woody Hayes threw the most famous punch in college football history -- and landed Dabo Swinney a star left tackle.
Hayes' infamous punch in the 1978 Gator Bowl might be the reason Clemson freshman Mitch Hyatt will be protecting quarterback Deshaun Watson's blind side in the No. 1 Tigers' showdown against No. 4 Oklahoma on New Year's Eve in the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Capital One Orange Bowl.
On Dec. 29, 1978, nearly two decades before Hyatt was born, Hayes punched Clemson backup nose guard Charlie Baumann after he intercepted a pass and was tackled near the Ohio State sideline in the closing minutes of the Tigers' 17-15 victory in the Gator Bowl.
Hayes, 65, was fired the next day, after guiding the Buckeyes to 205 victories and five national championships in 28 seasons.
Hyatt's uncle, Dan Benish, was a highly recruited defensive lineman from Hubbard, Ohio. He was scheduled to make an official visit to Ohio State the weekend after Hayes was fired. But when Benish arrived at the airport to fly to Columbus, Ohio, the airline told him it didn't have a ticket for him.
Benish called Ohio State's football office, and a secretary told him Hayes had taken the Buckeyes' recruiting files with him. Benish was told the Buckeyes were no longer recruiting him.
With Ohio State out of the picture, Benish decided to visit Clemson with his high school teammate, wide receiver Dwayne Sell.
"I didn't even know where Clemson was when they first started recruiting me," Benish said. "I grew up in Ohio, and Ohio State and Notre Dame were my two favorite schools. I pretty much had my heart set on going to Ohio State and becoming a Buckeye. It was like a dream come true for me."
The Tigers were an up-and-coming team in 1978, having finished 11-1 under 31-year-old Danny Ford, who was promoted to head coach after Charley Pell left for Florida. It didn't take long for Benish to realize he wanted to play for Clemson.
"I was only going to Clemson to check it out," Benish said. "I came from a small town in northeast Ohio. It was a farming town, but it was only three or four miles from the steel mills and railroad. When I got to Clemson, I saw the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. They took us to [Lake Hartwell], and everything was green. I'd never seen anything like it."
Benish ended up signing with the Tigers and was a starting defensive lineman on their 1981 national championship team. He made the Atlanta Falcons' roster as an undrafted free agent in 1983 and played five seasons in the NFL.
While Benish was playing for the Falcons, his mother, sister and twin brother moved from Ohio to Georgia. His sister, Lisa Hyatt, gave birth to a son, Mitch, on Feb. 6, 1997. Years later, when Mitch was a youth football player, his coach told him to find another sport because he wasn't tough enough to play football.
His uncle decided to coach him instead.
"We had to tape his pants up because he was so skinny," Benish said. "It isn't a bad thing, but he was kind of a mama's boy. He was shy and kind of introverted."
Eventually, Hyatt grew to 6-foot-6 and more than 260 pounds. As a sophomore at North Gwinnett High School in Suwanee, Georgia, Hyatt faced Ole Miss All-American Robert Nkemdiche in the second round of the Class 6A state playoffs. Nkemdiche, then a junior at Grayson High School, was the No. 1 recruit in the country. Hyatt blocked Nkemdiche so well that Grayson High's coaches moved him to the other side of the line after only a few series.
That performance propelled Hyatt up the national recruiting rankings. Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, Georgia, Ohio State and Tennessee were among the schools recruiting him. But Benish already knew where he wanted his nephew to play.
"I talked about Clemson all of the time," Benish said. "I didn't tell him where to go. I set a foundation -- more of a brainwashing, probably. He wanted to commit to Clemson after his sophomore year of high school, but I told him he needed to see more schools."
Hyatt graduated from high school early and enrolled at Clemson in January.
"I've been a Clemson fan my whole life," Hyatt said. "I grew up around the school, and it was definitely my dream school. Just having an opportunity to play here was a big deal."
Tigers coach Dabo Swinney knew Hyatt would become one of the building blocks of his program.
"Sometimes you just get lucky," Swinney said. "It just so happens that Mitch grew up coming to Clemson games his whole life. It was no guarantee he was coming here. We still had to recruit our butts off. We're really fortunate it went our way. The timing was right because he knew he had a chance to play early."
It turned out Hyatt had to play a lot sooner than expected. In June, senior Isaiah Battle, an 11-game starter at left tackle in 2014, left the team to enter the NFL's supplemental draft. In Clemson's 49-10 win over FCS foe Wofford on Sept. 5, Hyatt became the first true freshman since 1944 to start at left tackle for the Tigers.
"He's special," Swinney said. "He's just going to get better and better. He's going to take some lumps. It's foolish for people to think he's not going to have some bad plays or maybe even a bad game along the way. It's just the way it is."
Hyatt more than held his own against more experienced opponents this season. Even with five new starters on the offensive line -- returning center Ryan Norton injured his knee in a 41-10 win over Appalachian State in Week 2 -- the Tigers rank 15th nationally in scoring, with 38.5 points per game, and in the top 25 in both passing (288.5 yards) and rushing (222.2).
Hyatt, 18, has excelled at perhaps the most important position on the offensive line, where it is his job to protect Watson's blind side.
"It would be hard to find another guy who has the tool set he has," Swinney said. "It's not only the physical part, but it's his work ethic, football IQ, mentality and toughness. He has all of that. When you put all of the intangibles with the measurables, he's going to be a great player. He's nowhere near what he's going to be. He's 18 years old. He's kind of like Deshaun Watson at his position. He's just a gifted guy. You scratch your head and said, 'Wow, this kid gets it.'"
Oddly enough, the Tigers can thank Hayes for starting the dominoes nearly four decades ago.