DEC. 26TH, 2019–JAN. 1ST, 2020 PHOENIX NEW TIMES NEW TIMES 2019 BOWL GUIDE SPECIAL RETAIL SECTION phoenixnewtimes.com Playstation® Fiesta Bowl December 28th, 6pm MST State Farm Stadium, Glendale, AZ By Kevin Lambert The Matchup Between the two semifinal contests, the battle in the Valley has more juice than the one-sided affair most are predicting in Atlanta. Ohio State’s Ryan Day is undefeated so far in this his first college head-coaching role, but there’s no one better in the country at dirtying clean paper than Clemson coach Dabo Swinney. The one guy who has stood toe to toe with Nick Saban over the last five years is not to impressed by this relative upstart and his unsullied record. Besides, Swinney and his orange crush have one of those, too. Oh, and that gaudy 31-point average margin of victory per game by the Buckeyes? Clemson’s is 32.5. Again, not too impressed. Day was a standout quarterback at the University of New Hampshire, and because of his mentorship under innovative coach Chip Kelly, he brought with him a reputation as an offensive guru when he replaced then OSU coach Urban Meyer. But from the get-go, Day was focused on defense just as much as offense, overhauling the unit and maximizing the abilities of game-wreckers like LB Malik Harrison (69 T, 16 TFL) and National Defensive Player of the Year, junior DE Chase Young (21 TFL, 16.5 S). His equitable approach to the game is reflected by Ohio State’s first-ranked offense and third-ranked defense; devastating balance that is unprecedented at the D-1 level. The Tigers, however—again playing foil to the Buckeyes’ pristine numbers—are a virtual mirror image, boasting the nation’s top- ranked defense and fourth-ranked offense. The theme for Clemson in this year’s CFP seems clear: Been there, done that. Buckeyes Coming into the 2019 season, sportswriters gave historical OSU rival Michigan the preseason nod as favorites to win the Big 10 East. It wasn’t unjustified after all, given a new coach at the helm and a sophomore signal caller who had never started a game, QB Justin Fields (40 TD, 1 INT, 471 yds rushing). Fast forward to December, with Columbus still abuzz from the 56-27 thumping of the Wolverines and the slow-staring-yet-convincing Big 10 title game victory over Wisconsin—not to mention Heisman finalist nods for Fields and Young and a co-Big 10 Coach of the Year honor for Day—and all the ingredients for a scarlet-and-grey team of destiny are in place. 46 Though they led the nation in scoring with 48.7 points per contest, the Buckeyes were more methodical than sensational. Fields was extremely efficient and careful with the ball, completing more than two thirds of his throws and tossing it to the other team only once during the entire campaign. He spread the ball around evenly, keeping defenses guessing and receivers fed, such as sophomore WR Chris Olave (11 TD, 799 yds/g) and senior WR K.J. Hill (10 TD, 569 yds/g). But the workhorses on both sides of the ball, Young and RB J.K. Dobbins (20 TD, 140.7 yds/g) are the lynchpins of OSU’s dominant drive through the ’19 Big 10 season. Widely considered the best player in college football and the prohibitive #1 pick in the 2020 draft, Young had a lot of help behind him, including junior DB Jeff Okudah (3 INT, 7 pass breakups) and senior DB Jordan Fuller (57 T, 2 INT), both First Team Big-10 selections. And paving the way for Dobbins is an O-line that’s a finalist for the Joe Moore Award, given annually to the country’s best unit. The only thing OSU doesn’t have that Clemson does is players with CFP experience under their belt, though that advantage will be moot once the 2nd-quarter whistle blows. Tigers
