The Ohio State Buckeyes and Clemson?Tigers will meet up Saturday night in the Playstation Fiesta Bowl as part of the College Football Playoffs. The game is scheduled for a 7:00 p.m. start time and it will be televised nationally on ESPN. The college football odds for the game have the Buckeyes favored to pick up the win.
College Football Odds
Ohio State -2.5
Total: 58.5 points
Clemson is looking to get back to the national championship game, presumably once again to play Alabama. Last year the Tigers played well in that game but couldn’t overcome the Crimson?Tide offense and eventually lost. Deshaun Watson and the Tigers believe they can win the next two games but it’s going to take a strong effort in this game against the Buckeyes first.
Ohio State head coach?Urban?Meyer is always doing well in bowl games. He’s gone 9-2 in the post season, including a national championship for Ohio State in 2014 and a Fiesta Bowl win last year for the Buckeyes over Notre Dame. This year’s Buckeyes won 11 games but didn’t win their division or conference title. They’re still one of the better teams in the country without a doubt and are looking to pick up a second-consecutive Fiesta Bowl win, something that hasn’t happened since, of course, the Buckeyes did it in 2003 and 2004.
J.T. Barrett, Mike Weber and Curtis Samuel are going to play big roles in the run game for Ohio State. Those guys in space are tough to bring down and Clemson ranked 22nd nationally against the run, they will have to defend it well here. The Tigers need to force Barrett into throwing the football down the field, which is something he struggles with this season.
Clemson is plenty good enough offensively with key guys Wayne Gallman and Mike Williams. With Watson, they can put points on the board in this one and are good enough to win the game outright on the field. This Clemson group has been in this situation recently and will only play better because of that experience.
Free Pick:?Tigers
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