Ohio State Buckeyes: Justin Fields in focus as rematch with Clemson in College Football Playoff draws closer

While there are subplots galore in the Sugar Bowl matchup between No. 2 Clemson and No. 3 Ohio State set for Friday night in New Orleans, the biggest factor in who wins the right to play Alabama or Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff Championship game 10 days later is likely to be how Fields plays.

“I think it is very important of course,” the Ohio State quarterback said. “It is the Playoff. Every team in the country wants to be in the spot that we are in right now. We have to take advantage of this opportunity that we have now and make the most out of it. I know all of my teammates are motivated, and I know all of my teammates are ready to go.”

In less than two full seasons, Fields is 12th on Ohio State’s career passing list with 4,794 yards. He has already tied Joe Germaine for third on Ohio State’s career touchdown pass list with 56, and one more will tie Bobby Hoying for No. 2.

His career completion percentage (68.9) is also No. 2 behind Dwayne Haskins (70%), and Fields is the two-time Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year and was named Big Ten Quarterback of the Year each of the last two seasons.

A five-star recruit in high school, Fields has lived up to the hype for the most part since transferring from Georgia prior to last season.

His physical gifts are on display every play, and he has proven to be far more passer than runner since ascending to the starting job for Ohio State, able to execute a ball-control passing game almost from the start as opposed to many young quarterbacks who lean on their legs until the rest of their game catches up.

Though Fields is 19-1 as a starter at Ohio State, there have been bumps in the road, and two were fairly recent.

He threw three interceptions in the Buckeyes’ toughest game of the regular season, a 42-35 win over Indiana, and Dec. 19 against Northwestern he turned in by far his worst statistical performance.

Fields completed only 12 of 27 passes for 114 yards and two interceptions against the Wildcats, but the Buckeyes got the job done as Trey Sermon ran for a school-record 331 yards.

In between those two games, Fields also happened to turn in a virtuoso performance at Michigan State. In East Lansing on Dec. 5, he threw for 199 yards and two touchdowns while running for another 104 yards and two scores despite playing behind an offensive line missing three starters because of COVID-19 positive tests and/or contact tracing.

What’s next?

Two Big Ten championships are a big part of any quarterback’s legacy, but these days there are bigger things to play for.

Since the national championship became at least somewhat less mythical with the creation of the Bowl Championship Series and then the College Football Playoff, two Ohio State quarterbacks have led their teams to that promised land.

Craig Krenzel willed his team to the top of the heap (with major assists from an opportunistic defense and freshman tailback Maurice Clarett) in the 2002 season when the Buckeyes upset Miami (Fla.) in the Fiesta Bowl for the BCS title.

Twelve years later, Cardale Jones quarterbacked Ohio State to the first CFP title with the help of an opportunistic defense and sophomore running back Ezekiel Elliott (after quarterback J.T. Barrett did yeoman’s work to get the Buckeyes through the regular season 11-1).

Fields enters another CFP with the chance to join them in the ultimate winner’s circle while also having an argument to be called the most talented Ohio State quarterback of all time.

For Ohio State to beat perennial playoff participant Clemson, he’ll likely need to leave little doubt about the latter, which would also go a long way toward erasing the blips against the Wildcats and Hoosiers.

“To be honest, I feel like everything happens for a reason, but what happened in those games and me not playing as well as I wanted to, maybe God was sending me a message that I need to do more and work harder,” Fields said. “So that is kind of how I am looking at it. I am looking at it as a challenge. For this game, I have been preparing my butt off. I have not prepared like this the whole season, so maybe I played the way I did because God was just trying to tell me, for this game, that I need to lock in and prepare for this game.”

Another matchup against Clemson also brings its share of potential for redemption.

Fields threw for 320 yards and a touchdown against the Tigers last season in the Fiesta Bowl, but he also threw a pair of interceptions.

The second turnover, which was a result of receiver Chris Olave breaking off his route rather than running to the middle of the field where Fields expected him to be, sealed Clemson’s 29-23 win in the waning minutes and sent the Tigers to the CFP Championship game rather than the Buckeyes.

“I think he left that field wanting another shot, and now he has another shot,” Ohio State head coach Ryan Day said. “He’s not the only guy that has felt that way. There’s a lot of other guys on our team that felt that way. You would have never thought you were going to make it all the way back here to go play in this game, and the journey was so strange to get here, but here we are.”

Adding another wrinkle to this matchup is Fields’ health.

After being slowed by a knee injury last year against Clemson, he is dealing with a thumb injury this time around.

“I’ll be good to go by Friday night to play,” he said.