Tag: Ohio State vs Clemson

WATCH: What Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said about Ohio State prior to the Sugar Bowl

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney met with the media prior to the Sugar Bowl matchup with Ohio State. Hear what he said about the Buckeyes.

Ohio State and Clemson are getting every so close to squaring off in the Sugar Bowl, one of the semifinals of the College Football Playoff. The game is set for Friday, but until then, there are plenty of media opportunities for the players and coaches from both sides.

We heard plenty from Ohio State head coach Ryan Day and some of the offensive players and coach Kevin Wilson, but we also heard from Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney and some of the defensive personnel prior to that.

Of course, many are curious to hear more from Swinney on what he thinks of Ohio State and his continued rationale for some of the comments and actions of the Buckeyes not playing enough games to be a part of the College Football Playoff.

In case you missed anything he said about Ohio State and the game coming up, you can catch them all here by clicking on the below video thanks to the YouTube Channel of Clemson Tiger Net. If reading the transcript is more your style, we have those for you too on the next page after the video below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZ_Bl3SdX44

NEXT … Full transcript of Dabo Swinney Sugar Bowl media availability

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Get a peek at the jerseys Ohio State football will wear in the Sugar Bowl against Clemson

Look at what the Ohio State football team will be rockin’ out for the College Football Playoff semifinal in the Sugar Bowl against Clemson.

Ohio State continues to put the final preparations together to try and get past Clemson for the first time, once again in a semifinal of the College Football Playoff. That game will be coming to a television or streaming device near you on Friday night, but in the meantime, there’s plenty of other things going on.

In fact, when you’re planning a party, you don’t do anything until you pick out the threads you’re going to wear. And … in the case of the Buckeyes in 2020, they’re throwing it back to 2014 when they were in the Sugar Bowl last. You remember that game right? On that night, Ohio State slew the Alabama dragon on the way to a national championship.

OSU did it in style, wearing the road version of the “diamond quest” jerseys. Well, the Buckeyes have announced that they’ll be donning the same good luck winning attire in the Big Easy once again by way of a picture released to the official Twitter feed of Ohio State Football Monday.

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We like this look. It’s a clean, traditional style that looks even better holding a trophy. Hopefully, we get that same look and feel around Midnight on Friday night.

Ohio State Football: Ranking our top five favorite alternate uniforms

 

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WATCH: Sugar Bowl crew prepares field for Ohio State and Clemson

Get a look at what goes on behind the scenes of all the graphics and logos that you’ll see in the Sugar Bowl between Ohio State and Clemson.

We’re passing this along because we thought it was pretty cool to see how the sausage is made. How many times have you turned a big game on and noticed all the new graphics and logos on the field of play and wondered what went into making that happen?

Now, thanks to the folks at the Sugar Bowl, you can get a little bit of a peek behind the curtain, and it’s some of the most crystal clear videos you’ll find anywhere.

So click on the below video and take it for a spin to see the Sugar Bowl and College Football Playoff logos, as well as Ohio State and Clemson lettering being painted with painstaking precision on the field at the Sugar Bowl.

 

Ohio State’s bowl history over the past 20 years

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Dabo Swinney futilely explains why he has criticized Ohio State’s schedule, eligibility for College Football Playoff

Dabo Swinney just can’t be quiet. He explained to ESPN why he believes Ohio State shouldn’t have made the College Football Playoff.

He just can’t be quiet.

Ohio State is taking on Clemson in the Sugar Bowl as one of the semifinals of the College Football Playoff. The Tigers’ coach, Dabo Swinney, has been very critical and incessant when it comes to his belief that the Buckeyes have not played enough games to be considered for the playoff. He came out to criticize Ohio State’s lack of games (during a global pandemic mind you) when he knew his team could be going up against the Buckeyes for that final spot, but hasn’t backed down since.

Swinney appeared on ESPN Saturday and tried to explain to Tom Rinaldi why he believed Ryan Day and Ohio State shouldn’t have been considered for the playoff, and why he even went as far as to rank the Buckeyes No. 11 in his Amway Coaches Poll.

And, once again, he sounded tone-deaf to what’s going on in the world today when asked by Rinaldi about the reaction of many who had a problem with him questioning OSU’s credentials, and ranking it so low.

“Yeah, overreaction,” Swinney said. “First of all, my vote don’t mean anything, but it means something to me, you know? It’s my poll. I do it. It creates a stir because we just so happen to be playing Ohio State. It has nothing to do with Ohio State — absolutely zero. You can change the name to Michigan, or Georgia, or Florida, or Tennessee, or Nebraska. Anytime you have a top-ten, it should be that special. This year it’s like really, really, really special and I wanted it to be that way. And so, I wanted to recognize the teams that played nine games or more. And so, if you didn’t play nine games, I just didn’t consider you from the top ten. That’s why they were 11.”

“Obviously, they’re a great team. They’re plenty good enough and talented enough to beat us and good enough to win the national championship. But in my opinion, I don’t think that it’s right that three teams have to play 13 games to win it all, and one team has to play eight. What universe am I living in? And it has nothing to do with them. It was about qualifying. And I didn’t think they were qualified based on the number of games versus all these other teams. In my opinion, Texas A&M, Florida, Oklahoma, Cincinnati — they got punished for playing more games.”

There are so many things wrong with this, I don’t even know where to start. First of all, Dabo is a hypocrite. Eary on before the season started, he went on record to state that he wouldn’t have a problem with a team from the Big Ten making the College Football Playoff with a lesser amount of games. It was all due to — you know, the global, once-in-a-century pandemic we are all still dealing with.

Back in September, Swinney seemed to understand that.

“Shoot, in a year like this, no,” Swinney said. “It’s a crazy year. Who knows how many games anybody is going to have? You have some of the best teams and coaches in that league. It’s not their fault. They’ve worked their butt off.”

OK?

What has changed? I’ll tell you what. His comments were self-serving as of late because it impacted his program. They were self-serving in September as well because Clemson could have been hit hard. Just say it. At the time these comments were made back when the Big Ten reset the season, I believe he really didn’t project it could come into play with his team, then when it looked like it might, he began cranking up the narrative machine.

Also, it’s a freakin’ pandemic and Ohio State had no control over how many games it played. For once, the College Football Playoff committee got it right by understanding this year is different.

And, taking it a step further, by Swinney’s own logic, maybe we should make Trevor Lawrence ineligible for the Heisman Trophy. I mean he missed three games, two because he got infected by COVID-19, and one because Florida State couldn’t play because of their own issues with the pandemic. Alabama’s Mac Jones and DaVonta Smith played eleven games, while Lawrence played just eight — two more than Ohio State. So, is Lawrence disqualified? Of course not, because it fits Swinney’s interests.

We could go on here, but the reality is that this is a unique and different year than any of us will likely ever see again in our lifetime. The fact that Swinney continues to hammer home the fact that Ohio State doesn’t belong in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic is quite perplexing.

Would anything be more satisfying than beating Clemson and disqualifying the Tigers for the national championship on the field of play? Many Ohio State fans would emphatically agree that there wouldn’t be much else on top of that possibility.

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Ohio Sate offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson claps back at Dabo Swinney’s continued criticism of the Buckeyes’ schedule

OSU assistant Kevin Wilson had a troll response to the continued criticism of Ohio State football’s schedule by Clemson coach Dabo Swinney.

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney is fixated on Ohio State’s six-game schedule as if he’s taken up arms for the rest of college football, or at least the sunbelt where sweet tea flows in the rivers and grits grow on trees. Nevermind you that there’s a global pandemic ravaging the world that contributed to it all, something beyond the control of the players and coaches.

He has on three occasions (that we know of), curiously taken a swipe at the Buckeyes’ schedule as though he himself came down off of Mount Olympus himself to judge those that haven’t gone through the “grind” of an ACC schedule.

And now, at least one Ohio State coach has decided to fire back a little on social media. Seeing the latest swipe Swinney took, offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson had a sly response just to put in perspective how tough he believes Clemson’s schedule was.

To catch you up — and I’m paraphrasing — Swinney said preparation for the Buckeyes would be easier this time around because there are only six games to look at, noting that the Buckeyes will need to look at eleven games.

Undaunted, Wilson trolled back at his comments by poking fun at Clemson’s game against The Citadel.

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Well played Wilson. Look, we get it Dabo, you’re for some reason fixated on a team doing its best to try and play through a global pandemic instead of giving the team credit for battling through so many things that worked against it just to even have a season.

What else would have had Ohio State do?

Just keep on pushing the bulletin board material because, frankly, the Buckeyes could use the extra motivation as they prepare to play a team that should probably win the game in the Sugar Bowl with the extra practice and game time Clemson has received.

If you’re a firm believer that there’s no substitute for game action when it comes to getting better which most coaches do, then playing only six games could just as easily be a disadvantage as it is an advantage.

But, that doesn’t fit the narrative, now does it?

Scouting Clemson ahead of the matchup with Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl

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Dabo Swinney takes another jab at Ohio State’s football schedule

He just can’t seem to let it go. Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney took yet another jab at Ohio State football’s six-game schedule.

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney is like the senile uncle you see over the holidays. He keeps using the same, tired joke to different groups of people because it landed once.

Swinney, who has been critical of the Buckeyes’ schedule on more than one occasion let another shot fire while appearing on the ACC Network’s Packer and Durham Show. Swinney was asked about the familiarity of playing Ohio State since the two programs just matched up last year and have played three of the last five seasons, and if that made it easier to prepare.

Instead of simply answering the question, he went there again and made a point to steer the conversation towards OSU playing just a six-game schedule, saying it would be easier to prepare in a snarky, sly, under the cover kind of way.

“Oh, yeah, absolutely,” Swinney said. “I think anytime that you are playing someone that you have some familiarity with, that’s a positive. You can look back at tape where you matched up and just like playing an opponent every year, you can look back at your last year’s game and you have different people and things like that, but you can still get a feel.”

“Plus, obviously, you’re going to study their games this year. That’ll be a quick study for us. There were only six. So that’ll be a little bit easier. Typically, you’re going into these games, you’ve got 13 games to study. So it won’t be as daunting of a task there. But yeah, we’re familiar with them, they’re familiar with us and we look forward to it.”

Billy Packer, to his credit, jumped all over the part of the answer that delved into the schedule debate once again before moving on.

“Hold on a second. I’m not going to let him slide on that one,” Packer said. “So you’re saying — so you’re telling me it’s a lot easier to prep when you only have six-game tapes to watch? Is that what you’re telling me? Because I heard that. I was listening when you said that.”

Dabo had a reaction like he was caught eating dessert before dinner but doubled down anyway.

“Well, I mean, from a process standpoint — absolutely,” Swinney said. “Because, like I said, typically you have 13 games. Like, they’re going to have to study 11 games. You’ve got to study every play — offense, defense, special teams. You’re studying every play. Plus, you’re going back to last year. So it does make it a little easier because there’s not as much tape to pour through. You can’t make it up. There’s only six games.”

I know Clemson fans will defend this to their grave because I’ve heard from many of them reminding me that the Tigers’ program invented football now that they’ve been good for a decade. But it’s time to just prepare for the game and quit providing bulletin board material.

We already know Swinney believes the Buckeyes shouldn’t be eligible for the College Football Playoff based on comments he made during another radio appearance before the ACC Championship game. He also voted OSU outside the top ten on his Amway Coaches Poll ballot, below even Coastal Carolina. Now, he just can’t let it go.

Look, I don’t know if Ohio State can actually get the deal done this year with everything that’s happened and the inconsistency we’ve seen with Justin Fields play and the secondary struggling, but I think a win over Clemson would be about as satisfying as any in recent memory with these comments and continued holier than thou comments coming from Swinney.

I know the program’s tagline is “All-In,” I just didn’t know it applied to criticizing an opponent that played only six games for reasons well beyond its control.

Scouting Clemson ahead of the matchup with Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl

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Ohio State will reportedly have wide receiver Chris Olave back for the Sugar Bowl

According to comments from Ryan Day, Ohio State should be getting star receiver Chris Olave back for the Sugar Bowl against Clemson.

If you watched Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship game, you no doubt took note of how out of rhythm the passing game looked. Some of that falls on Justin Fields holding the ball too long and trying to press the issue, but a lot of it also had to do with the absence of star receiver Chris Olave.

There’s no doubt the Buckeyes have an abundance of talent at receiver, but when your top big-play threat that stretches the defense misses time, everything gets shuffled. We saw Garrett Wilson look out of sorts, Jameson Williams run some incorrect routes, and the timing between Fields and his receivers more off than ever.

But never fear Ohio State fans, it sounds like the Buckeyes might have Olave back for the run through the College Football Playoff, starting with the Sugar Bowl against Clemson.

When appearing on ESPN, Day was asked about the proposition of having some of his guys back, now that the Big Ten will revise its policy for the number of days players have to sit out after testing positive for the coronavirus. It had been 21-days, but the conferenced will be moving that to 17 based on reporting from ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg.

Day didn’t flat out confirm, but he alluded to the timing that Olave is under when responding to the question about continuity and practice rhythm.

“That’s the problem we’ve had,” said Day. “Guys have been kind of in and out, but they just keep finding a way to win. But I think we get Chris (Olave) back, now the offensive linemen, three of those guys this is their second game in a month, so that’s been the challenge. But I think us all practicing together — practicing at a high level, understanding that we’re going to go good on good the best we can to get the best look we possibly can to keep the timing up, I think this is our best chance.”

That was confirmed later in the day by the Columbus Dispatch’s Bill Rabinowitz based on a source close to the situation.

From the Dispatch:

Olave will have to go through the conference’s COVID protocol before he returns, but the timing would allow for his return if the testing goes well. It is not known when Olave tested positive. He was listed on the team’s status report as unavailable Saturday morning.

The source said that some of the players who were unavailable on Saturday because of COVID will not be able to play in the Jan. 1 CFP semifinal against Clemson in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans but didn’t specify a number.

That sounds like good news and not so good news. It sounds like the team may have Olave back as long as things progress as expected. That’ll be a good thing for Fields and the passing game, especially seeing how the OSU receiver still has a bad taste in his mouth for how things ended against Clemson last year in the Fiesta Bowl. If anyone wants to play and have a shot at redemption, it’s Olave.

As we hear more about any kind of numbers of players that may or may not be out for the Sugar Bowl, we’ll be on top of it.

Ohio State early underdog to Clemson according to BetMGM

Ohio State has opened up as an early, and rather significant underdog to Clemson in the Sugar Bowl according to BetMGM.

The Ohio State football team did it, at least so far. Sunday, head coach Ryan Day and company were awarded a trip to the College Football Playoff as the No. 3 seed and will face Clemson in a rematch of the controversial Fiesta Bowl.

In that one, despite what many from Clemson will tell you, Ohio State was the better team. However, because of missed opportunities and some very questionable calls, the Buckeyes were sent packing. Credit to the Tigers for making the most of what they had, but the better team lost in the desert air that night.

As fate would have it, it’s time for a rematch, and those in Vegas see this one going Clemson’s way again. In fact, according to BetMGM, the early line on the game has the Tigers favored by -7.5, a significant margin for teams that seem to be relatively close in the talent department.

Odds courtesy of BetMGM Sportsbook.

There’s no doubt Ryan Day will play up the underdog card here, and there will also be a dose of revenge and redemption thrown into the recipe as the team prepares to head down to New Orleans and continue one of the strangest and unpredictable college football seasons ever.

We’ll keep an eye on this line as it gets closer to kickoff, but right now, it looks like Ohio against the world.

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LOOK. What Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said about matching up with Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl

Find out everything Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said about playing Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl prior to the matchup.

Ohio State and Clemson will be matching up in the postseason for the third time in five years, and for the second-straight season as a part of the College Football Playoff. The two teams have started a bit of a postseason rivalry, with the Tigers getting the best of the Buckeyes every time so far.

To add intrigue to the matchup, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney had some controversial comments taking a shot at Ohio State’s resume and lack of games played when asked if the Buckeyes should be considered for the College Football Playoff. Now, he’s about to find out first hand if OSU should be a part of all the fun.

But enough about that (for now). Swinney met with media as a part of a Zoom call with the Sugar Bowl and had plenty to say about the game, Ohio State, and more. We all know how he loves to give his opinion on things, so we’ve got his comments in their entirety. Read through the below and find out what he said about facing the Buckeyes again.

NEXT … Dabo Swinney’s comments about facing Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl

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What Ryan Day said about the matchup with Clemson in the Sugar Bowl

Ohio State head coach Ryan Day met with the media on a Zoom call Sunday to discuss the matchup with Clemson in the Sugar Bowl.

Sunday, Ryan Day and Ohio State found out they will be playing in the Sugar Bowl as a part of the College Football Playoff. The Buckeyes opponent? None other than the Clemson Tigers who ended OSU’s run in the Fiesta Bowl last season in highly controversial and highly dramatic fashion as a part of last year’s playoff run.

The game will take place in New Orleans on New Year’s night and will be another shot at redemption for an Ohio State program that many people feel shouldn’t even be part of all the fun because of only playing six games. It’s an interesting backdrop because Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney himself said he would have a problem including the Buckeyes when asked about it a week ago.

But enough of that (for now). Day met with the media on Sunday and we’ve got the transcripts of his comments in their entirety. Needless to say, he understands the challenge but is fired up to have another shot at Clemson.

NEXT … Ryan Day’s comments about playing Clemson in the Sugar Bowl

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