Unfinished business for Clemson and Ohio State

NEWORLEANS » Everybody loves a comeback story, and both No. 2 Clemson and No. 3 Ohio State arrive at the Sugar Bowl looking for redemption of sorts.

For Trevor Lawrence and the Tigers, this College Football Playoff semifinal brings them back to the site of last season’s national championship game loss to LSU.

For Justin Fields and the Buckeyes, the Sugar Bowl is a chance to avenge their last defeat, a thrilling semifinal against Clemson last year that effectively ended with Ohio State’s star quarterback being intercepted in the end zone.

“You’ve got to face a little bit of adversity and sometimes you’re a little bit blinded by success if you don’t have any hiccups along the way,” Lawrence said this week.

Clemson (10-1) and Ohio State (6- 0) meet in the playoff for the third time on Friday night, with the winner moving on to the national championship game against either No. 1 Alabama or No. 4 Notre Dame on Jan. 11 in suburban Miami.

Clemson has won both the previous CFP meetings with Ohio State. Throw in an Orange Bowl with the Buckeyes that the Tigers

also won in 2014 and Ohio State- Clemson feels like a budding rivalry.

It certainly sounded like one at times leading up the game, starting with Clemson coach Dabo Swinney’s insisting that Ohio State’s six- game schedule in this pandemic- altered season should not have been enough to earn a playoff spot.

Swinney slotted Ohio State 11th in his final coaches’ poll ballot, explaining he didn’t put any team with fewer than nine games in the top 10 — while also showering praise on the Buckeyes and coach Ryan Day.

“So people take it personal, but it’s nothing personal at all,” Swinney said.

Day admitted with a grin on a Zoom news conference with Swinney this week that he was glad his counterpart wasn’t on the College Football Playoff selection committee.

The Buckeyes have heard the complaints about their path to the playoff.