Clemson football didn’t want it as much as Ohio State and it showed
It’s not too often that you see the Clemson football program out-played and out-willed, but that’s exactly what happened Friday night against Ohio State.
The Tigers took the field and it looked early on as if they were going to stand toe-to-toe and even knock the Buckeyes off their ‘high-horse.’ Unfortunately, those observations quickly vanished as Clemson football turned into a pumpkin after the first quarter.
The Tigers and Buckeyes were tied at 14 apiece heading into the second quarter and that’s as close of a game as we would see the rest of the night. Clemson’s defense simply couldn’t get off the field- compounded with a bad targeting call on James Skalski– and the Tigers were trailing 35-14 at halftime.
Every time Clemson came away with any kind of positive momentum- like a Mike Jones Jr. interception and score by the offense to make it 35-21- Ohio State answered. When the clock finally hit 0:00, it showed an embarrassing 49-28 final.
The truth of the matter is that Ohio State wanted it more than Clemson football, and that’s a sad place to be.
It all starts with Dabo Swinney for Clemson football
We all knew that motivation would be a factor for Ohio State. The Buckeyes have had their game with Clemson football highlighted since they lost to the Tigers back in December of last season.
But what we saw Friday night was a different kind of motivation.
We saw an Ohio State team that was absolutely hellbent on picking up a win and they weren’t going to be denied. When Clemson faced adversity- both offensively and defensively- they folded.
The defense couldn’t get close to getting off the field. The offense couldn’t convert when it needed to most.
Sometimes the football doesn’t bounce your way and that’s fine, but what we saw Friday night was one team that had an edge and came out motivated and completely ready to go with another team that simply wasn’t in the same stratosphere.
Ohio State was more physical, more athletic, more focused and they weren’t going to be denied. You can’t control the bounce of the football, but you can control how you execute and how you choose to face adversity and the Tigers simply didn’t do those things Friday evening.
It’s not a shot at the Clemson football players, who played their hearts out. But it’s just the truth. Ohio State wanted it more and that was the difference more than anything else.