Ohio State wins the Sugar Bowl over Clemson 49-28. Five thoughts and analysis of the game, and what it all means.
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Ohio State wins the Allstate Sugar Bowl
Final Score: Ohio State 49, Clemson 28
CFN Prediction: Clemson 38, Ohio State 27
Line: Clemson -7.5, o/u: 66.5
5. Ohio State waited all year for this, and it all worked
This wasn’t all about Ohio State getting revenge after last year’s Fiesta Bowl loss to Clemson.
But it had a lot to do with it.
This wasn’t totally about Justin Fields looking for redemption.
But, apparently, it sure did make him very, very focused and motivated.
This wasn’t about Clemson missing offensive coordinator Tony Elliott.
Yeah, it’s a big puzzle to put together, but him not being there didn’t have anything to do with the Tigers’ defensive issues.
And this wasn’t about Dabo Swinney trolling Ohio State by ranking it 11th.
But it sure didn’t hurt Ohio State’s cause.
The iconic Mercedes Benz Superdome is sporting Ohio State’s colors tonight in honor of their #SugarBowl title. pic.twitter.com/czo2eNv6z2
— Allstate Sugar Bowl (@SugarBowlNola) January 2, 2021
It was a little of all of that for a supremely talented team that found the extra edge to take things to a whole other level.
We’ve seen it before with an ultra-focused 2016 Clemson team finishing the job after losing the 2015 season national title to Alabama. We saw it with Bama after coming achingly close in 2008, only to come back roaring in 2009 with a blowout win over the Florida Tebows on the way to a national championship.
Taking away what happened on the field this year – there was NOTHING to suggest that Ohio State was about to play this well – the Buckeyes’ motivation was the one X factor in a College Football Playoff that seemed totally predictable the moment it was announced.
That, and what was Ohio State going to be like when it had the full team together?
It was missing 22 players for the Big Ten Championship, it could never quite get the offensive line totally right and healthy throughout the season, and against Clemson, this was close to being a full squad.
This was the Buckeye team we’ve been waiting for.
NEXT: Clemson ran into a buzzsaw
4. Clemson ran into a buzzsaw
There were a few signs this season that suggested this might not be the Clemson team that we all expected it would be.
Just as it looked like Clemson was jelling at just the right time, as it turned out, Notre Dame probably was just very good and that ACC Championship win was a wee bit of a mirage.
But this isn’t about Clemson.
The 49-28 loss was about Ohio State putting on a performance for the ages and Clemson just so happened to be in the way.
This was still obviously a phenomenal team, but it never had its full receiving corps from the start. It sure adapted just fine, but it could’ve been a whole lot better, the banged up defensive line could’ve had a stronger day, the running game was never quite as nasty this year as it should’ve been, Travis Etienne didn’t have the rushing season like he was supposed to, and …
It’s the College Football Playoff. Clemson got there yet again after winning yet another ACC Championship in another amazing season. Sometimes great teams get trucked in this thing.
Ohio State was on the business end of a Clemson destruction in the 31-0 loss in the 2016 Fiesta Bowl. Alabama got hit with a two-piece in the 2019 CFP National Championship a year after drop-kicking Clemson 24-6 in the semi-final.
It happens.
These things go in cycles, but the trick is to keep getting there. Sometimes things bounce and go the right way, and sometimes one elite program faces another elite program that has it all working.
NEXT: The Ohio State offensive line was the real hero
3. The Ohio State offensive line was the real hero
Oh sure, Justin Fields will get all of the love, and the Buckeye defensive front was great, and Trey Sermon had himself a day, but it all started with an Ohio State front five that wore the Clemson defensive line as a hat.
Fields might have been bounced around a bit – okay, a lot – but he also had time to make a sandwich and enjoy every bite before winding up and heaving a 56-yard touchdown pass to Chris Olave.
Sermon was phenomenal, and he certainly epitomized the concept of trucking a defender, but he also had ten-mile-wide holes to bust through.
Taylor Munford at left tackle, Matthew Jones at left guard for Harry Miller, Josh Myers at center, Wyatt Davis at right guard and Nicholas Petit-Frere at right tackle – with a little tweaking and changing on the fly during the game.
That’s the group that paved the way for 254 rushing yards and 5.8 yards per carry, and it gave Fields enough time to make all those gorgeous deep plays happen.
If Ohio State is going to win the national title, that’s the group that’s going to have to do it all over again, and this will have to be said again the night of January 11th …
NEXT: Justin Fields had a performance for the ages
2. Justin Fields had a performance for the ages
Ohio State seems to be getting used to doing this whole all-time great thing in the backfield.
Trey Sermon had an okay season, and then he rumbled through Northwestern for a school-record 331 yards and two touchdowns in the Big Ten Championship win.
Ho hum – he only ran for 193 yards and a touchdown on 31 tough carries against Clemson.
Chris Olave didn’t have a record-setting night, but he caught six passes for 132 yards and two touchdowns as he exorcised the demons after the Fields interception to close out last year’s game that was thrown his way.
Meanwhile, Trevor Lawrence ran for a touchdown and threw for 400 yards and two touchdowns with a pick – and he was outplayed by the guy on the other side.
6 TOUCHDOWNS FOR JUSTIN FIELDS 🤯 pic.twitter.com/9WecXeo91H
— ESPN (@espn) January 2, 2021
It’s not that Justin Fields was bad in last year’s game – he threw for 320 yards and a touchdown – but he threw one interception all season and tossed two in the loss. He waited all year for this moment, and it showed as he played through what appeared to be a rib injury after getting blasted in the first half.
He might not have run like he normally would’ve after getting hurt – finishing with 42 yards on the day – but he turned out to be okay throwing it around …
22-of-28 for 385 yards, six touchdowns, and one interception when his hand/the ball got hit.
After all the pleading, and the hashtags, and the pushing to get this season going for Ohio State and wanting to play, he had an okay-not-amazing regular season. None of that matters now.
He got his chance, and he came through in a massive way.
This was the moment. This was the game. This is what he and Ohio State wanted, and it couldn’t have gone better.
But …
NEXT: Oh yeah, there’s still the national championship
1. Oh yeah, there’s still the national championship
All forgiveness requested if I’ve bored you with this old guy pretentious comp before, but in 1990, UNLV destroyed Duke in the basketball national championship.
Duke spent a whole year wanting to make amends, got to the Final Four, was supposed to get blasted by UNLV again, and instead came through with one of the great wins in college basketball history.
But it still had to beat Kansas to win the national title.
WE’RE GOING TO THE NATTY@JonathonCooper7 @DB_CoachCoombs pic.twitter.com/YtqHWAChZb
— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) January 2, 2021
Ohio State beating Clemson was good. That will make everyone feel better after last year, and that will at least get rid of those bad thoughts and memories.
(At least it should, because lost in the whole Ohio State Clemson-game-cost-us-a-national-title narrative is how no one was beating LSU last year in the championship game, but let’s not let that get in the way.)
Ohio State still has to play an Alabama team that seems to be doing just fine at this whole college football thing. And now, if the Buckeyes play like they did against Clemson, they can absolutely win the national title.
There isn’t a talent problem, there isn’t an athleticism problem, there isn’t a health problem as long as everyone is able to lock it down and be okay by January 11th. We’ll have to see just how bad Justin Fields is hurt, but with the way he played after getting banged up, there’s no way he’s missing this game.
This year’s team Ohio State team might not have been a No. 4 seed like the 2014 version, but it still had to catch a wee bit of a break just to get in, and then it all worked. This version looks like it also has it.
Is it all possible to maintain the same insane level of intensity, focus, and motivation?
The “no one believes in us” thing isn’t going to fly – this wouldn’t be a massive upset or even a shocker if the Buckeyes pull it off.
No, this is Ohio State. It’s supposed to win national championships. It’s supposed to be this good. It’s supposed to be in this position to hold up the College Football Playoff national championship trophy.
And now it has a shot to do it.
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