In the days leading up to the Sugar Bowl, much was done about Clemson coach Dabo Swinney, who ranked Ohio State at No. 11 in his final Coaches Poll vote.
Looks like the Buckeyes were paying attention.
Quarterback Justin Fields threw 385 yards and six touchdowns when Ohio State No. 3 defeated No. 2 Clemson, 49-28, in the Sugar Bowl on Friday night. The Buckeyes will move on to the national college football playoff championship game to face No. 1 with Alabama on Monday, Jan. 11.
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Both sides added 14 points each in a first and second game before Ohio State took control in the second. The Buckeyes scored touchdowns on all three possessions in the fourth, with each unit ending in a Fields pass.
There came a key moment just over six minutes before the end of the first half, when Fields was hit hard in the back by Clemson defender James Skalski. Skalski was sent off for an attack, as Fields was on the ground. He left the game, but returned a play later to throw a new garden pass to Chris Olave.
Fields added another touchdown pass in a 12-yard touchdown run to tight end Jeremy Ruckert with 11 seconds left in the break to extend the lead to 35-14. It was Ruckert’s second touchdown in the half after having just nine catches all season.
The 21-point margin was Clemson’s biggest deficit in the half since the 2012 Orange Bowl, when the Tigers swept West Virginia, 49-20. West Virginia won 70-33.
Clemson reduced the Buckeyes ’lead to 35-21 in the middle of the third quarter, when Trevor Lawrence found Cornell Powell with a 10-yard touchdown pass. But the state of Ohio responded in its next 91-yard touchdown, crowned by a 56-yard fields bomb at Olave.
Fields ’fifth touchdown pass of the night set a new Sugar Bowl record, as well as an Ohio State school record for most touchdown passes in any bowl game.
Clemson staggered in his next drive, then spent three and three in his back possession to allow Ohio State to deliver the knockout. Fields connected on another deep throw, this time a 45-yard touchdown against Jameson Williams for his sixth touchdown pass as the best run.
Fields finished the night going 22 to 28 with 385 yards, six touchdowns and an interception. Runner Trey Sermon had 193 yards and a 31-yard touchdown.
As the state of Ohio could not fail to score, his defense was up to the occasion against a revered offense by Clemson. After the first quarter, Ohio State’s defense kept Clemson unscored in five of his next six possessions (excluding the end of half of the kneeling tigers). The Buckeyes ’defensive front pressed Lawrence all night (especially in the second half) and restricted Travis Etienne to just 32 yards on 10 carries.
The loss probably surpasses a notable college career for Lawrence, who went from 34 to 2 during his career as a Clemson starter. Both defeats took place at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, the first being last year’s defeat against LSU in the national title. Lawrence is expected to be considered the No. 1 pick in the 2021 NFL draft.
Lawrence finished the game completing 33 of 48 passing attempts for 400 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.
The win sets Ohio State up to face Alabama for the national championship, as the Crimson Tide tries to go from strength to strength as the country’s No. 1 team. The last match between the two teams was the 2015 Sugar Bowl of the first season under the current playoff format. Then-No. 4 Ohio State upset Alabama No. 1, 42-35, behind third-string quarterback Cardale Jones.