Different paths bring OSU, Clemson back together
Tigers lost more. Bucks played less. Both had rough rides to playoffffffffffffs.
Less than a year has passed since Clemson beat Ohio State in the 2019 College Football Playoffffffffffff.
As the teams prepare to face offff in the CFP semififinals again — this time at the SugarBowl inNew Orleans — farmore than a year’s worthof things seemto have happened since Dec. 29, 2019.
While the Tigerswentonto lose to LSUin the National Championship Game, and Ohio State went to work trying to use the bitter taste of a 29-23 Fiesta Bowl loss to its advantage.
Winter workouts went on as planned, and spring practice began in early March.
Then the novel coronavirus hit, and nothing has been the same since.
“How we got back here is just amazing,” Ohio State coach Ryan Daysaid.“Thejourneywe’vegone on as a programto get back right here — to have another chance to play Clemson in this game is like — you couldn’t even make it up.”
With star quarterbacks set to return and star-studded recruiting classes to absorb into their winning cultures, both programs were expected to have a good chance to be back in the CFP in 2020, but in January no one anticipatedthe unique challenges they faced in making that reality.
The Buckeyes were looking at
integrating a bevy of newreceivers and defensive backs into the programto replace graduations and early NFL Draft entrants. They also needed to break in a pair of freshman backup quarterbacks for Justin Fields, two new starters on the offffffffffffensive line and a handful of newplayers in their defensive rotation.
All of that was hindered by players being sent home after COVID-19hit, training campbeing lighter-than- usual on contact
and multiple games being canceled once the season finally began.
“Someof thebest storytellers of all time couldn’t have come up with this story, but here we are,” Day said.
While Clemson began the season Sept. 12 with a 37-13 win overWake Forest, Ohio Statehad to wait untilOct. 24 tokickofftheircampaignwith a 52-17 win over Nebraska.
The Buckeyes emerged from it all undefeated but having playedonlysixgames, a fact Clemson coach Dabo Swinney seems to have taken an issue with after his team played 12.
“Any time you step in between the lines in the game of football, that’s a lot of practices, that’s a lot of physicality,” Swinney said Sunday before his coaches poll ballot with Ohio State ranked 11th became public. “I definitely think that it matters, but at the end of the day, none of thatmatters in New Orleans. What matters is who plays the best in those four quarters.”
Ohio State’s new-look offensive linehadsomestruggles clearing running paths early in the season before an explosion against Northwestern in the Big Ten Championship game.
Pass protection is still a concern, though, and quarterback Justin Fields will enter the CFP coming off his worst game of his college career.
The revamped secondary remains awork in progress, too.
Whether or not these questions could have been answered with more game reps or if they would have led to Ohio State suffering an upset that kept the Buckeyes out of the CFP will never be known.
Whatis certain is the Buckeyes and Tigers are scheduled to play in one semifinal on Jan. 1, and Alabama and Notre Dame will play in another in Arlington, Texas. Ten days later, the winners are to play for the national championship in Miami, though everything
this season comes with the caveat of being allowed by the pandemic.
“I thinkwe have an opportunity to write one of the greatest stories in the history of college football,” Day said. “I don’t know what it all means. We certainly don’t have the game reps, especially for the younger guys, to find out what they can do. Andwe haven’t had our best game yet this year. Played some good games,
but we haven’t played our best game this year, and we’re going to have to play our best game again to beat Clemson.”
Meanwhile, Clemsonquarterback Trevor Lawrence is coming off perhaps his best game of the season. He threw for 322 yards, ran for 90 and accounted for three touchdownswhile the Tigers trounced Notre Dame 34-10.
That put a nice bow on a season in which the Tigers had to replace five starters on defense, four starters on the offensive line and star receiver Tee Higgins.
After beating the Demon Deacons soundly, Clemson blew out The Citadel, Virginia, Miami (Fla.), Georgia Tech and Syracuse by an average of 50-13.6.
ThenLawrence testedpositive for COVID-19 and had to miss two games.
The first was a 34-28 win overBostonCollege inwhich the Tigers had to rally from a 28-10. Then they lost 47-40 in overtime at Notre Dame and had three weeks without a game before trouncing Pitt and Virginia Tech by a combined score of 97-27 to set up the rematch with the Fighting Irish in the ACC title game.
Whether therewas agame on the docket for the following Saturday or not, players on both teams have had to maintain strict protocols to limit the chance COVID-19 infiltrates the locker room.
“We’re going onWeek 21,” Swinney said. “These guys have had no break. It’s been a grind, not just football-wise, but the mental challenge and the personal sacrifice and commitment that everybody’s had to make to be able to play and continue to play. It’s been incredible. Our guys have been so committed in that regard.”
Howeach separate season prepared the teams for the playoffs remains to be seen.
“It’s a great question,” Day said. “I don’t know, because it’s never really been done before. Sowhat does it really mean? I don’t really know. I think at the end of the day, it’swho executes better and plays tougher in the end.
“When you play in big games, you have to execute at a high level. That’s really what it comes down to. Both teams are going to play hard. Everything is on the line. It is who executes better is going to pull it out. We have to do that. Whether we played six, eight, ten, or they played 12, I don’t really knowwhat that reallymeans, so we’ll try not to focus on that. We’ll try to execute the best game we could possibly, do the best job we can (in the Sugar Bowl).”