In the days leading up to the Sugar Bowl, much was made about Clemson coach Dabo Swinney ranking Ohio State No. 11 in its last Coaches Poll vote.
Looks like the Buckeyes are paying attention.
Quarterback Justin Fields threw for 385 yards and six touchdowns when No. 3 beat Ohio State No. 2 Clemson, 49-28, in Friday night’s Sugar Bowl. The Buckeyes will advance to the College Football Playoff National Championship Game to play it against No. 1 Alabama on Monday, Jan. 11.
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The two sides each scored 14 points in a back and forth first quarter before the state of Ohio took control in the second. The Buckeyes scored touchdowns on all three of their holdings in the quarter, with each drive ending with a Fields touchdown pass.
A key moment came with just over six minutes to go in the first half when Fields was hit hard in the back by Clemson linebacker James Skalski. Skalski was ejected to aim, as Fields was in pain on the ground. He left the game, but later returned a game to throw a nine-yard touchdown pass to Chris Olave.
Fields added another touchdown pass on a 12-yard strike to finish Jeremy Ruckert tight with 11 seconds left before half time to extend the lead to 35-14. It was Ruckert’s second touchdown of the half after just nine catches all season.
The 21-point margin was Clemson’s biggest half-time deficit since the 2012 Orange Bowl, when the Tigers left West Virginia 49-20. West Virginia won, 70-33.
Clemson cut Buckeyes’ lead to 35-21 in the middle of the third quarter when Trevor Lawrence Cornell found Powell on a 10-yard touchdown pass. But Ohio State responded on the ensuing 91-yard scoring drive, capped by a 56-yard bomb from Fields to Olave.
Fields’ fifth touchdown pass of the evening set a new Sugar Bowl record, as well as an Ohio State School record for the most touchdown passes in any bowl game.
Clemson fumbled on his next ride, then went three-and-out on his subsequent possession to give Ohio State the knockout hit. Fields hit another deep pitch, this time a 45-yard touchdown for Jameson Williams for his best sixth touchdown pass of his career.
Fields finished the night 22-for-28 with 385 yards, six touchdowns and one interception. Trey Sermon had 193 yards and a touchdown on 31 carries.
As Ohio State couldn’t stop scoring, the case was defended against a vaunted Clemson foul. After the first quarter, the Ohio State defense held Clemson winless on five of the next six possessions (excluding the Tigers’ kneeling at the end of the half). The Buckeyes’ defensive front put pressure on Lawrence throughout the night – especially in the second half – and limited star wearing Travis Etienne down to just 32 yards by 10.
The loss likely ends a remarkable college career for Lawrence, who went 34-2 during his career as a Clemson starter. Both losses took place at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, the first being last year’s defeat to LSU in the national title game. Lawrence is expected to be taken with the # 1 pick in the 2021 NFL Draft.
Lawrence finished the game by completing 33 of 48 pass attempts for 400 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception.
The win puts Ohio State against Alabama for the national championship, as the Crimson Tide tries to go wire-by-wire as the number 1 team in the country. The last meeting between the two teams was the 2015 Sugar Bowl in the first season under the current playoff format. Then not. 4 Ohio State upset No. 1 Alabama, 42-35, behind third-string quarterback Cardale Jones.