The first half for Ohio State went exactly as Ryan Day wanted. The offense rolled and the running game kept the Buckeyes ahead of the chains. The defense was able to contain Lawrence and Etienne enough to force some mistakes and miscues. In fact, the only thing that didn’t go OSU’s way was a massive hit to Justin Fields that knocked him briefly from the game.
One of the best things the offense did was to keep Clemson’s defense off-balance and confused. Not having Nolan Turner proved to be a huge loss for Clemson and now that James Skalski is out for the rest of the game, the Buckeyes may want to shift their playcalling to take advantage now that Turner will return. Trey Sermon’s usage may be vital in the second half to keep Fields from taking more shots.
Ohio State came into the game knowing Clemson was going to try to take away the outside receivers in the red zone. To combat this, Ohio State has gotten the tight ends involved which has surprised and confused Clemson so far. Should Clemson adjust to the tight ends at the half, the wide receivers could come into play on the outside.
WATCH: Justin Fields comes back from injury and promptly hits Chris Olave for TD pass https://t.co/sQSU8JmwxE
— Buckeyes Wire (@BuckeyesWire) January 2, 2021
On defense, the Buckeyes need to continue to keep Clemson in between the tackles. Clemson has done most of its damage on the edge. Ohio State has wisely been throwing new looks out on the edge to combat the screen game and short patterns. Clemson will probably try to push the ball down the field more and the Buckeyes will need to get more pressure if the Tigers adjust this way.
So far, the Buckeyes are playing a great strategy and adjusting to what Clemson is doing really well. Dabo Swinney is great at in-game adjustments, but it looks like Ryan Day is giving Swinney a run for his money. Two more quarters of adjustments and smart play and the Buckeyes could be heading to the final.
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