Clemson’s second straight trip to the College Football Playoff begins on Saturday, when the second-ranked Tigers take on third-ranked Ohio State. Here are five noteworthy numbers to consider in the matchup with the Buckeyes.
7: Combined margin of Clemson’s two all-time wins against Ohio State. The infamous 1978 game, where Woody Hayes punched Charlie Bauman, ended with a 17-15 Clemson victory in the Gator Bowl. It was Hayes’ final game with the Buckeyes and Danny Ford’s first with the Tigers. Then, three seasons ago, the two schools met in the Orange Bowl. Clemson prevailed, 45-40, as the Tajh Boyd-led Tigers outdueled Braxton Miller and the Buckeyes. This means Clemson has a 2-0 record all-time against Ohio State with both victories coming against Hall of Fame-caliber coaches in Hayes and Meyer. Ford’s place in Clemson’s coaching hierarchy is secure. Swinney could add another notch in his belt with a second straight win over Meyer.
46: Sacks for Clemson’s defense this season. That number is tied for third-most in the country. The Tigers have done a good job of ramping up the pressure on opposing quarterbacks in the biggest moments of the season, combining for 11 sacks against Louisville and Florida State. Meanwhile, Ohio State has struggled to protect the quarterback against similar pass rushes to Clemson’s. The team tied for Clemson in third place is Michigan. The Wolverines sacked J.T. Barrett eight times in November. Penn State is tied for 15th with 39 sacks, and the Nittany Lions sacked Barrett six times. This could be a major storyline to watch.
46.2: Punting average for Ohio State’s Cameron Johnston. He leads the Big Ten and ranks fourth in the nation with that average. Johnston has been a vital weapon for the Buckeyes in games where the offense has sputtered. He can control field position for Meyer’s team. On the other side, Andy Teasdall has struggled for the Tigers. He is averaging only 37.7 yards per punt, 13th-best in the ACC. That’s a difference of 8.5 yards per punt between the two. In a field position game, such a gap could make a huge difference.
63.6: Percentage of total snaps that end up in the hands of Ohio State’s “big three” on offense. Those three are quarterback J.T. Barrett, tailback Mike Weber, and wide receiver Curtis Samuel. They’ve combined for 84.6 percent of the Buckeyes’ rushing yards, 34.2 percent of the receiving yards, and half of the team’s 66 touchdowns. Ohio State leans on those three players an exorbitant amount, even more than Clemson does with its trio of Watson, Gallman, and Williams. The X-factor in the game might be Samuel, who has more than 800 receiving and 700 rushing yards this season. He will get the ball from the slot, in the backfield, or out wide. Clemson will need to cover him creatively because Meyer often schemes to isolate him in a favorable matchup.
154: Deshaun Watson’s passing efficiency. That’s just a bit behind his number of 156.3 from a season ago. Still, Watson’s performance does not seem to be in question against the Buckeyes. The assumption is that Clemson’s quarterback will have another stunning performance, just as he did a year ago in the College Football Playoff. The questions surround Barrett, whose passing efficiency is 140.8—dead last among the quarterbacks in the CFP. His number is buoyed by a stellar touchdown-to-interception ratio, but he suffers from a low yards-per-attempt average. The downfield passing element is spotty with Barrett. How he navigates that deficiency will be important.