PHOENIX — Ohio State arrived at Phoenix’s Sky Harbor International Airport ready to work on Sunday. Literally, the Buckeyes went to work.

Second-ranked Ohio State went straight to the practice fields as it gets set to play No. 3 Clemson in the Fiesta Bowl. The Buckeyes and Tigers will play Saturday at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. It will be Ohio State’s third trip to the Fiesta Bowl in the last five years.

“We are all excited to get back out there,” Ohio State offensive lineman Josh Myers said. “It is kind of back to business. I am excited to stretch after such a long flight.”

It is Clemson’s third trip to the Phoenix area, as well, since 2015. The Tigers, the defending national champions, lost to Alabama in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game in 2016 and then beat the Buckeyes, 31-0, in the 2017 Fiesta Bowl a year later on the way to winning the CFP National Championship.

Of course, this is the first trip for Ryan Day to the Fiesta Bowl as the Buckeyes’ head coach.

“This is one of the more prestigious bowls in all of college football,” Day said.

Considering the Big Ten Championship Game was completed on Dec. 7, the Buckeyes, like the Tigers, have not had much time to prepare as they normally would for a bowl game. Being a first-year head coach, Day has had to adjust without the experience of having had to prepare a whole team for a bowl game.

“This is very unique,” he said. “This is a unique time frame in terms of coming off the Big Ten Championship Game and getting ready for this. There is really no precedence for this one because typically, in the past, the plan has always been to roll the younger guys in to get rest for the older guys. Phase two was to kind of game planning the week before, go home for a little break and then come back to phase three, which was at the bowl site. We really did not have time for that.

“This was somewhere between the cross of getting ready for a bowl game and a bye week. We practiced Friday and Saturday and took Sunday off. We went Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday real hard and then gave them three days and then we will practice today. So, I have talked to a lot of people about this. I think it is a really good plan. It keeps them fresh, but also on top of their game.”

Clemson is back in the College Football Playoffs once again. Get the latest official Clemson CFP gear right here!