Fiesta Bowl Playoff Semifinal OHIO STATE v CLEMSON
December 31,
2016 University of Phoenix Stadium Glendale, AZ
Clemson Tigers
Location: Clemson, SC
Stadium: Memorial Stadium (80,301)
Coach: Dabo Swinney (8th year):
87-28 at Clemson/overall, 54-15 v ACC, 1-0 v OSU
Series: Clemson 2, OSU 0
Last
Meeting: 1/1/2014:
Clemson 40, OSU 35
Coach Meyer (5th year): 61-5 at OSU/165-28 overall, 42-3 v
B1G, 0-1 v Clemson
2015 Ohio State Buckeyes
(12-1)(7-1)B1G 2015
Clemson Tigers (14-1)(8-0)ACC
42 at Virginia Tech 24 49 Wofford 10
38 Hawaii 0 41 Appalachian State 10
20 Northern Illinois 13 20 at Louisville 17
38 Western Michigan 12 24 Notre Dame 22
34 at Indiana 27 43 Georgia Tech 24
49 Maryland 28 34 Boston College 17
38 Penn State 10 58 at Miami 0
49 at Rutgers 7 56 NC State 41
28 Minnesota 14 23 Florida State 13
28 at Illinois 3 37 at Syracuse 27
14 Michigan State 17 33 Wake Forest 13
42 at Michigan 13 37 at South Carolina 32
44 Notre Dame 28 45 North Carolina 37
(Fiesta Bowl) (ACC
Championship)
37 Oklahoma 17
(Orange
Bowl: Semifinal)
40 Alabama 45
(National
Championship game)
2016 Ohio State Buckeyes
(11-1)(8-1)B1G 2016
Clemson Tigers (12-1)(9-1)ACC
77 Bowling Green 10 19 at Auburn 13
48 Tulsa 3 30 Troy 24
45 at Oklahoma 24 59 South Carolina State 0
S24 26 at Georgia Tech 7
58 Rutgers 0 42 Louisville 36
38 Indiana 17 56 at Boston College 10
30 at Wisconsin 23 (OT) 24 NC State 17
(OT)
21 at Penn State 24
24 Northwestern 20 37 at Florida State 34
62 Nebraska 3 54 Syracuse 0
62 at Maryland 3 42 Pittsburgh 43
17 at Michigan State 16 35 at Wake Forest 13
30 Michigan 27
(OT) 56 South Carolina 7
42 Virginia Tech 35
(ACC
Championship)
D31 Clemson Ohio
State
(Fiesta Bowl: Semifinal) (Fiesta
Bowl: Semifinal)
For the second time in
the three-year history of the major college football playoff, the Ohio State
Buckeyes are in. This time, they take on
the Clemson Tigers in the Fiesta Bowl.
The Tigers feature great balance on both sides of the ball, as they rank
in the top 20 in the nation in total offense and defense, scoring offense and
defense and passing offense and defense.
OHIO STATE OFFENSE v CLEMSON DEFENSE: Clemson defensive
coordinator Brent Venables won the Broyles award this year for the top
assistant in the nation for his work with a defensive unit that had to replace
seven starters from last year’s championship game participant. Despite
the losses, Clemson is ninth in the nation in total defense, 12th in scoring
defense, third in sacks and third in tackles for loss..
It
starts up front for the Tigers as their young, talented front four have
accounted for 40.5 tackles for loss. DE
Christian Wilkins, a 6-4, 310-pound sophomore, was a Nagurski Award finalist
and a first-team All-American by several selection committees. His quickness
for a down linemen allowed him to be in on 12 TFLs, three sacks and seven pass
breakups. Additionally, Wilkins was a
force on special teams, where he had a 10-yard run on a fake punt, and blocked
a kick. He also caught a touchdown pass from Deshaun Watson in the win over
Troy, the first Clemson defensive lineman to score an offensive touchdown in
school history. Senior DT Carlos Watkins made the CBS All-American team and leads
the team in sacks (8.5), the most by a Clemson defensive tackle since 1990 and
just 1.5 off the record held by William Perry (1984) and Michael Dean Perry
(1987). Watkins comes into the Fiesta Bowl with 70 tackles, 10.5 tackles for
loss and 12 quarterback pressures. DT Dexter Lawrence was a first-team freshman
All-American by USA Today and ESPN and has 74 stops to lead all defensive
linemen and also has two blocked kicks and two fumble recoveries. The other front four starter is DE Clelin
Ferrell and he has done very well for a red-shirt freshman. He has started all
13 games, has 43 tackles, including 8.5 for loss and five sacks.
Clemson’s
top two linebackers lead the Tigers in tackles. Senior Ben Boulware enters the
playoffs with 114, including nine tackles for loss, while sophomore Kendall
Joseph has 107, including 10 behind the line of scrimmage, third on the team. Boulware
was named a second-team All-American by five services this year and was named
the ACC Co- Defensive Player of the Year according to the league’s coaches. The third starting linebacker is junior
Dorian O’Daniel who garnered 53 tackles this season in 13 games, 10 as a
starter. He had nine tackles for loss, including 2.5 sacks and an interception.
Clemson’s
fine play in the secondary was a big reason the Tigers enter the postseason
ranked fifth in the nation in pass efficiency defense, 12th in completion
percentage defense, seventh in interceptions and eighth in yards per attempt
allowed. Senior CB Cordrea Tankersley is considered a first-round NFL draft
prospect. He comes into the game with 55
tackles to rank sixth on the team and will probably be matched up one-on-one
against Noah Brown or even Curtis Samuel when he lines up as a slot
receiver. SS Jadar Johnson just
graduated on December 15 and he garnered 50 tackles, a team best five
interceptions and seven passes broken up.
Sophomore FS Van Smith and junior CB Ryan Carter complete the Clemson
secondary that allowed just 12 touchdown passes all year, 14th best in the
nation. Smith is a safety who had 102 tackles including six tackles for loss.
He had at least 13 tackles in wins over Troy, Louisville and Boston College and
had at least seven stops in 10 of the 13 games. Carter stepped in at cornerback
after Mackensie Alexander left for the NFL early. He contributed 26 tackles,
including 23 first hits, 5.5 tackles for loss and seven pass breakups, plus an
interception.
Carter contributed
26 tackles, including 23 first hits, 5.5 tackles for loss and seven pass
breakups, plus an interception.
OHIO STATE DEFENSE v CLEMSON OFFENSE:
Ohio State’s young,
opportunistic defense leads the nation in pass efficiency defense (91.43), rank
second in defensive TDs (7) and total TDs allowed (15), third in pass
efficiency defense (91.43), rank second in defensive TDs (7) and total TDs
allowed (15), third in fewest points allowed (14.2) and turnover margin (+1.33)
and are fourth with 19 interceptions. The Buckeyes set a school record this
season with seven interceptions returned for TDs. They will be up against one of the best
offensive units around. The
Clemson offense ranks 13th in the nation in total offense, seventh in the
nation in passing offense and 15th in scoring offense. The unit has converted
on third down .515 of the time, sixth best in the nation. The team averages 40.2 points and 505.5 yards
per game, on pace to become just the third team in Clemson history to average
at least 40 points and 500 yards per game. Senior QB Deshaun Watson, a Heisman
finalist, is the quarterback and has posted a 30-3 record as a starter over the
last three years, the best winning percentage in Clemson history. Watson has completed .676 of his passes this
season (329-487) for 3,914 yards and a school record 37 touchdown passes and
is also second on the team in rushing with 526 yards and six scores, giving him
43 touchdowns in terms of touchdown responsibility this year. Of course, everyone knows about the venerable
Wayne Gallman who has 1,002 yards and 15 touchdowns. It is the junior’s second
straight 1,000-yard season and he is just the sixth Clemson back to have two
1,000-yard seasons in a career and is fifth in school history with 3298 career rushing
yards. Clemson has a deep and
experienced receiving corps. The top six receivers have combined for 709
receptions for 9,236 yards and 83 touchdowns. Four of the top 14 players in
Clemson history in terms of touchdown receptions are on this team. Junior All-American
Mike Williams leads the team with 84 receptions for 1,171 yards and 10 scores,
while junior Artivis Scott already has a whopping 240 receptions in his career,
tied for the Clemson all-time record with Sammy Watkins. This year, Scott has 71 receptions for 592
yards and five touchdowns. He scored what proved to be the winning touchdown
against NC State on a TD reception from Watson, and had the biggest special
teams play of the year when his 77-yard kickoff return against Louisville
changed the momentum of the game in Clemson’s favor in the fourth quarter. Sophomores
Ray-ray McCloud and Hunter Renfrow figure to split time at another WR
spot. McCloud is third on the team in
receiving with 45 receptions for 443 yards and two scores. He also led Clemson
in punt return yards with 176 this season. Renfrow missed four games with an
injury, but has been productive when healthy, and has 29 receptions for 353
yards and four scores. Senior Jordan
Leggett is a record setting tight end who was a finalist for the Mackey Award
each of the last two seasons, who has 38 catches for 637 yards and seven scores.
He scored what proved to be the winning touchdowns against Louisville and
Florida State.
Clemson had three of the five
first-team players on the offensive line, led by center Jay Guillermo who has
started 27 games the last two years. Tackle
Mitch Hyatt also was named first-team All- ACC has also started the last 27
games at that spot. Guard Tyrone Crowder
is the third first-team All-ACC offensive lineman for the Tigers. He is also
finishing his second full season as a starter. He was a third-team All-ACC
selection in 2015 and has 26 career starts on two ACC Championship teams.
Taylor Hearn (guard) and Sean Pollard (tackle) are two young linemen in the
Clemson lineup in their first years as starters.
SPECIAL TEAMS: Clemson
kicker Greg Huegel is 13 of 17 on his field goal attempts with a long of 47,
while punter Andy Teasdall averages 37.7 yards per punt. I give the Buckeyes the edge here, as punter Cameron
Johnston has consistently been among the
best punters in the nation, averaging 46.2 yards per punt with a long of 70 as
he gives the Buckeyes a clear advantage in any kind of field position
strategy. Tyler Durbin had only missed
one field goal (the block that cost the Buckeyes the game at Penn State) until
he had an off game against Michigan, missing twice. Still, Durbin is usually reliable, going 17
of 20 with a long of 45.
SUMMARY: Both
teams deserve to be here and have played solidly on both sides of the ball, with
only one hiccup each. It comes down to
taking care of the ball and here is what could tilt the contest in Ohio State’s
favor. As good as Deshaun Watson is, he
has a tendency to force the ball into coverage quite a bit, which explains the
15 interceptions he has thrown. Watson
must change that if Clemson is to have a decent chance, because if he continues
that trend against an Ohio State defense that has 19 interceptions and seven
pick-sixes, Ohio State blows Clemson off the field. But, I look for Watson to play better and
throw more underneath to the tight end and Gallman than throwing deep. This talented Clemson defense will be tasked
with doing something no defense has done all year (including good defenses of
Wisconsin, Penn State, and Michigan), contain all three of Ohio State’s
offensive stars: J.T. Barrett, Mike Weber, and Curtis Samuel. Clemson must be able to hold Weber and Samuel
under 100 yards and keep them out of the end zone and force Barrett to beat
them with his arm. If either Weber or
Samuel gets over 100 yards on the ground and get into the end zone, then
Clemson’s defense could be in trouble.
OHIO STATE 31, CLEMSON
24
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