With the regular season and another Big Ten Trophy in the trophy case at The Woody, Ohio State now turns its eyes towards preparing for the matchup in the desert against the reigning champs Clemson Tigers.
With the recent history against Clemson, it’s an intriguing matchup. Ohio State is 0-3 against the Tigers, and fans would love to get a sour taste out of their mouth after the 31-0 dominating game Clemson pitched against Ohio State in 2016. Could it be that this year will change the narrative against Clemson?
For the first time this year, Ohio State is an underdog in the Fiesta Bowl despite being the higher seed. In just a short week, it went from being the College Football Playoff’s No. 1 team, to now nearly everyone picking the Tigers to beat the Buckeyes and move on to the national title game. While it may be disappointing to many, it could also be just the extra motivation that the team needs to elbow its own way to a national title.
But let’s be clear here. While there are several players that were part of that 2016 team this one is very, very different. Whether it be coaches, players, or schemes, Ohio State is far different than when it got trounced in the desert last time out.
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Some might remember that Urban Meyer was incredible as an underdog with a crazy and somewhat unbelievable 7-0 record. Could Day be just as great with Urban in that category? Day has this calm presence and has faced adversity this year.
While the conference championship game was too close in the first half for comfort, it tested Day and his staff’s resolve, resiliency, and game-management on the biggest stage yet in his young coaching career. When it’s all said and done, all eyes will be eagerly awaiting the matchup in the desert in the Playstation Fiesta Bowl to see how he does.
Maybe he’ll show he can go from underdog to top dog?