ORLANDO, Fla. — Roman Fry wants to finish what he starts.

Fry has started on the offensive line the past two seasons for the Clemson Tigers and has improved steadily. The redshirt junior said his success has him anxious to come back for his senior season.

“I’m definitely coming back. The future looks bright. Our whole offensive line is back,” Fry said. “I think we have the talent to (win the Atlantic Coast Conference title). We just have to learn to finish.”

Learning to finish as a team has been a hard lesson this season for the Tigers.

Clemson is 7-4 but the Tigers’ four losses were by a combined 14 points including a three overtime loss to Miami and an overtime setback to Wake Forest.

“We just didn’t finish. It was kind of frustrating. Next year, we have to finish. By the end of the season we learned how to finish and we have to prove that starting (today),” Fry said.

Today at 5 p.m. Clemson will finish the season in the Champs Sports Bowl as the Tigers take on the Colorado Buffaloes.

Colorado is 7-5 after losing the Big 12 championship game to No. 2-ranked Texas 70-3.

The two teams have a common opponent in Miami. Clemson lost 36-30 in three overtimes while Colorado fell 23-3.

“They lost 70-3 to Texas, but remember they were playing for the Big 12 championship. They did beat Texas A&M by 20 (41-20),” Fry said.

“The strength of their team is their defense. Coach (Tommy) Bowden said if we control things up front we’ll win. If we don’t, we’ll get beat.”

If the offensive line holds the key, Fry may be the player that opens the door for Clemson.

The 6-foot-4, 290-pounder was voted the team’s most improved offensive lineman last season. This year Fry has been named the team’s Offensive Blocker of the Week five different times including games with Florida State, N.C. State, Wake Forest and Boston College.

Fry registered 19 knockdowns against Florida State and he finished with 88.5 knockdowns on the season.

The success didn’t go unnoticed. Fry was named to the All-ACC second team offensive line. Most of Fry’s votes came from opposing coaches, not the media.

“That made me kind of proud that the opposing coaches recognized what I did,” Fry said. “What I’m most proud of is being able to represent Ironton so well.”

In the Boston College game, Fry won the honor while playing center instead of left guard. So far this season Fry has played guard, center and tackle.

“It’s fun and it’s good to be able to play different positions. It should help me at the next level (NFL). But really I’m just happy I was consistent. I like playing left guard and being in one spot, but I usually have to learn double assignments since I’m the backup center,” Fry said.

While Clemson has been working hard in preparation for the bowl game, Fry said there has been a lot of fun moments connected with the bowl week.

One such moment came Monday at the House of Blues with both teams, coaching staffs and university presidents in attendance when Fry made his singing debut.

“One of our players requested the song ‘Rawhide.’ No one would get up and sing so I did it. I’m not a singer, but I didn’t do too bad of a job,” Fry said.