Clemson Football: Scouting Report vs. Ohio State Buckeyes
What do Clemson football fans need to know as the Tigers take on the Ohio State Buckeyes? Here’s our scouting report for Ohio State.
The Clemson football team will take on the Ohio State Buckeyes next Saturday in the Playstation Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Arizona.
The winner of the game will advance to the CFB National Championship.
The Tigers will be playing in their fifth-straight CFB Playoff. They’ve made the National Championship game three of the last four seasons.
Here’s a look at the early scouting report for Ohio State, beginning with the Buckeyes on offense.
Ohio State Offensive Scouting Report:
By the Numbers (National Rankings):
- Total Offense: No. 5
- Rushing Offense: No. 5
- Passing Offense: No. 41
- Names to Know: QB Justin Fields, RB J.K. Dobbins, WR Chris Olave, OG Wyatt Davis, OG Jonah Jackson.
Analysis:
Let’s go ahead and get something out of the way: Ohio State is the most talented team that Clemson has faced to this point in the season.
When you look at the Buckeyes on offense, they’re a run-first team that likes to take some shots down the field. Ohio State will use J.K. Dobbins, as well as Justin Fields, in the running game.
When looking at film, the Buckeyes are able to get a good push because of their interior offensive linemen. It will be interesting to see if Clemson combats that Ohio State running game with a 4-down linemen set or if the Tigers continue to use 3-man front and try to create pressure.
The key to getting Ohio State’s offense off the field is to put pressure on Justin Fields, but protect the middle. Fields is elusive and wants to run the ball. The Tigers have to be disciplined in the defensive backfield and the linebackers have to play their assignments. Fields isn’t comfortable throwing into tight coverage and will hold onto the ball and take a sack before throwing an interception.
Clemson’s going to have to play tight coverage on those Ohio State wide receivers and get pressure with its defensive line to slow down the Ohio State run game and make Justin Fields uncomfortable.
Ohio State Defensive Scouting Report
By the Numbers (National Rankings):
- Total Defense: No 2
- Rushing Defense: No. 7
- Passing Defense: No. 2
- Team Sacks: No. 3
- Turnover Margin: No. 10
- Names to Know: DE Chase Young, LB Malik Harrison, CB Jeff Okudah, S Jordan Fuller.
Analysis:
Ohio State does one thing better than anybody else in the country and that’s rush the passer. Though the Buckeyes have talent in the secondary, it’s clear that defending the pass isn’t their strong suit.
What the do is pretty simple: They’re going to let Chase Young be Chase Young and they’re going to bring linebackers to make the quarterback uncomfortable and potentially make a mistake.
Trevor Lawrence will need to get the ball out quick to his play-makers and having an underneath option like Braden Galloway to check down to could be an important aspect of the Tiger offense. Clemson’s offensive line is going to have to play a much crisper game and the Tigers will have to be creative in how they get the running game going with Travis Etienne.
Because Ohio State lines up with men in the box, spreading that defense out and getting to the outside could be deadly.
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As we said earlier, the Buckeyes have some talent in the secondary- especially CB Jeff Okudah- but they haven’t faced anything similar to the talent at wide receiver that Clemson has. The Tigers need to exploit that when they can and come away with solid gains. You’ve got to make the defense pay for bringing pressure and that will be up to Trevor Lawrence.