2. Justin Fields had a performance for the ages
Ohio State seems to be getting used to doing this whole all-time great thing in the backfield.
Trey Sermon had an okay season, and then he rumbled through Northwestern for a school-record 331 yards and two touchdowns in the Big Ten Championship win.
Ho hum – he only ran for 193 yards and a touchdown on 31 tough carries against Clemson.
Chris Olave didn’t have a record-setting night, but he caught six passes for 132 yards and two touchdowns as he exorcised the demons after the Fields interception to close out last year’s game that was thrown his way.
Meanwhile, Trevor Lawrence ran for a touchdown and threw for 400 yards and two touchdowns with a pick – and he was outplayed by the guy on the other side.
6 TOUCHDOWNS FOR JUSTIN FIELDS 🤯 pic.twitter.com/9WecXeo91H
— ESPN (@espn) January 2, 2021
It’s not that Justin Fields was bad in last year’s game – he threw for 320 yards and a touchdown – but he threw one interception all season and tossed two in the loss. He waited all year for this moment, and it showed as he played through what appeared to be a rib injury after getting blasted in the first half.
He might not have run like he normally would’ve after getting hurt – finishing with 42 yards on the day – but he turned out to be okay throwing it around …
22-of-28 for 385 yards, six touchdowns, and one interception when his hand/the ball got hit.
After all the pleading, and the hashtags, and the pushing to get this season going for Ohio State and wanting to play, he had an okay-not-amazing regular season. None of that matters now.
He got his chance, and he came through in a massive way.
This was the moment. This was the game. This is what he and Ohio State wanted, and it couldn’t have gone better.
But …