{"id":126337,"date":"2019-12-30T05:01:06","date_gmt":"2019-12-30T10:01:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=126337"},"modified":"2019-12-30T05:02:19","modified_gmt":"2019-12-30T10:02:19","slug":"upon-further-review-ohio-st-vs-clemson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2019\/12\/30\/upon-further-review-ohio-st-vs-clemson\/","title":{"rendered":"Upon further review: Ohio St. vs. Clemson"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

SCOTT TRUXELL\/<\/strong>independent sports editor<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Monday Mailbag will return next week and in it\u2019s place, here are some thoughts and observations from Ohio State\u2019s loss to Clemson in the Fiesta Bowl.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These thoughts, in no particular order, may not be popular among Buckeye fans and of course you\u2019re free to agree or disagree. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Targeting<\/em><\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, the second quarter targeting call on Shaun Wade changed the complexion of the game. There\u2019s no doubt about that and Ohio State fans will argue forever that it wasn\u2019t targeting. A case certainly can be made that way, but let\u2019s face it \u2013 if a Clemson defender hit Justin Fields like that, we\u2019d immediately scream targeting and ejection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Personally, I don\u2019t like the fact that a flag wasn\u2019t thrown on the play, yet the replay booth decided to take a second look. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

95 seconds, two scores<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trailing 16-0 late in the second quarter, Clemson scored two touchdowns in a 90 second span, with one of those scores being a 67 yard run by quarterback Trevor Lawrence, which felt like it could be timed with a sun dial. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The point is, that made it whole different ballgame at halftime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Field goals, not touchdowns<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A 16-0 lead seems nice until you realize even a touchdown puts Clemson right back in the game. Ohio State just couldn\u2019t fully capitalize on red zone chances in the first half. In a game like the Fiesta Bowl, against the defending national champions, you need to seize every opportunity. The Buckeyes didn\u2019t do that. It\u2019s that plain and simple.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scoop and score<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m still scratching my head over the reversal of the third quarter scoop and score by Ohio State\u2019s Jordan Fuller. It certainly looked like the Clemson receiver had control of the ball and took three or four steps before it was jarred loose, but apparently the replay crew didn\u2019t see it that way. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The term \u201cfootball move\u201d was used during the discussion about the play. I\u2019ve come to despise that term, because it means no one seems to know what a catch is or isn\u2019t any more. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Either it\u2019s a catch or it\u2019s not and in this case, one can easily make the argument that it was a catch, fumble, recovery and score. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Turnovers<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ohio State had two, Clemson had none. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, you can claim the scoop and score should have stood, but it didn\u2019t. Ohio State still had two turnovers, including one that effectively ended the game. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Final drives<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have to admit, I liked Ohio State\u2019s chances when Clemson started what turned out to be the game winning drive from their own six yard line. Like the rest of Ohio State fans, I watched in horror as the Tigers quickly covered the distance in four plays.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, Ohio State responded by moving downfield quickly, but unlike Clemson, the Buckeyes didn\u2019t finish the drive. Fields and Chris Olave weren\u2019t on the same page and just like that, it was over. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Roughing the punter<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I wasn\u2019t a fan of Ohio State setting up for a punt block in the third quarter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It made no sense. Even if a fair catch was called on the punt, the Buckeyes were likely going to have very good field position. Instead, OSU was flagged for roughing the punter (correct call) and Clemson not only retained possession but scored. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I know \u2013 if the punt was blocked, there\u2019s a chance Ohio State would have recovered inside the five or even in the end zone for a touchdown. Ryan Day would have looked like a genius, but it didn\u2019t happen that way. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Buckeyes gambled when they didn\u2019t have to and lost. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

JK Dobbins<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Obviously JK Dobbins was hurt and it showed. A healthy Dobbins could have been the difference in this one, especially down the stretch. Even while hobbled, he still put together an impressive game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, he had a touchdown catch that was reversed in the first half, but in my mind, the throw wasn\u2019t exactly the best. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tackling<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At times, Ohio State didn\u2019t tackle well. Let me rephrase that \u2013 at key times in the game, especially late, Ohio State didn\u2019t tackle well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Own worst enemy<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking back, the Buckeyes were their own worst enemy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, the officiating was questionable at times, especially the replay booth, but Ohio State didn\u2019t lose because of the officiating. They lost because they made too many mistakes and didn\u2019t make quite enough plays.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ohio State vs. Clemson<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Buckeyes are now 0-4 all time against Clemson \u2013 1978, 2013, 2016 and 2019. I\u2019m really starting not to like the Tigers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you have thoughts on any of the above topics \u2013 agree or disagree \u2013 or about the game in general, feel free to email me at sports@thevwindependent.com<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SCOTT TRUXELL\/independent sports editor The Monday Mailbag will return next week and in it\u2019s place, here are some thoughts and observations from Ohio State\u2019s loss to Clemson in the Fiesta Bowl. These thoughts, in no particular order, may not be popular among Buckeye fans and of course you\u2019re free to agree or disagree. Targeting Yes, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-126337","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-07-10 01:54:15","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126337","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126337"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126337\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=126337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}