COLUMBUS – For the second time in three years, Ohio State will play in a College Football Playoff semifinal game, taking on the Clemson Tigers in the Fiesta Bowl on Saturday night.
Fiesta Bowl/2016 CFP semifinal: (3) OSU (11-1) vs. (2) Clemson (12-1), Sat. Dec. 31, 7:00 p.m./ESPN, Univ. of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, Ariz.
The winner advances to play the winner of the earlier semi between top-ranked Alabama and No. 4 Washington.
The road to the top four has not been without its speed bumps: A loss to underdog Penn State that cost Ohio State a shot at the Big Ten title, road wins at Oklahoma, Wisconsin and Michigan State before the season-ending double-overtime victory over arch-rival Michigan.
“We knew that we were young and we were going to have to get a lot of experience pretty fast and I think that’s what the road games helped us with and also losing to Penn State helped in that as well,” quarterback J.T. Barrett said.
The Buckeyes are three-point favorites over the Tigers, but have never beat Clemson. Ohio State lost to the Tigers in the 1978 Gator Bowl, which proved to be legendary coach Woody Hayes’s last game after he struck a Clemson player on the field. Clemson also bested the Buckeyes, 40-35, at the 2014 Orange Bowl, the year before Ohio State won the first College Football Playoff championship.