The BCS national championship game is a few days away and the last big matchup left is the Orange Bowl game between the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Clemson Tigers and the game starts up at 8:30 pm on ESPN on Friday night and has Urban Meyer looking to end the season on a high note after losing in the Big Ten Championship game to Michigan State and this matchup will be streaming on the WatchESPN website.
The Buckeyes come into the game after not losing in the regular season over the past two years and now they are coming off of a defeat for the first time under head coach Urban Meyer and it could be the last game with both Braxton Miller and Carlos Hyde playing together. Meyer now has the chance to end the season on a high note after the disappointing loss to MSU and the Buckeyes come into the game as one of the most productive offense teams in the nation and Clemson is one school that can score with them, as both teams have strong quarterbacks in Miller and Tajh Boyd.
Ohio State gave up over 300 yards passing to Connor Cook in the Big Ten championship and that could mean trouble against Boyd and Clemson, as they rank in the top part of the nation in passing yards per game and are scoring over 40 per contest. The Ohio State offense puts up over 500 yards per game total and they are deep past players like Miller and Hyde and now these two teams are facing off for the first time since the Gator Bowl back in the late 70s and the Buckeyes are in the game at 12-1, while Clemson is 10-1 on the season and ranked 12th with Ohio State in seventh.
The team is ranked in the top 20 in scoring defense and they started the season 12-0 before losing to MSU and their last regular game of the season was the closest of the year, as they ended up winning by one after the Wolverines went for two after the possible game tying touchdown and that sealed the undefeated regular season. Clemson comes into the game after losing against South Carolina in the final game of the year on the road and the other game the team lost was against Florida State, who of course is in the national championship now.
Clemson opened the season with six straight wins before the terrible loss to Florida State and then the team won their next four before losing in the finale to the Gamecocks. Clemson got into the BCS with the Seminoles taking a spot in the national championship game and they will try to improve to 2-2 against teams in the top 23 this season and coming into the game, Boyd has over 3,400 passing yards and Sammy Watkins has been fantastic as well with 85 catches for 1237 yards and 10 touchdowns and this is likely the last game that the two will play against each other and comes against one of the best teams in the country.
