Ohio State vs Clemson: Allstate Sugar Bowl prediction and College Football Playoff semifinal game preview.
Ohio State vs Clemson: Allstate Sugar Bowl Broadcast
Date: Friday, January 1
Game Time: 8:00 pm ET
Venue: Mercedes-Benz Superdome, New Orleans, LA
Network: ESPN
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Ohio State (6-0) vs Clemson (10-1) Game Preview
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Three Reasons Why You Should Watch The Allstate Sugar Bowl
– Is there any chance we get a repeat of last year’s classic CFP semifinal – a 29-23 Clemson win over the Buckeyes in the Fiesta Bowl?
Ohio State has been waiting a year for a rematch.
It has been waiting a year to try getting past a bad fumble call, star QB Justin Fields has been waiting a year for redemption after throwing a late game-sealing interception, and Clemson has been waiting for most of this season to get its team healthy and together.
Both teams should be as close to as strong as they’ve been all year – the Buckeyes were missing several key players over the last few games – and the two get the spotlight of the marquee matchup of the pre-national championship bowl season.
– Ohio State is better than it looked. It might be just 6-0, but it joins Alabama as one of just two unbeaten Power Five conference champions, it should get most of the parts back missing in the Big Ten Championship – they were without 22 players – and now it’s trying to get to its first national championship game since winning it all in 2014.
It’s a team that’s not exactly desperate, but it’s bursting to get this exact moment against this exact team.
The talent is there, the attitude and confidence aren’t a problem, and now in a be-careful-what-you-wish-for way, it’s getting what it wanted. As this wasn’t big enough, there’s a little extra juice added to this because …
– Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney ranked Ohio State 11th in his final Coaches Poll submission. He has complained over the last few weeks that the Buckeyes haven’t played enough games to be given this plum spot, and he’s trolling in a big way.
Maybe it’s because he’s trying to take the pressure off his team, maybe it’s because he’s confident, and maybe because he knows Ohio State will get into a twist over it all – and that’s exactly what’s happing.
It helps to have Trevor Lawrence, Travis Etienne, and all the talent on both sides of the ball who have seen and done it all for a program looking to play in its fifth national championship in six seasons.
It also helps when you’ve won nine of your last 12 bowl/playoff games with two of those losses in national championships, and the other in the College Football Playoff to the eventual national champ.
It also helps when you’re 3-0 in massive bowl games against Ohio State like Swinney is.
– Why Ohio State Will Win The Sugar Bowl
– Why Clemson Will Win The Sugar Bowl
– What’s Going to Happen, Prediction, History
NEXT: Why Ohio State Will Win, Why Clemson Will Win, Ohio State vs Clemson Prediction
Why Ohio State Will Win The Sugar Bowl
– Ohio State has never been right. It wasn’t all that great to start the season against Nebraska – even in a 52-17 blowout – and it was hardly the machine of 2019 that looked national championship-good. There was a reason, though.
It was supposed to be a bit of a rebuilding year in some ways, but it’s Ohio State – it reloaded with talent. The problem was the talent wasn’t always able to get on the field.
The offensive line was missing four starters against Michigan State, the team was missing way too many players in the Big Ten Championship against Northwestern, and it was a constant battle to get everyone the field and going. Now we should finally see just how good this Buckeye team can be.
– Even with all of the issues and personnel concerns, Justin Fields is still a special quarterback who’ll be an NFL franchise-maker next year at this time, the defense still has enough talent to be a rock against the run, and the running game showed off what it could do as the season wore on.
Fields can run, but it was Trey Sermon who blasted away for 331 yards and two scores on a nasty Northwestern run defense, the team came up with over 300 yards on the ground in each of the last three games, and it could be more of the same as long as the offensive line is in humming.
The Clemson run defense has been a rock all year except for one game – Notre Dame barreled for 208 yards and three scores in the win in South Bend.
– It’s an easy talking point that this isn’t the 2019 Ohio State team, but it’s not the 2019 Clemson team running out there, either. The Tigers are still a machine, and they’re still obviously outstanding, but this isn’t the unstoppable offensive juggernaut that came up with 550 yards of total offense getting off the bus last season.
The running game picked up over the last few games, but it’s been just okay – at least by Clemson’s standards – throughout the season. The secondary that only allowed over 200 yards once over the first 11 games last year and just four times over the entire campaign has been hit for two bills seven times including each of the last five games.
The Ohio State offense will work.
– Why Clemson Will Win The Sugar Bowl
– What’s Going to Happen, Prediction, History
NEXT: Why Clemson Will Win The Sugar Bowl
Why Clemson Will Win The Sugar Bowl
– So what’s Ohio State’s real issue, beyond just not having all of the personnel on the field? Start with what’s really different from 2019 – not having Chase Young around is a problem.
The Ohio State pass rush is able to generate decent pressure, but Young had 16.5 sacks in 12 games of service last season. Ohio State as a team has 17 sacks in six games averaging over one fewer sack per game. Again, this is hardly a horrible Buckeye pass rush, but Clemson doesn’t give up enough sacks to matter and it’s not bad at keeping the overall plays in the backfield to a minimum.
– Justin Fields has to outplay Trevor Lawrence. Few times has one college football player had more pressure on his shoulders to perform in the biggest of games.
Last year Fields had one interception going into the epic Fiesta Bowl against Clemson. He threw two picks, closing out with the haunting one in the end zone to seal the Tiger victory.
He’s still hitting the big plays down the field, and – sorry to keep bringing this up, but it matters – he was missing Chris Olave in Big Ten Championship and other parts throughout the season, but he has given up five interceptions over the last three games, forced a few bad plays in the win over Indiana, and struggled way too much against Northwestern.
Trevor Lawrence will be fantastic. The narrative is about Fields playing in his redemption game, but Lawrence is looking to play better, too, after struggling a bit – by his ridiculously high standards – in the two College Football Playoff games.
Throw in the mobility – Lawrence ran for 107 yards and a touchdown against the Buckeyes; Fields was held to 13 yards – and add in the two picks from Fields, and Clemson won the quarterback battle and the game the last time around.
And Trevor Lawrence wasn’t Trevor Lawrence.
– The pressure from the Clemson defensive front will be on Fields all game long. It might not seem like it considering all the amazing defensive lines Clemson has had over the last decade, but this has been the most productive pass rushing front in the Dabo Swinney era – at least when it comes to raw stats.
No Tiger D under Swinney has averaged four sacks per game until this one. This group is consistent, it comes from all sides, and it has enough of the key parts in place lock Fields in the pocket and – like last year – keep him form making plays on the move.
NEXT: What’s Going To Happen, Ohio State vs Clemson Prediction, Allstate Sugar Bowl History
What’s Going To Happen in the Allstate Sugar Bowl, College Football Playoff Semifinal
The 2015 Clemson Tigers lost the national championship to Alabama in a 45-40 thriller. It wasn’t quite as close as the final score might indicate – there was a late Tiger touchdown that royally screwed up the investment types – but Clemson walked off that field knowing it could play with Bama and thinking it could’ve won that game.
The team was all business from spring of 2016 on, waited all year, and it got what it wanted with a rematch in the 2017 national championship, winning 35-31.
2019 Ohio State walked off the field last year against Clemson knowing it had the win there for the taking.
This entire year has been spent wanting to get that shot at reception. The Buckeyes begged, pleaded, created hashtags, lobbied, argued, and did everything possible use to be able to play to get a chance.
There were protests. There were signs made in permanent marker. There were rule changes and protocol adjustments. And now they’re here.
Clemson not having offensive coordinator Tony Elliott after he tested positive for COVID-19 won’t help, but the offense will be just fine.
The defense will be better.
Ohio State will play like its hair is on fire for the first ten minutes. It’ll be so sharp, and so fired up, and so locked in that it’ll all work. And ten the game will settle down, and then Clemson will go to work.
Trevor Lawrence will be methodical – he’ll get way too much time to make things happen. The running game won’t be great, but moving the chains won’t be too hard with Lawrence hitting third down throw after third down throw.
The Clemson defense will get to Fields early and often, but mostly it’ll get the job done just enough on third downs to stop Ohio State’s momentum time and again.
It’ll be a close, good game throughout, and then one last Clemson score will finally put it away.
Allstate Sugar Bowl: Ohio State vs Clemson Prediction, Line
Clemson 38, Ohio State 27
Bet on Ohio State vs Clemson with BetMGM
Clemson -7.5, o/u: 66.5
ATS Confidence out of 5: 3
– CFN Experts Picks: Allstate Sugar Bowl
Must See Rating: 5
5: New Year’s Day on the couch
1: New Year’s Eve going out
Allstate Sugar Bowl History
Jan. 1, 2020 Georgia 26, Baylor 14
Jan. 1, 2019 Texas 28, Georgia 21
Jan. 1, 2018 Alabama 24, Clemson 6
Jan. 2, 2017 Oklahoma 35, Auburn 19
Jan. 1, 2016 Mississippi 48 Oklahoma State 20
Jan. 1, 2015 Ohio State 42 Alabama 35
Jan. 2, 2014 Oklahoma 45 Alabama 31
Jan. 2, 2013 Louisville 33 Florida 23
Jan. 4, 2012 Michigan 23 Virginia Tech 20 (OT)
Jan. 4, 2011 Ohio State 31 Arkansas 26
Jan. 1, 2010 Florida 51 Cincinnati 24
Jan. 1, 2009 Utah 31 Alabama 17
Jan. 1, 2008 Georgia 41 Hawaii 10
Jan. 3, 2007 LSU 41 Notre Dame 14
Jan. 2, 2006 West Virginia 38 Georgia 35
Jan. 3, 2005 Auburn 16 Virginia Tech 13
Jan. 4, 2004 LSU 21 Oklahoma 14
Jan. 1, 2003 Georgia 26 Florida State 13
Jan. 1, 2002 LSU 47 Illinois 34
Jan. 2, 2001 Miami 37 Florida 20
Jan. 4, 2000 Florida State 46 Virginia Tech 29
Jan. 1, 1999 Ohio State 24 Texas A&M 14
Jan. 1, 1998 Florida State 31 Ohio State 14
Jan. 2, 1997 Florida 52 Florida State 20
Dec. 31, 1995 Virginia Tech 28 Texas 10
Jan. 2, 1995 Florida State 23 Florida 17
Jan. 1, 1994 Florida 41 West Virginia 7
Jan. 1, 1993 Alabama 34 Miami 13
Jan. 1, 1992 Notre Dame 39 Florida 28
Jan. 1, 1991 Tennessee 23 Virginia 22
Jan. 1, 1990 Miami 33 Alabama 25
Jan. 2, 1989 Florida State 13 Auburn 7
Jan. 1, 1988 Auburn 16 Syracuse 16
Jan. 1, 1987 Nebraska 30 LSU 15
Jan. 1, 1986 Tennessee 35 Miami 7
Jan. 1, 1985 Nebraska 28 LSU 10
Jan. 2, 1984 Auburn 9 Michigan 7
Jan. 1, 1983 Penn State 27 Georgia 23
Jan. 1, 1982 Pittsburgh 24 Georgia 20
Jan. 1, 1981 Georgia 17 Notre Dame 10
Jan. 1, 1980 Alabama 24 Arkansas 9
Jan. 1, 1979 Alabama 14 Penn State 7
Jan. 2, 1978 Alabama 35 Ohio State 6
Jan. 1, 1977 Pittsburgh 27 Georgia 3
Dec. 31, 1975 Alabama 13 Penn State 6
Dec. 31, 1974 Nebraska 13 Florida 10
Dec. 31, 1973 Notre Dame 24 Alabama 23
Dec. 31, 1972 Oklahoma 14 Penn State 0
Jan. 1, 1972 Oklahoma 40 Auburn 22
Jan. 1, 1971 Tennessee 34 Air Force 13
Jan. 1, 1970 Mississippi 27 Arkansas 22
Jan. 1, 1969 Arkansas 16 Georgia 2
Jan. 1, 1968 LSU 20 Wyoming 13
Jan. 2, 1967 Alabama 34 Nebraska 7
Jan. 1, 1966 Missouri 20 Florida 18
Jan. 1, 1965 LSU 13 Syracuse 10
Jan. 1, 1964 Alabama 12 Mississippi 7
Jan. 1, 1963 Mississippi 17 Arkansas 3
Jan. 1, 1962 Alabama 10 Arkansas 3
Jan. 2, 1961 Mississippi 14 Rice 6
Jan. 1, 1960 Mississippi 21 LSU 0
Jan. 1, 1959 LSU 7 Clemson 0
Jan. 1, 1958 Mississippi 39 Texas 7
Jan. 1, 1957 Baylor 13 Tennessee 7
Jan. 2, 1956 Georgia Tech 7 Pittsburgh 0
Jan. 1, 1955 Navy 21 Mississippi 0
Jan. 1, 1954 Georgia Tech 42 West Virginia 19
Jan. 1, 1953 Georgia Tech 24 Mississippi 7
Jan. 2, 1952 Maryland 28 Tennessee 13
Jan. 1, 1951 Kentucky 13 Oklahoma 7
Jan. 2, 1950 Oklahoma 35 LSU 0
Jan. 1, 1949 Oklahoma 14 North Carolina 6
Jan. 1, 1948 Texas 27 Alabama 7
Jan. 1, 1947 Georgia 20 North Carolina 10
Jan. 1, 1946 Oklahoma State 33 St. Mary’s 13
Jan. 1, 1945 Duke 29 Alabama 26
Jan. 1, 1944 Georgia Tech 20 Tulsa 18
Jan. 1, 1943 Tennessee 14 Tulsa 7
Jan. 1, 1942 Fordham 2 Missouri 0
Jan. 1, 1941 Boston College 19 Tennessee 13
Jan. 1, 1940 Texas A&M 14 Tulane 13
Jan. 2, 1939 TCU 15 Carnegie Tech 7
Jan. 1, 1938 Santa Clara 6 LSU 0
Jan. 1, 1937 Santa Clara 21 LSU 14
Jan. 1, 1936 TCU 3 LSU 2
Jan. 1, 1935 Tulane 20 Temple 14
