Tag: Clemson Tigers

Big Ten Supervisor of Officials says Ohio State fumble return for TD in Fiesta Bowl should have stood

The Big Ten Supervisor of Officials is the latest experts to assert that the Fiesta Bowl fumble return TD should not have been overturned.

Look, we’re not whining or crying about what transpired in the desert on Saturday night (okay, maybe a little), but we are finding more and more well-respected officiating experts come to the defense of what happened with Ohio State over the weekend.

There were a handful of controversial calls over the course of the Fiesta Bowl, but the one everyone continues to talk about more than others is the scoop and score TD when Jeff Okudah dislodged the ball from Clemson receiver Justyn Ross. Safety Jordan Fuller quickly picked it up and ran it in for a go-ahead touchdown and all of Buckeye Nation celebrated, even after watching the slow-motion replay.

But wait.

Somehow, someway, the SEC officiating crew overturned the call and took points off the board.

Since then, Clemson fans have complained about the outcry over the perceived overreach by the replay booth official, but it’s clear Ohio State had fans have a leg to stand on. The latest officiating expert to come out and say the call should have never been overturned is the Big Ten Supervisor of Officials Bill Carollo.

Carollo, when talking to CBS Sports couldn’t believe the call was overturned.

“I haven’t talked to anybody who thought it was an incomplete pass,” Carollo told CBS. “To reverse it, it has to be really obvious.”

Again it cannot be stressed enough that Ohio State could have won this thing by taking care of missed opportunities, but you can now add another well-respected officiating expert who has over 30 years of experience with officiating to the growing number of folks that are perplexed on what happened with this SEC crew.

Watch what Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said about Ohio State after the Fiesta Bowl

Clemson HC Dabo Swinney met with the media following his team’s thrilling victory in the Fiesta Bowl. Watch what he said about Ohio State.

Clemson did it again. Ohio State outgained and outplayed the Tigers for the majority of the 2019 Fiesta Bowl, but the defending champions got up off the mat, and made the plays they needed to at the end to snatch the victory away from Ohio State.

Head coach Dabo Swinney was a happy man after the game and took time to meet with the media in Phoenix after all the confetti fell. He praised the heart and resiliency of his team, but also had some very complimentary things to say about the Buckeyes.

In case you missed it, you can catch his complete comments in the YouTube video below. Thanks to TigerNet for archiving Dabo discussing his team, the play of Trevor Lawrence and the play of Ohio State.

Trevor Lawrence was very skeptical of what became Clemson’s game-winning play

Trevor Lawrence explained that the play wasn’t working in practice.

It’s easy to see why Trevor Lawrence didn’t love the play which would ultimately send the Clemson Tigers to the College Football National Championship after a 29-23 win over the Ohio State Buckeyes in the semifinal.

It was an odd trick play, which looks a lot like what former Florida Gators quarterback Tim Tebow used to run. Still, Lawrence faked a quarterback dive before connecting with running back Travis Etienne for a 34-yard touchdown pass.

“Honestly, I wasn’t a big fan of the play in practice,” Lawrence said after Saturday’s Fiesta Bowl, via TheState.com. “It’s tough if the defense doesn’t really bite on it, if that safety comes up hard and takes it away. I felt like it was good just because of how well we set it up throughout the game. I thought it was gonna work then, but throughout the week I was like, ‘I don’t really know about this play.’”

Lawrence took the snap from shotgun and pretended to rush toward the right side of the offensive line. While Lawrence had 16 carries for 107 yards and a touchdown, he looked awfully comfortable throwing from the pocket on Saturday. But this play drew him out of the pocket and closer to the offensive line (and therefore closer to danger), where his visibility probably isn’t great. At the last moment, he popped up and delivered a strike to an pass-catcher — just like it’s designed.

The misdirection of the play can get the defense out of position, much like it did in the fourth quarter in Clemson’s win over the Buckeyes. It worked, in part, because the Buckeyes defense was trying to stop Lawrence as a runner. That created a throwing window for Lawrence and then room to run after the catch of Etienne. Apparently, in practice, the play didn’t work quiet as smoothly as it did in the game.

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No shortage of ideal fits for Dolphins in crazy 2019 Fiesta Bowl

The Miami Dolphins would be wise to keep the 2019 Fiesta Bowl on a look as they search for answers to a turnaround this offseason.

The Clemson Tigers stormed back from down 16-0 to claim a 29-23 victory over the Ohio State Buckeyes and punch their ticket to the national championship. We hope the Miami Dolphins were watching — the collection of NFL talent on the field in Tempe last night is probably the best showcase of NFL talent outside of the SEC this entire season. And boy, did it not disappoint! The overall display was fantastic and if Miami is wise, their short list for each of the team’s five picks in the first two rounds of the 2020 NFL Draft will feature at least one talent from either school from last night’s throw down.

The Miami Dolphins are in dire need of a fresh threat out of the backfield and either Ohio State’s J.K. Dobbins or Clemson’s Travis Etienne would certainly do the trick. The two backs alternated explosive plays throughout the game, with Etienne’s catch and run in the final two minutes serving as the deciding score.

Defensively, the 2020 NFL Draft should see two top-10 overall talents from last night’s contest, too. Ohio State Chase Young is well established as a top name, but what about Clemson linebacker/safety Isaiah Simmons? The Tigers defender plays the same role Miami envisioned for DB Minkah Fitzpatrick this season, except Simmons plays it at 230 pounds versus Fitzpatrick playing it at 205 (and Simmons is still more explosive).

And of course, we’d be remiss to ignore the obvious — if the Dolphins pass the buck on drafting a quarterback in 2020, they’d be pretty well off targeting either quarterback on the field last night. Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence enjoyed his most clutch performance of his young, budding career while helping Clemson climb out of a two score deficit early on. Lawrence will be the source of much debate over the next 12 months as fans try to decipher whether a “tanked” 2020 is in the cards. It won’t be for Miami, but if the Dolphins get lucky and a non-QB needy team lands the top pick? Miami would be wise to repeat having more 1st-round picks in 2021, just as they do in 2020. Ohio State’s Justin Fields doesn’t look like a bad consolation prize in his own right. Fields said before the game he was at approximately 80-85% health with a knee injury suffered in the Big Ten Championship Game, yet he still looked the part of a top shelf quarterback.

And this doesn’t even get into some of the other potential top-50 picks on the field, such as Ohio State CBs Jeff Okudah, Shaun Wade and Damon Arnette and Clemson wide receiver Tee Higgins.

As the Dolphins transition from the 2019 season to creating roadmaps to a more competitive team, expect them to have this one on repeat in the personnel department.

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Ohio State loses to Clemson in the Fiesta Bowl: 5 things we learned

Ohio State battled through adversity but came up a little short in the 2019 Fiesta Bowl. Here’s five things we learned in heartbreaking fashion.

It was right there for the taking. Ohio State jumped out to an early lead and punched Clemson in the mouth. Then a few things went the wrong way, like controversial calls, second-chances and big plays from Clemson. Just like that, the ball game was on, and it stayed tight right through the end.

The Buckeyes got one last chance to wrestle redemption from despair at the end of the game, but a break down in communication resulted in an interception in the end zone that sealed the deal.

A fantastic season is now over, and it feels so premature for this team. As is customary, here’s five things we learned after the heartbreak in the desert.

The best team doesn’t always win

I’ll probably get hate mail from sweet tea and grits country on this one, but the better team didn’t win tonight. Give all the credit in the world to Clemson for making one more play than Ohio State did, but if you watched the game I did, the Buckeyes were more talented and probably should be the one playing in New Orleans instead of Clemson.

OSU got more yardage, more rushing yards, more passing yards, more first downs and won the time of possession yet still somehow lost this game. It seemed like every big call and every break went the way of the Tigers, and then when they needed to make something happen to win this thing, they did.

I’ll go to the grave though believing this is one that should have been in the win column.

Next … J.K. Dobbins is a warrior

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LSU opens as favorite over Clemson in CFP championship game

Clemson and LSU will meet in a battle of the Tigers with Louisiana State opening a slight favorite.

Louisiana State routed Oklahoma. Clemson survived a thriller against Ohio State on Saturday.

And Vegas thinks the CFP championship will be a thriller. The Tigers of Baton Rouge have opened as a 3.5-points favorite over the Tigers of Clemson, S.C.

 

 

Ohio State misses opportunities, loses heartbreaker to Clemson in Fiesta Bowl

Ohio State battled through controversy, turnovers and the clock but lost a heartbreaker to Clemson in the Fiesta Bowl.

It sure looked like early on Ohio State was going to win this one going away. It raced out to a 16-0 lead that seemed like it should have been a lot more. Truth be known, it should have been. The Buckeyes went 0-3 deep in the red zone and had to settle for three field goals.

Like a champion does, Clemson then punched back and grabbed momentum just before half by getting a couple of touchdowns to make it 16-14 at the half. The second half was a nip and tuck affair that went back and forth. Both teams struggled at times to move the ball, and there was a little controversy mixed in for good measure.

The Buckeyes were able to regain a couple point lead mid-way through the fourth quarter on a gutsy call, but after working the clock and moving the ball into Clemson territory, it couldn’t convert on a key third down and punted it back to the Tigers.

You had a feeling the champs would make good on one final drive and they did — taking just four plays to score and getting a two point conversion to go up 29-23.

Ohio State had 1:49 left on the clock to try and do something, but despite getting a few key plays to move the ball down the field early deep into enemy territory, things tightened up and OSU couldn’t quite finish the deal when Fields threw an interception with just :37 left in Clemson’s end zone.

In the end, Ohio State battled but lost a game it probably should have won against one whale of a team.

 

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Ohio State vs. Clemson: Controversial overturn on fumble for TD costs Ohio State

Ohio State had a fumble return for a touchdown overturned in the Fiesta Bowl. To say that it was controversial is an understatement.

Ohio State started very fast against Clemson in the Fiesta Bowl, but couldn’t cash in with touchdowns in the red zone, instead settling for three field goals to lead 16-0. As you knew they would, the Tigers responded and made it a game at the half — seizing momentum that it cashed in for the first touchdown of the second half to secure its first lead of the game 21-16.

Then momentum seemed to turn. Quarterback Trevor Lawrence threw a quick out route to wide receiver Tee Higgins, but it looked for all the world that Higgins caught the pass, then had it knocked free by Jeff Okudah. Jordan Fuller scooped it up and then took it to the house to give Ohio State some much needed momentum, and the lead again.

But the replay official reviewed the play and overturned the fumble. Clemson then punted away and a pivotal score was taken off the board.

You can judge for yourself here thanks to the video posted by ESPN. We’ll reserve judgement for now, but the reaction on Twitter should tell you all you need to know if you just look around.

Ohio State running back J.K. Dobbins headed to locker room, currently out of Fiesta Bowl

Ohio State running back J.K. Dobbins is dealing with an ankle injury and had been in and out of the locker room at the Fiesta Bowl.

After what can only be described as a dynamic first half, Ohio State running back J.K. Dobbins has headed off the field and into the locker room to check out what appears to be an ankle injury. Dobbins suffered the injury late in the first half on a carry in-between the tackles.

Back up running back Master Teague then spelled the new single-season leading rusher in Ohio State history, but Dobbins came out in the second half to try and give it a go with a heavily taped ankle. But he stopped and motioned for the training staff after barely being on the field and headed back to the locker room.

However, he is now back after getting a re-tape we presume.

Clearly Teague is good enough to carry the load, but Dobbins has been a force in this game and his loss will be a key one if he can’t come back and be healthy enough to be effective.

 

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Halftime Report: Ohio State dominates Clemson early yet only leads by 2

It felt like the Ohio State Buckeyes dominated the Clemson Tigers, yet they will enter halftime only leading by two points.

It felt like the Ohio State Buckeyes dominated the Clemson Tigers, yet they will enter halftime only leading by two points thanks to a late surge by the ACC Champions.

It isn’t enough to say the first half of the Fiesta Bowl was entertaining. Going up 16-0 to start the half, Ohio State allowed a few huge plays in which it almost lost the lead to end the half.

However, the biggest play of the first half may not have been a scoring play after all, but a judgement call by the officiating crew.

It was Shaun Wade’s ejection for targeting that turned the tide. It was questionable at best as both Chase Young and Wade collapsed on the Clemson quarterback. Trevor Lawrence went down and stayed down in agony, but lowered his head as Wade came in on the tackle.

The first half was ignited by 60-plus yard runs from both Trevor Lawrence and J.K. Dobbins. With Dobbins totaling 142 yards on nine carries, the junior was almost able to take two more to the house yet failed to secure two catches that could have made the gap even larger.

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Overall, the first half was a thriller, yet for Ohio State, it was brutal ending as they almost put the game away. The Tigers clawed back in the game and now we’re sure to have a tight second half.

Time to fight through the adversity.

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Contact/Follow us @BuckeyesWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Ohio State news, notes and opinion.

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