Clemson Football: Analyzing the reviews that went against OSU

The Clemson football team defeated Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl, but Buckeye fans haven’t stopped talking about a few reviews that went against them.

The Clemson football team defeated the Ohio State Buckeyes in the Playstation Fiesta Bowl and advanced to the National Championship game for the fourth time in the the past five seasons.

Despite the Tigers coming away with the victory, Buckeye fans have continued to harp on a few calls that went against their team.

Here’s a look at the three main reviews that went against Ohio State and what should’ve happened.

J.K. Dobbins’ dropped pass

In the first half, J.K. Dobbins had slipped behind a Clemson defender and was open when Justin Fields floated one to him in the end zone. Dobbins didn’t complete the catch, though, and the Buckeyes were forced to settle for a field goal.

Many Ohio State fans were upset at the review being reversed, but you can clearly see on the film that he uses the ground to help maintain possession of the football. The rule isn’t the same as if he was running the ball.

He has to control that catch all the way to the ground the same as if it was anywhere else on the field and he didn’t do that. The officials made the right call.

Targeting Call

Also in the first half, Ohio State DB Shaun Wade came in hot on a blitz. It seemed he may have been so excited for a shot at Trevor Lawrence that he led with the crown of his helmet.

Lawrence did duck, but anyone that has watched College Football knows that this was textbook targeting.

Can you disagree with the rule? Absolutely. It was probably silly that he was ejected from the game, but that’s the rule. Don’t get mad at the officials or Clemson football for a rule that everyone knew about coming into the season.

The Incomplete Pass

Now, here’s the major one that has caused the most controversy.

Trevor Lawrence threw a pass to Justyn Ross that was stripped by OSU DB Jeff Okudah and picked up and run in for a touchdown for the Buckeyes.

In real time, it didn’t look like he had completed the catch, but in slow motion, it certainly looked that way.

You could argue either way on this play, which probably means it shouldn’t have been overturned. But, there is one thing that I found interesting here.

When listening back to the ESPN broadcast, you can hear Kirk Herbstreit expressing his thoughts that it was a fumble. The rules expert comes on the broadcast and immediately disagrees with Herbstreit. This is before the call on the field was reversed. For him to come on the broadcast and say with certainty that he thought it should be overturned shows that there was certainly an argument for it.

Either way, Ohio State fans can remain angry and try to blame the officials all they want, but it’s just not accurate.

The Buckeyes had plenty of chances to win the game and flat-out didn’t. Clemson made the plays to win and absolutely deserved the victory, and no amount of complaining or whining is going to change that.