Tag: Clemson Tigers

Ohio State vs. Clemson 2019 Fiesta Bowl Preview: Get to know the Tigers’ five best players

What players on Clemson could make life difficult on Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl CFP Semifinal? Here are the Tigers’ five best players.

We’re less than two weeks away from the College Football Semifinal matchup in the Fiesta Bowl between Ohio State and Clemson. As a Buckeye fan, we know you’ve been up at night thinking about this matchup and what to be aware of. So, we’ll be bringing you things leading up to the game, and first up is a cliff notes version of the best five players on this Tigers’ squad.

It’s not Clemson is the great unknown opponent. You don’t win a couple of national titles over the last three years and go under the radar, but still, with the schedule and lack of coverage of the ACC Champion’s year, you may not be completely up to speed on who has been the biggest playmakers for Dabo Swinney’s club.

Here’s the Clemson Tigers five best players of 2019 so far, and ones that the Ohio State coaching staff will no doubt have to have an answer for.

Next … No. 5

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Ryan Day talks Clemson, Fiesta Bowl prep press conference

Ohio State head coach Ryan Day met with the media in Columbus to provide an update on preparations for the Fiesta Bowl. Watch and read here.

It’s not your normal game week around on the banks of the Olentangy. In fact, there’s not a game at all this weekend, but there is a big one coming up after all the Christmas shenanigans on the 28th. Because of that, Ohio State head coach Ryan Day took some time out to talk with the media and provide and update on the Fiesta Bowl prep.

There’s also a little thing known as the Early Signing Day coming up on Wednesday, so there’s plenty to discuss.

In case you missed any of the comments he made on Monday, we’ve got the entire presser and the transcript of it thanks to the Ohio State Buckeyes website and Twitter account below.

Click and listen to Day give an update on his team’s preparation for the Fiesta Bowl, the departure and potential replacement of Jeff Hafley, Joe Burrow, and much, much more.

Next … Full Ryan Day transcript of Fiesta Bowl prep press conference

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Winning the College Football Playoff is a shot at redemption for Ohio State

Ohio State has had recent high profile losses to the other three teams in the College Football Playoff field. Winning could be a redemption.

Ohio State is unique among its four colleagues in the College Football Playoff. That’s because the Buckeyes’ lost against all three teams the last time they matched up with each. Some are more recent than others, but all aren’t that long ago.

In case you needed a reminder, the last time Ohio State went out to the desert and played in the Fiesta Bowl, it suffered arguably the worst loss of Urban Meyer’s coaching career — a 31-0 shutout at the hands of Clemson in 2016 with all the country watching.

Start the narrative.

Of course Buckeye fans will also remember the infamous planting of the flag by Baker Mayfield in a 31-16 loss to Oklahoma the following season. It was at home and was the spring board for Mayfield’s run to the Heisman in 2017.

Last but not least, Ohio State lost to LSU in the BCS National Championship game in January of 2008 by an underwhelming score of 38-24. That obviously kept the Buckeyes from securing another national title, but it continued the narrative of SEC dominance as well.

So, aside from history at stake, you have to wonder if there is extra motivation with all the recent sour moments Ohio State has had against these teams. If the Buckeyes were to win their matchup in the desert, it could potentially set up a rematch in New Orleans against an LSU team that beat them last time stakes were that high in The Big Easy.

And in the event that it’s not LSU lying in wait in its home state, it’ll be a Sooners’ squad that got into the 2018 College Football Playoff over Ohio State, and likely ruined a shot at getting into all the fun in 2017 as well.

This is by no means a self-proclaimed “revenge tour” similar to the one carelessly dreamed up by The Team Up North, but you could say there will be extra motivation as the Buckeyes prepare to finish off a season to remember.

If they pull it off, it could be redemption on things gone wrong in the past.

The X Factor player for Ohio State Against Clemson is …

If Ohio State hopes to dethrone Clemson and get into the national championship game, it’ll need this player to come up big.

While it seems that everyone is picking Clemson to win the titanic struggle in the desert, maybe there is one specific player that can make all the difference in the world for Ohio State.

In the Big Ten Championship game, KJ Hill was crucial to the success of Ohio State with his ability to catch the underneath routes to balance the deep threat ability of Chris Olave. Everyone has raved about Olave since he emerged last year against That Team Up North, but KJ Hill is as reliable as it gets and is often overshadowed and underappreciated.

In the Wisconsin game, Hill had a game-high seven receptions for 83 yards and two touchdowns. His performance in the second half is what allowed Ohio State to open up the deep passing game to Olave.

The tandem of Olave and Hill is crucial to the success of Ohio State, but without the underneath routes, the safeties can stay high and limit the deep threat. Hill is second on the team in touchdowns, but he often gets the tough and dirty underneath yardage that isn’t nearly as glorious.

In order to reach the pinnacle of where this Ohio State team hopes to end up in 2019, it’ll need to rely on the experience of Hill to keep the defense guessing in the passing game. The fact that Hill is Ohio State’s all-time leader in receptions says he’s up to the task.

Here’s where Ohio State can cause issues for Clemson in the Fiesta Bowl

The Ohio State football team has its work cut out for it against Clemson in the Fiesta Bowl. There’s one area that could be the difference.

While Vegas odds have Clemson as the favorite over a higher seeded and higher ranked Ohio State squad, it may just play to the advantage of the Buckeyes to play the underdog role in a game where virtually everyone is picking the Tigers.

It’s interesting how the narrative has changed from just one half of football even though everyone was on the OSU train during the regular season as the most complete and dominant team. Now, it must embrace the role of being slighted and find those advantages to pull one off against the defending national champions.

But here’s the deal. This will be a game in which the talent is equal. That means winning will come down to execution of advantages you have over other teams, and for Ohio State, the one thing that could cause issues for the  Clemson attack, is its ability to get to the quarterback.

It is clear that both teams have electric offenses and stout defenses, but with what we’ve seen, there’s a good chance we see some decent scoring in the desert night. So, a play here and a game changing play there could mean the difference between moving on to New Orleans vs. turning the page to the early signing period in recruiting.

If you’re looking for that one area that can change the game, it’s on the defensive line for the Buckeyes.

Ohio State is leading the country in sacks with an impressive 51 sacks in thirteen games. While everyone knows that Chase Young has racked up a plethora of awards and leads the country in sacks with a total of 16.5, you can bet Clemson will look to limit him by double and triple teaming him. That’s okay. His dominance should allow for the emergence of other players up front.

That’s where Zach Harrison, BB Landers, Davon Hamilton, Jashon Cornell and gang come in. If you look at the film in the games against The Team Up North and Wisconsin you could say that teams were able to limit Chase Young, but that didn’t stop others from getting in on the act.

While it is easy to forget about the rest of the defensive line with such a big name as Chase Young, it is certainly important to recognize the others who have been such a big factor in the trenches. It may seem like everyone else’s stats seem quite small compared to Chase Young, but let’s realize that they all feed off each other.

Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence is a difference-making talent at quarterback. In order to win this one, Ohio State has to disrupt the flow of the passing game. The Buckeyes are more equipped to do that than any other team in the College Football Playoff.

Buckeye Battle Cry: What makes this matchup with Clemson different?

It’s our latest Buckeye Battle Cry and we’re talking Fiesta Bowl against Clemson. What makes this game more winnable for Ohio State?

Ohio State has yet to crack the Clemson code. There’s only three meetings between the two programs, but the Buckeyes have yet to breakthrough, losing in 1978 in the infamous Woody punch game, in 2013 at the Orange Bowl, and then again in 2016 in the now infamous 31-0 turd that resulted in a lot of assistant coaching changes.

It’s a small sample size, but there’s many Ohio State fans a little apprehensive about the prospects of laying another egg against a program clearly at the top of the college football world right now. The Buckeyes are also close to the pinnacle, but Clemson has two national titles in three years, and are the reigning champs after administering a public flogging to big, bad Alabama in last year’s national title game.

So, we decided to ask ourselves what makes this year different. Can we talk Ohio State fans off the ledge just a bit by providing reason why the Buckeyes might have a better shot at slaying the Tigers on December 28.

We’ll let Mark kick it off first.

Next … Mark says …

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Ohio State favored over Clemson according to ESPN’s FPI Matchup Predictor

Ohio State may be the underdog according odds makers, but per ESPN’s FPI Matchup Predictor, it’s favored to beat Clemson in the Fiesta Bowl.

Well, not everyone believes Clemson will beat Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl. Just most everyone. Despite the avalanche of media analysts and websites predicting the Buckeyes’ inevitable defeat at the hands of the defending national champions, we found one metric that actually favors the Big Ten champions.

According to ESPN’s FPI matchup predictor, it’s not Clemson that has the best chance to win, but rather Ohio State. In fact, it gives the scarlet and gray a 54% chance at winning the Fiesta Bowl once all the confetti falls in the desert night on December 28.

So why does the FPI like Ohio State? Because once all the game metrics and play had time to roll into the big, bad machine that analyzes all the data, the Buckeyes broke records for some of the metrics used to determine just how good a team is. So, you’re seeing a carryover.

Of course, this is all just on paper, and we could go on and on about how flawed ESPN’s measurements are (it had Ohio State outside the top ten preseason), but it’s still a nod to how dominant this year’s OSU team has been.

Now it’s all about putting all those analytics to work when the rubber pellets meet the desert air.

Ohio State stars discuss not being No. 1 in the College Football Playoff

Ohio State stars discuss not being No. 1 in the College Football Playoff and having to play Clemson

ATLANTA-

Sunday, it was announced that the undefeated Ohio State Buckeyes would not be the No. 1 seed in this year’s College Football Playoff.

Despite rallying to beat Wisconsin 34-21 in Indianapolis after big-time wins over Penn State and Michigan, the Buckeyes fell behind LSU in the final bracket list and now face No. 3 Clemson.

As impressive as LSU’s resume is right now, many felt Ohio State deserved the top seed in the playoff with its full-season portfolio.

On Wednesday, Buckeyes Wire was able to speak with running back JK Dobbins, defensive end Chase Young and cornerback Jeff Okudah before the Home Depot College Football Awards in Atlanta.

Did being ranked No. 2 put a chip on the players’ shoulders? Was there any added motivation to make a statement to the committee? How about the task of facing the reigning national champions in Phoenix?

Here’s what the first team All-Big Ten cornerback had to say.

“I think it’s really exciting to be number two, it’s really the matchup against Clemson and I’m excited to see how it plays out,” said Okudah.

The junior cornerback projected to go in the first round of the NFL Draft is excited to play the defending champs, as are the rest of the Buckeyes.

“We always want to be a number one seed seed and I feel like we earned it, but we’ve gotta roll with the punches thrown, so we’ll play Clemson and it’ll be a good game.”

How did the most feared defender in college football view the decision?

“We’re just blessed, happy to have the opportunity to be in the College Football Playoff. Regardless if you are one, two, three or four, you’re going to have to play a great team regardless, so we’re just thankful for the opportunity,” said Young.

You’ve heard from two of Ohio State’s best defensive players, but what about JK Dobbins? The junior running back mentioned motivation, but noted the Buckeyes are always out for blood.

“We always have a chip on our shoulder because we always feel like we have something to prove to people, so we’re going to go in with a chip on our shoulder.”

Ohio State will collect a plethora of awards over the next few nights before turning its attention to Clemson and the College Football Playoff. As for now, it’s time to regroup and recharge, then get back on the gridiron.

The Home Depot College Football Awards will air live on ESPN at 7:00 pm Thursday. Make sure to tune in to see your favorite Buckeyes.

All-Decade Power Rankings: Alabama rules college football Top 25 for the 2010s

Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State and Oklahoma are the obvious choices. But who else had a great decade in the 2010s in college football?

The decade is coming to a close. A good time to see what schools accomplished what on the gridiron and where they ranked.

25. Texas A&M  (84-46)

Bob Levey/Getty Images

The Aggies brought us one of the most exciting players of the decade in Johnny Manziel. Not that it is as big a deal anymore, but they did make a bowl in every season. They are 5-4 in postseason games in the 2010s and have a Texas Bowl appearance upcoming. Texas A&M for all its success is on its third coach, Jimbo Fisher, of the decade.

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