Poll: Who wins the Clemson/Ohio State game?

My thought is Bama beats Washington then I hope for OSU, if Washington actually pulls the upset then I'll pull for Clemson cause I think Bama handles OSU a bit easier.

I have seen both teams in person vs OU. Granted we are a year past the Orange Bowl but Clemson didn't lose much. I wish we could have played TOSU with a healthy Dede Westbrook and Samaje Perine but on that day on Owen Field I thought the Buckeyes were the best visiting team I'd seen since the 1966 ND squad. Very athletic with lots of team speed. Samuel is a game breaker. Barrett had a great game. They run a very similar O to the Tebow/Florida scheme. It's a spread option sort of like the single wing but w/o the misdirection you see from Auburn. I don't think Clemson can run on the Buckeyes like they did in the 2nd half vs OU. TOSU has a great kicking game. their punter flipped the field on us routinely. I like the Buckeyes by 7-10 .

I have to give the edge to OSU because I think Meyer's a better coach. Now if you'll excuse me I think I'll go take a shower.

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Meyer has shown he knows how to acquire great coaches and place them in advantageous positions. He too has a large support staff. With a month to prepare that could be the determining factor. As hot as Deshaun Watson was against us some could say it was the on-side kick that sealed the deal although the use of our TE was a brilliant wrinkle. - so I will go with a hot Watson or a more prepared tOSU. If both teams play their best game I'm gonna go even money.

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on Bama....
Alabama could have it's hands full with any of the three teams it may have to face. We really need a good offensive game plan(and I don't mean razzle dazzle) I get it that Kiffin likes to set up knock out big plays, but sometimes with an inexperienced QB just doing the simple things you do best is a good tactic until you determine if the other team can match up against our defense.

I go back to the 92 squad when Jay Barker was a 1st year starter and threw 2 int's and only 13 yards in the 1st half against Miami in the title game. He became a good QB, very good by 94 but our defense and Miami's overconfidence, a week of partying it up on Bourbon Street, calling our O'line fat and slow got them man handled. Was still one of our most glorious victories. Our will to win and running game behind that fat slow O'line made the difference on offense, but the defense playing lights out made the overall difference.

The 1st game against Washington may be tricky if our guys look ahead. Petersen coached circles around Bob Stoops in the 07 Fiesta Bowl. He has won 3 coach of the year awards and deserved them. (2 Bryant and 1 Dodd) He may not have the talent Alabama does but he's shown over and over he can beat teams with better talent. I'm not familiar with Washington's players, heard they have a good O'line, and very good QB, they're smart and can execute well, Chris Petersen may have a few different wrinkles to show us. (I believe) It wont be enough if we play to our potential but could make for a scary game. I tend to ramble when I get excited.

:BigA:

RollinTider1335 said:

I don't osu winning this one. Unless they play in Columbus where first downs are 9.5 yards for them.


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Haha!

Meyer is a big game coach and I think Ohio State has the better defense. Could go either way with Watson making plays but my money would be on the Buckeyes.

selmaborntidefan said:

Did you also put Michigan above BOTH teams that played for the B1G title?

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Nope. I think the decision in the Big 10 was between Ohio State and whomever won the conference championship game, which leaves Michigan out. The committee made it clear they wanted OSU, which is why they placed them at #2 last week. The only team that could have/would have nudged them out of the playoff would be a conference champion who also beat OSU.

trenda said:

Nope. I think the decision in the Big 10 was between Ohio State and whomever won the conference championship game, which leaves Michigan out. The committee made it clear they wanted OSU, which is why they placed them at #2 last week. The only team that could have/would have nudged them out of the playoff would be a conference champion who also beat OSU.

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Actually, the decision was between 2 conference champs, PSU and Washington. OSU's resume was so much better than either that they were never compared.

This is probably not a "fair" analysis but I've seen both play about the same amount of time and both teams seems to struggle with consistency.

I know both are loaded with elite players, but I will say the Clemson seems to have played better in the games I've seen, but they haven't appeared dominant.

I really think it'll be decided by "who's on" that night. If they both are, it could be a classic.

But if I'm guessing I'd go with Clemson by 7-10 points.

Clemson boat races them 38-17.

Tidewater said:

I'm actually happy OSU made it in for two reasons.
1. My boss (big Buckeye fan) gave me a lot of crap for Bama playing in the 2011 championship: "Bama did not even win their own division." I asked him, "what should the BCS do if the two best teams in the country at the end of the year are in the same division? Select the best and the third best?"

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I went back and looked at the BCS on December 4, 2011.
LSU 1.000
Bama .9419
Okie Lite .9333

Bama had a significantly large advantage, but not a slam-dunk.

Then I read this fellow:
Jason Lisk, "Oklahoma State Versus Alabama, Who You Got?" (For the record, I have no idea who Jason Lisk is)
Here's the money quote:

Overall, Who do I think is better? Alabama, slightly. I don’t think its as large as many claim.

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Anyway, OSU making the play-off is good for Alabama, if for no other reason than it validates the 2011 decision. Yes, head-to-head is important. Yes, conference championships matter. If Penn State had just beaten a 4-loss Pitt team, or not lost to Michigan 49-10, there would have been no debate.

Dabo gets his team up for big games. Clemson will win this one.

B1GTide said:

Actually, the decision was between 2 conference champs, PSU and Washington. OSU's resume was so much better than either that they were never compared.

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My reply was to Selma's question about considering Michigan. In my opinion, the decision on a representative from the Big 10 was between OSU and PSU (due to winning the Big 10). I stated that the committee clearly wanted OSU as evidenced by putting them at #2 last week. If they were going to choose between two Big 10 teams, Michigan would not have been one of the two, as evidenced by the final ranking.

I don't agree with OSU being included over a team that beat them h2h AND won their conf championship. JMO.

That said, OSU-Clemson is a GREAT matchup.


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bamamc1 said:

I wish we had 6 teams in the playoff this year. Would love to have seen Ohio St. v. Michigan with Michigan losing to them again.

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(Rolls eyes...)

And then there would have been a HUGE stink over which teams got the bye.....

IMALOYAL1 said:

Meyer has shown he knows how to acquire great coaches and place them in advantageous positions. He too has a large support staff. With a month to prepare that could be the determining factor. As hot as Deshaun Watson was against us some could say it was the on-side kick that sealed the deal although the use of our TE was a brilliant wrinkle. - so I will go with a hot Watson or a more prepared tOSU. If both teams play their best game I'm gonna go even money.

============================================================================
on Bama....
Alabama could have it's hands full with any of the three teams it may have to face. We really need a good offensive game plan(and I don't mean razzle dazzle) I get it that Kiffin likes to set up knock out big plays, but sometimes with an inexperienced QB just doing the simple things you do best is a good tactic until you determine if the other team can match up against our defense.

I go back to the 92 squad when Jay Barker was a 1st year starter and threw 2 int's and only 13 yards in the 1st half against Miami in the title game. He became a good QB, very good by 94 but our defense and Miami's overconfidence, a week of partying it up on Bourbon Street, calling our O'line fat and slow got them man handled. Was still one of our most glorious victories. Our will to win and running game behind that fat slow O'line made the difference on offense, but the defense playing lights out made the overall difference.

The 1st game against Washington may be tricky if our guys look ahead. Petersen coached circles around Bob Stoops in the 07 Fiesta Bowl. He has won 3 coach of the year awards and deserved them. (2 Bryant and 1 Dodd) He may not have the talent Alabama does but he's shown over and over he can beat teams with better talent. I'm not familiar with Washington's players, heard they have a good O'line, and very good QB, they're smart and can execute well, Chris Petersen may have a few different wrinkles to show us. (I believe) It wont be enough if we play to our potential but could make for a scary game. I tend to ramble when I get excited.

:BigA:

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This is not a particularly difficult skill to master. Bob Stoops might well be the worst football coach who won a truckload of games because he adopted the 'score 30 early and cruise' strategy. He is incapable of making any adjustment in the game whatsoever, which is what separates him from Saban.

Stoops has bungled against Les Miles twice (2001 and 2002), Bill Snyder (2003), Pete Carroll (2004), Peterson (2006), Bill Stewart (2007), Art Briles (2011, 2013), Brian Kelly (2012), and Kevin Sumlin. Only Carroll and Briles the second time can be said to be 'well, they're about even talent and coaching wise.'

So while I think Peterson was the right choice for UW, let's not exactly praise him so timidly there.

(I'm only partly kidding if this comes across as obtuse - Stoops is overrated as a coach if he can't intimidate you with massive points early).

selmaborntidefan said:

(Rolls eyes...)

And then there would have been a HUGE stink over which teams got the bye.....

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As well as the 7, 8 and 9 teams claiming they should have been in. When there are 64 teams, there will be an argument on who is on the bubble and has to go to the Toilet Bowl in a high school stadium somewhere.

Clemson by 14 but it could be worse if DW is clicking on all cylinders like I expect he will. Ohio has not face a player like him all year. Hope he is hyped up for this one and back to the mean against us.

Yea I knew they would win big maybe not quite this big.