Ohio State football’s win was sweet like Sugar

The #3 Ohio State football team beat the #2 Clemson Tigers, 49-28, in the 2021 Allstate Sugar Bowl, the win could not have been sweeter for the Buckeyes, who are now heading to the National Championship for the first time since the 2014 season.

If someone were to tell you in May that the National Championship game would feature Alabama and Ohio State, not a soul would have been in disbelief. In a fair amount of preseason polls, the Buckeyes were ranked second. But after the Big Ten season was delayed until October, the Bucks were pushed out of the AP top-five and had to climb their way back in. Despite being respected in the preseason, as soon as real football started taking place, more and more disrespect poured in for the Buckeyes.

Outside of Columbus, few believed that the Ohio State football team had any chance of winning. Nearly every national media personality picked Clemson to win, and spun the narrative that the Buckeyes would not be able to compete with Trevor Lawrence and the Tigers, many people didn’t even believe OSU belonged in the playoff.

Clemson Head Coach Dabo Swinney, now infamously, ranked the Buckeyes 11th on his coach’s poll ballot following conference championship games. Fans and media alike, all across the country, were saying Ohio State didn’t deserve a spot in the four-team playoff after playing only six games.

“Does that make you 12th?” said Ohio State OL Wyatt Davis from the locker room in an Instagram Live video after the Buckeyes big win.

Many Ohio State football players took to Twitter after the win to poke fun at Dabo’s ridiculous ranking of the team that just beat him. Sevyn Banks, Jonathon Cooper, Ty Hamilton, Noah Potter, and former Buckeyes Chase Young and Parris Campbell all had tweets regarding the #11 ranking.

Dabo Swinney ranking the Buckeyes so low, while in a meaningless coaches poll, undoubtedly sparked a fire for Ohio State and added even more motivation.

“I can tell you, I was told they had the three best practices they’ve had in a long time right after that.” former Ohio State Head Coach Urban Meyer said on Big Ten Network’s postgame show.

Does Dabo Swinney regret his decision to put Ohio State behind the likes of Cincinnati, Iowa State, and Coastal Carolina in his rankings? “No I don’t regret any of that,” said Swinney in his postgame presser. He added he does not think his ballot had anything to do with Ohio State’s motivation, although it clearly did.

Ohio State Head Coach Ryan Day has been relatively calm-mannered leading up to the Sugar Bowl, and while visibly happy, seems to have his focus immediately set on Alabama, saying “Now we’ve got an opportunity to win the whole thing, and then you’ve got an opportunity to write one of the best stories in college football history.”

Justin Fields, like Day, avenged his only career loss. Fields had a legendary game and one that will live forever in Ohio State lore. After getting hit in the ribs mid-way through the second quarter, Fields was in obvious pain and was limited with his mobility.

The stat sheet would never suggest any injury took place, as Justin completed 22-of-28 passes for 385 yards and six touchdowns. Fields had the same number of incompletions as touchdowns. The six touchdowns tie an Ohio State single-game record for most touchdown passes.

Fields has also now secured the second-most passing touchdowns in Ohio State history with 62. He was one touchdown behind Bobby Hoying entering the Sugar Bowl. J.T. Barrett‘s record of 104 touchdowns may never be broken, but for Fields to be in second place after playing just two seasons, one of which has been cut-in-half by a global pandemic, is quite remarkable.

No single player was more affected by last season’s Fiesta Bowl loss than OSU WR Chris Olave. Olave was involved in the game-deciding interception in the final moments of the 2019 Fiesta Bowl. A miscommunication between Fields and Olave led to an interception in the end zone by Clemson’s Nolan Turner.

Olave had to live with that mistake for the entire offseason. Those haunting thoughts can now be pushed away after he played a crucial role in the Sugar Bowl win. Olave had six receptions for 132 yards and two touchdowns. Nothing could have been sweeter for the junior WR, especially considering this was his first game since Dec. 5, after missing the Big Ten Championship game.

Outside of individual revenge, there was plenty of poetic justice in this game for Ohio State. Clemson having a targeting call go against them and a questionable fumble recovery by Ohio State is nearly a mirror-image of last year’s calls going in favor of Clemson.

The 2021 Allstate Sugar Bowl will be a game that will always be remembered by Buckeye faithful. The Ohio State football team avenges one of the most haunting and heartbreaking losses of all-time, prove the doubters wrong, and are one win away from a National Title, all in a season that didn’t seem likely to happen.