Tag: Ohio State vs Clemson

Dabo Swinney reflects on Sugar Bowl loss to Ohio State

Swinney gives his best attempt at a little humility as he reflected on the loss to Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl while appearing on radio.

Dabo Swinney has had some time to think about the devastating loss at the hands of the Ohio State Buckeyes in the Sugar Bowl. Even though his Clemson Tigers were a seven-point favorite, the Buckeyes thoroughly dominated the game, winning by a margin of 21 points.

Swinney joined Mark Packer and Wes Durham Wednesday on ACC Radio on SiriusXM and the inevitable question of the Sugar Bowl loss was brought up. Dabo seemed to change his tune just a wee bit but still wouldn’t address the infamous No. 11 ranking.

When asked what he and the team had learned from the loss, although sounding somewhat forced, Dabo started off by saying “I learned that we got our butts kicked.”  Uh, yeah… I’d agree with that assessment captain obvious.

Swinney continued on:

“We didn’t play well. They played great,” Swinney said. “We just didn’t do the little things to win football games. We probably played well enough to win on offense with a normal defensive game, but they had five straight touchdowns. What I love about our team…those guys never quit. They always compete until the last play…those are tough games. I felt like a basketball coach. You get into the final four, if you don’t win it all, it’s a very disappointing thing. Especially if you feel like you didn’t play well enough in certain areas where you could have.”

It does feel like Swinney is more making excuses that his team didn’t win than giving credit to an Ohio State team that had an explosive offense and was highly motivated. I mean, if Dabo thinks that scoring 28 points was playing “well enough on offense”  to win the game, what is he really saying about the Buckeyes?

Seems to me that Swinney has a little more reflecting to do. Maybe the Buckeyes “scored five straight touchdowns” because they were the better team.

Or maybe Clemson and Ohio State were somewhat evenly matched, but the extra fule of a No. 11 ranking ignited flames that Swinney wasn’t prepared for. Thanks for the extra motivation coach. And I got a feeling if the two teams meet again this coming season, the guys in scarlet and gray won’t forget that you didn’t regret that ranking even after a butt-whooping.

 

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Ohio State football releases player availability for national championship game, will be without three key starters

According to the player availability report released by Ohio State just prior to game time, the Buckeyes will be without three key starter.

After days of speculation of who was going to be available to play in tonight’s national championship game, the official report has finally been released from Ohio State. And it’s not exactly what we hoped for, but not as bad as initially assumed either.

As was rumored, both Tommy Togiai and Tyreke Smith are both listed as unavailable for tonight’s game. Both Togiai and Smith played huge roles in the Buckeyes win over Clemson in the Sugar Bowl. Their absence on the defensive line will for sure be felt.

Kicker Blake Haubeil will also not be available for this game leaving Ohio State without three starters. True Freshman, Jake Seibert will most likely handle kicking duties. Time for the next man up.

On the bright side of things, Master Teague and Harry Miller are both cleared to play on the offensive side of the ball while Tyler Friday and Zach Harrison are back on the defensive side. All four missed the Clemson game.

It’s just about game time. Let’s see what the Buckeyes are made of.

NEXT … Complete status report from Ohio State.

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WATCH: Ohio State football Sugar Bowl director’s cut highlights

The Ohio State football creative team shared a director’s cut of some behind the scenes highlights of the Sugar Bowl win over Clemson.

If you are like me, you can never get enough re-living and rewatching some of the highlights of Ohio State’s win over Clemson in the Sugar Bowl. Not only did the Buckeyes get a huge win to move on in the College Football Playoff, but they shut Tigers’ head coach Dabo Swinney up from all the criticism of OSU’s schedule that it had no control over in the midst of a global pandemic.

Well, if you like highlights, boy do we have a good one for you to enjoy. It’s from the venerable Ohio State creative team, and they have a seven-minute director’s cut of the game complete from pregame, halftime, and through to the end.

Click on the below that was shared to the Ohio State Football Twitter account and see some camera angles and behind the scenes moments that you haven’t gotten to peek at to date.

Do you have chills all over again?

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Sugar Bowl rewind: re-visiting our five bold predictions for Ohio State vs. Clemson

We’re taking a look back to see how we did in our five bold predictions we had for Ohio State against Clemson in the Sugar Bowl.

It seems like the only people giving Ohio State a chance in the Sugar Bowl against Clemson had Buckeye Battle Cry ringtones. Even most of those folks that have scarlet and gray in their blood probably didn’t see the absolute beatdown the Buckeyes administered to Dabo Swinney’s club.

Before the game, we provided five bold predictions that are designed to go out on the ledge a wee-bit. In other words, we didn’t predict things like Justin Fields having a passing touchdown, but more stretch type predictions we thought would be difficult, yet possible to attain.

As we wait for the national championship game to play out on a television set or streaming device near you Monday night, we thought we’d revisit those bold predictions and see what we got right, and where we totally blew it like the Clemson defense (too soon?).

Here’s how we did on all five of those predictions and what we could have done better with.

Next … Bold Prediction No. 1: Ohio State will hold Clemson RB Travis Etienne to under 80 yards on the ground

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Handing out grades for Ohio State’s win over Clemson in the Sugar Bowl

Ohio State took care of business against Clemson in the Sugar Bowl. We grade each unit and look at some of the snap counts in the game.

Nothing is sweeter than getting a taste of redemption after a year of pining for a shot at a second chance. That’s exactly what Ohio State got when it beat the brakes off Clemson in the Sugar Bowl Friday night. It’s even more appetizing when the opponent’s head coach pops off and claims the Buckeyes’ didn’t belong.

Now that all the dust has settled, we’re doing one last look back. We’ve been able to pour through film now and really get a feel for how each unit played and who made all the difference in the world in what will go down as one of the most satisfying wins in OSU football history.

As we do each game, we’ll start it all out with some snap counts, look at how Pro Football Focus graded the players, and then break out our own assessment on how each unit fared with a grade.

So, let’s get to it.

Ohio State Buckeyes top snap counts

Offense

Thayer Munford 73 Trey Sermon 70 Jeremy Ruckert 45
Nicholas Petit-Frere 73 Matthew Jones 64 Jameson Williams 41
Josh Myers 73 Chris Olave 58 Jaxon Smith-Njigba 21
Wyatt Davis 72 Garrett Wilson 56 Julian Fleming 14
Justin Fields 72 Luke Farrell 50 Paris Johnson, Jr. 10

Top Offensive PFF Grades

  1. Justin Fields: 92.9
  2. Jeremy Ruckert: 86.2
  3. Chris Olave: 83.5
  4. Thayer Munford: 81.6
  5. Miyan Williams: 77.5

Defense

Josh Proctor 71 Tommy Togiai 49 Javontae Jean-Baptiste 30
Pete Werner 71 Tyreke Smith 49 Lathan Ransome 28
Shaun Wade 71 Tuf Borland 43 Taron Vincent 24
Sevyn Banks 71 Baron Browning 38 Antwaun Jackson 17
Marcus Williamson 70 Haskell Garrett 38 Jerron Cage 13
Jonathon Cooper 56 Justin Hilliard 34 Noah Potter 3

Top Defensive PFF Grades

  1. Tommy Togiai: 85.9
  2. Tyreke Smith: 85.8
  3. Jonathon Cooper: 84.5
  4. Justin Hilliard: 70.6
  5. Lathan Ransom: 68.7

NEXT … Handing out grades

Sugar Bowl was most viewed bowl game of the college football season

According to a release from the Sugar Bowl, the matchup between Ohio State and Alabama was most-watched bowl game of the 2020 CFB season.

If we’ve told you once, we’ve done so more than a thousand times. Ohio State football turns on television sets and streaming devices like almost no other program. If you want more proof, look no further than the ratings of the bowl games.

According to a release from the Sugar Bowl, the matchup between the Buckeyes and Tigers on January 1 had more viewers than any other bowl game on any channel during the 2020 college football season. All told, approximately 19.1 million people turned in to watch Ohio State throttle Dabo Swinney and Clemson 49-28. The relocated Rose Bowl in Arlington, Texas was close but drew 18.9 million viewers.

As good as that is, just wait. There’s a very good chance the College Football Playoff National Championship game pitting OSU against Alabama will eclipse both of those totals when it all plays out next Monday.

If there’s a more passionate fanbase in America outside of Ohio State fans, I’d like to see it.

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WATCH: What Dabo Sweeney said about Ohio State after the Sugar Bowl

Clemson coach Dabo Swinney met with the media after his team got throttled in the Sugar Bowl. Watch everything he said about the Buckeyes.

There’s really no other way to put it unless you are a biased Clemson fan. Head coach Dabo Swinney had to eat a little crow on the Sugar Bowl field on Friday night. He had been very vocal about Ohio State not playing enough games to deserve selection for the College Football Playoff, and even went as far as to rank the Buckeyes No. 11 in his final Amway Coaches Poll ballot.

And then the Tigers got the doors blown off them in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome 49-28. Justin Fields came to play, the defense harassed quarterback Trevor Lawrence for much of the night, and truth be known, the score could have been worse.

Dabo took it like a man and made himself graciously available to the media after the game, and answered all the questions fired his way, including how his comments may have played into the motivation for Ohio State in this one. If you missed any of those comments, we’ve got them for you here thanks to the fine folks at the Sugar Bowl.

Watch the below video and watch Dabo not only answer questions about his perceived slight towards the Buckeyes, but also hear him discuss what a great game OSU played, how tough Justin Fields was, and much more.

Well, at least Dabo gave credit where credit is due, but we’re not so sure his comments didn’t add extra motivation to the prep and execution we saw tonight from Ohio State.

Maybe next time, he should choose his words a little more carefully because if the Buckeyes are the No. 11 team in the country, they are the best No. 11 team in any sport, on any planet, in any universe.

Ohio State throttles Clemson in Sugar Bowl. Five things we learned.

Ohio State releases player status availability for Sugar Bowl vs. Clemson

Who’s out for the Sugar Bowl? Ohio State released its player availability for the 87th playing of the classic.

The 87th Sugar Bowl will be kicking off shortly between Ohio State and Clemson shortly. Both teams have kept injuries and who will be available for the game close to the vest. We now have official word on who will be out for the Buckeyes when they take the field.

We learned earlier from his mother’s Facebook post that starting left guard, Harry Miller, will not be with the team after testing positive for COVID. Another big name on the inactive list is running back, Master Teague. The starting OSU running back was replaced by Trey Sermon in the Big Ten Championship game after sustaining a concussion during the game. Sermon of course went on to have a monster day and broke a 25-year-old record held by Ohio State Heisman winner, Eddie George in the process.

Another big name on the list is defensive end, Zach Harrison who has rotated in at the edge. Harrison and the rest of the rushmen have had quietly had a huge impact on games. Quietly because it’s been a collective effort all season long and not just one player getting all the attention.

The Buckeyes task at hand just got a little more difficult. But as they say… Next Man Up.

NEXT … Complete status report from Ohio State.

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Five bold predictions for Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl

Ohio State and Clemson are set to have a rematch for the ages in the Sugar Bowl. We’re throwing out five bold predictions for the game.

OK. It’s almost game time and Ohio State is right where it wanted to be when it had that bitter, bitter taste in its mouth walking out of the Fiesta Bowl in Glendale last season. The Buckeyes are right back in the College Football Playoff and facing the team that took them out of a chance for a national title, Clemson.

If this one is anything like the game last year, we’re all in for a treat. However, not many are giving OSU a chance in this one despite a lot of the talent from last year still being in place.

We think otherwise and think this is going to be one whale of a game with plenty of highlights and bright spots to remember. Will Ohio State pull it off? Well, we’re not sure about that but did provide some predictions ahead of game time.

And on that note, we’re also going bold and giving you five bold predictions you might see coming to you on a streaming device or television set near you.

So, here we go …

NEXT … Ohio State will hold Clemson RB Travis Etienne to under 80 yards on the ground

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Anonymous bettor puts down $1.3 million on Ohio State in Sugar Bowl

Someone out there believes in Ohio State’s chances against Clemson in the Sugar Bowl. An anonymous bettor put down $1.3 million on OSU.

Hopefully, someone knows something we don’t. Ohio State is set to face off with Clemson in the Sugar Bowl, one of this year’s semifinal bowls for the College Football Playoff, and almost nobody is giving the Buckeyes a chance.

Well, almost no one except for an anonymous bettor that put down a whopping $1.3 million on Ohio State covering the -7.5 point spread the Tigers are favored to win by. According to or sister site Touchdown Wire, someone placed the large bet via FanDuel Sportsbook.

So what does that mean? Well, other than someone having a lot more money than I have as “disposable” income, a repeat of the 29-23 score from last year would result in a cash-out of approximately $2.43 million.

I’m all for this anonymous bettor getting rich off of this play if it means Ohio State wins and moves on to Miami for even bigger things.

Five reasons Ohio State will beat Clemson in the Sugar Bowl

 

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