Hello Clemson, My Old Friend. Hopefully We Get A Fairly Officiated Game This Time

Ohio State is 0-4 all time vs Clemson. And they've all been embarrassing. We had the 1978 game where Woody Hayes punched a player. We had the 40-35 loss in the Orange Bowl in 2013 where Sammy Watkins set a record with 227 receiving yards. We had the 31-0 blowout loss in the 2016 Fiesta Bowl. And we had the 29-23 highway robbery loss* in the semifinal last year. Let's be clear: this is not the team I wanted to see in the first round of the playoff. Would've rather had Bama, honestly. At least instead of playing a team that owns us, we'd be playing a team that we own.

But it's Clemson. They gave us Clemson. And like I've been trying to remind all of you illiterate bums this entire season, Ohio State plays the team that they are told to play. The Big Ten made our schedule, we played it. We won every game we played. And I honestly don't see why this one is going to go any differently.

Is Clemson better than Northwestern? Yeah, probably. But the Buckeyes have been winning convincingly while playing completely short-handed. 22 players and coaches here, 14 scholarship athletes there. Haven't had our full team in weeks. Had 3 games cancelled. Only two spring practices. It has not been easy for us. But now I think it's all about to come together. I fully expect the Big Ten to change their protocol to make the Buckeyes at full strength, and I fully expect Gene Smith to build a million dollar makeshift bubble on campus with the finest and cleanest air in the midwest. The Buckeyes are going to be ready to go on January 1st. And like Ryan Day said, if he got one team to play ANYBODY in the country for one game, he'd choose these Buckeyes. Me too.

The only question is, are we going to get some fair and unbiased officiating this year? 

Everyone knows that was the deciding factor last season when we technically, if you look at the scoreboard, lost to Clemson in the playoff. Tip of the cap to referees, though. They played their asses off all night. In the two biggest moments of the game, they came up clutch and absolutely screwed the Buckeyes. Starting with when Ohio State was up 16-0 and forced a punt, only to make an outrageous targeting call and eject Shaun Wade from the game.

Most influential call in college football history? Then, in perhaps the worst use of replay in the history of the camera, they completely changed the outcome of the game for the second time when they overruled a clear fumble for touchdown.

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It's a shame the refs couldn't let that game be handled on the field. The better team lost. The better team was on it's way to a blowout victory, and the referees took matters into their own hands. Congrats to Clemson though as well as the men in stripes, huge win. 

I'm excited to see the rematch this year. Can we just get a fairly called game?