Is Ohio State's fixation on Clemson healthy? |
There is such a thing as being too focused, and one has to wonder if Ohio State has fallen into that trap.
For the second time in as many years, the Tigers and Buckeyes will meet with a national championship game appearance on the line. In 2019, Clemson beat Ohio State 29-23 on Trevor Lawrence's late passing touchdown and a game-clinching interception from Nolan Turner. The rematch is a game the Buckeyes have wanted and been waiting on since walking off the field in Glendale, Arizona, a year ago. Ohio State coach Ryan Day told the media earlier this week that quarterback Justin Fields has been begging for another chance to play Clemson. “Well, I think he left that field wanting another shot and now he has another shot. He's not the only guy that has felt that way,” Day said. “There's a lot of other guys on our team that felt that way. You would have never thought you were going to make it all the way back here to go play in this game. And the journey was so strange to get here, but here we are. And now we have an opportunity to go play them again. And this is the reason why everybody works so hard during that off season, was to get to this opportunity. Now we've got to go make the best of it. “Do I know what it means? I don't know. It's an opportunity to go play Clemson. And if we win, we go play for the national championship with everything that's gone on this season. And that's what matters. Has it been normal? No. But here we are. We asked for this opportunity, and now we've got to go.” Fields agreed. “It is pretty self-explanatory that that game hurt us a lot last year. So, that has kind of been our whole motivation this offseason,” Fields said. “Just getting a chance to play those guys [Clemson] again is a great opportunity. Of course, we know that Clemson is a great team. They have a great coaching staff, great players. So, we are just excited to be on the same stage as them and get another chance to play those guys.” Ohio State defensive back Shaun Wade opted out of the 2020 season and then decided to opt back in, and seemed to hint that Trevor Lawrence should take notice. Wade was ejected in the Fiesta Bowl last year after a helmet-to-helmet hit on Lawrence, and his Twitter post read, “Im back, Sunshine!” when he opted back in. Lawrence’s unofficial nickname is Sunshine. In a video released this week by the Ohio State football Twitter account, the players are lifting weights and running sprints and doing drills in front of screens that all have the final score of last year’s Fiesta Bowl in big letters. Second chances don't just happen by chance.#GoBuckeyes #Fight pic.twitter.com/nvWQCe48CQ An Ohio State website posted an article this week that said Ohio State would win because, and I paraphrase, Dabo Swinney is mean and says hurtful things; the officials robbed them last season and hurt their feelings; and Ohio State has never beaten Clemson and that hurts their feelings. A Ryan Day expletive-laced tirade after an underwhelming win over Northwestern in the Big 10 Championship Game made the rounds on social media and was pointed, and he took it a step further this week by hinting at Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables’ ability to steal signals. Clemson wide receiver Amari Rodgers told the media Tuesday that he thinks Ohio State cares more about Clemson than Clemson cares about Ohio State. “Not to me, to be honest,” Rodgers said when asked if Ohio State feels like a rival. “It feels nothing like the South Carolina rivalry or any other games that we may see as a rivalry. I feel like they have more beef with us than we have with them. That’s really more on them, to be honest. I don’t really see it as a rivalry, to be honest. It’s just one of those teams that we’ve happened to play a lot since I’ve been here. They’re great games every single time, but I don’t see it as a rivalry.” It takes me back to when I was young and covering another football program in the state. A loss the year before had driven this team to distraction, and they played terrible in the weeks leading up to the game but somehow kept winning (sound familiar?). The week of the game was all about the opponent. The game kicked off and emotions were so high the team couldn’t execute even the most simple of plays. Two personal foul penalties in the first two drives fueled a disastrous first drive and they wound up on the wrong end of a blowout. When Clemson lost to Alabama in 2015, the Tigers were focused on Alabama, and that’s a fact. But head coach Dabo Swinney made sure his players were more focused on why they lost – there were no excuses and no hurt feelings – and that was that Alabama made more plays. The special teams plays hurt. The lack of defense from players who might not have been “All In” hurt. When Swinney gathered with the media the next July, he bemoaned the fact that five plays cost Clemson a shot at the title. Five plays Clemson should have made. The Tigers were fixated on their biggest opponent at that point: Clemson. The Tigers were fixated on Clemson and making sure those five plays went their way. The fact they won over Alabama just made it even sweeter. What will we see Friday night? Will Ohio State be so focused and driven they play lights-out and drive Clemson out of the stadium? Or will the year-long fixation with another program drive them to distraction? It’s time to find out.
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