MY THOUGHTS.....Sugar Bowl

 

The Ohio State Buckeyes put together their best game of the year by dominating Clemson 49-28 to advance to a national championship showdown with Alabama.  The Ohio State offense dominated after the first drive, putting up a whopping 639 total yards.  The man of the match was undoubtably Justin Fields, throwing a Sugar Bowl record six touchdown passes even after nearly being knocked out of the game in the second quarter.  Shades of the 2019 Michigan game, Fields was out for one play then returned to immediately throw a touchdown pass to Chris Olave.  The five straight touchdown drives in the first half alone netted 394 yards.  Unlike last year’s game, the Buckeyes scored touchdowns at the end of their red zone drives instead of field goals.  The Clemson defense was caught off guard by Fields throwing more to the tight ends and Trey Sermon out of the backfield.  Sermon’s 34-yard catch and run sparked Ohio State’s first touchdown drive, which he capped off with his 32-yard dash to the end zone.  Junior Jeremy Ruckert accounted for two touchdowns, while redshirt senior Luke Farrell hauled in one of his own.  For this game, the tight ends combined for five catches and the three scores, while in the prior six games, they had a total of 17 receptions and three touchdowns.  Trey Sermon continued his torrid pace on the ground, gashing the Clemson defense for 193 yards, averaging over six yards per carry.  The offensive line, minus Harry Miller, thoroughly dominated the Clemson defensive front, giving Fields time to throw the deep balls to Chris Olave ,Jameson Williams, and Garrett Wilson. 

            The Ohio State defensive line was just as dominant after the first two Clemson drives.  Clemson RB Travis Etienne was shut down and Trevor Lawrence, who hurt the Buckeye defense running the ball last year, had nowhere to go this year.  From the second quarter on, the front seven was on Lawrence almost every time he dropped back to throw, causing a few bad throws and a couple of fumbles.  Clemson managed a paltry 44 yards on the ground; Etienne’s longest run was eight yards.  Justin Hilliard had another solid game, notching eight tackles and a fumble recovery.  They did have issues, at times, latching on to Clemson WR Cornell Powell, who had his best game with eight catches for 139 yards and two scores.  Lawrence was able to find him deep on the first drive against Shaun Wade and quite a few times over the middle.

            Now, the Buckeyes will play for a national championship against Alabama in what figures to be a tough test.