Ohio State sophomore quarterback Justin Fields (1) throws an interception in the end zone in the final minute during the Buckeyes’ 29-23 loss to Clemson at the Fiesta Bowl Saturday. Credit: Casey Cascaldo| Managing Editor for Multimedia
The ball in his hands with 43 seconds to go, Justin Fields needed a touchdown to win it.
From 20 yards out, he looked for sophomore wide receiver Chris Olave, who broke outside on the route. Fields threw inside, and it was picked off by Clemson redshirt junior safety Nolan Turner to secure the win for the Tigers.
No. 3 Clemson (14-0) outlasted No. 2 Ohio State (13-1) in a back-and-forth slugfest 29-23 in the College Football Playoff semifinal Saturday at the Fiesta Bowl.
“Tough to go into a locker room with such a great team who played their hearts out and not be able to celebrate a victory,” Ohio State head coach Ryan Day said. “But our guys played hard. Certainly feeling a range of emotions right now: Proud, sad, and certainly angry.”
With the Buckeyes up two points with 3:07 remaining, Clemson and sophomore quarterback Trevor Lawrence got the ball back at their own 6-yard-line.
In a little over a minute, though, junior running back Travis Etienne found the end zone on a pass from Lawrence for a 34-yard score to retake the lead.
A two-point conversion made it 29-23.
Ohio State junior running back J.K. Dobbins’ 142 first half yards helped give the Buckeyes a 16-0 lead into the second quarter, but the momentum swung when redshirt sophomore cornerback Shaun Wade was called for targeting on a Clemson third-and-long.
The call was made on a sack from Wade on helmet-to-helmet contact with Lawrence. He went down after the play, and the penalty resulted in a first down and Wade’s ejection.
A pass interference call on junior cornerback Amir Riep, Wade’s replacement, took Clemson into scoring position, and an 8-yard rush by junior running back Travis Etienne made it 16-7.
“We had all of the momentum,” Day said. “Then when we got the sack, and then the penalty was called on Shaun [Wade]. The momentum swung right there. We thought we really were doing a great job on defense. We had almost 300 yards of offense.”
Dobbins went down with a foot injury after a Buckeye three-and-out, and Lawrence shifted past two Buckeye defenders on a 67-yard scramble for a touchdown to give the Tigers 14 points in 1:35 of game time at the end of the half.
“As far as Lawrence running, not really a huge surprise,” redshirt junior linebacker Tuf Borland said. “We saw that on film, extending plays and being able to find open guys. So credit to them.”
The Buckeye running back, who set Ohio State’s all-time single-season rushing record in the game, came back out for the first possession of the second half, but went down again after the first play and went back to the locker room. He returned later.
The Clemson Tigers took a two-point deficit into halftime, and started the second half with the ball.
A roughing the kicker penalty on Ohio State sophomore cornerback Cameron Brown extended a Clemson drive that started at its own 1-yard-line on the Tigers’ second drive of the half. Two plays later, a 53-yard touchdown from Etienne on a screen play gave Clemson its first lead of the game at 21-16.
The Buckeyes weren’t finished though.
On fourth-and-1 at the Clemson 23-yard-line in the fourth quarter, Ohio State head coach Ryan Day elected to go for it, and Fields hit Olave for a touchdown to retake the lead 23-21.
Ohio State thought it had scored in the third quarter, when senior safety Jordan Fuller returned a touchdown on a scoop-and-score from a Clemson fumble. However, it was overturned for an incomplete pass.
“Even though those things were happening, we were overcoming it,” Day said. “We just kept fighting and kept playing. It was like, Don’t worry about those; just keep playing.”
On the first play of Ohio State’s second drive of the game, Dobbins took a shotgun handoff up the middle, cut left to avoid a defender and galloped 68 yards untouched to the end zone to deliver the first big blow in the heavyweight bout.
He was at it again late in the first quarter, as Dobbins ripped up another 64 yards on third down to give the Buckeyes the ball inside the Clemson 10.
However, a diving touchdown catch by Dobbins on third-and-goal was overturned, and Ohio State settled for its second field goal of the game to take a 13-0 lead in the second.
Sophomore quarterback Justin Fields began the game with six straight completions to six different receivers, but couldn’t connect with sophomore wide receiver Chris Olave on third-and-goal, and Ohio State settled with a field goal to take a 3-0 lead three minutes in.
In the second quarter, Dobbins dropped a screen pass with room to run at the Clemson 16, and the Buckeyes kicked their third field goal of the opening 23 minutes.
Despite outgaining the Tigers 516-417 in total yards, the Buckeyes had eight penalties for 77 yards –– 30 more than Clemson accrued.
Fields, who threw just one interception all season entering the game, finished with two on the night.
“It was the look we wanted. Then Chris [Olave] –– it was basically just a miscommunication,” Fields said. “So that happens in life, and you really can’t do anything about it now. Just have to move on.”
Clemson advances to face LSU in the National Championship Jan. 13.
