For Ohio State to Beat Clemson, Curtis Samuel's Touches Must Be Both Copious and Creative

Though Rutgers finished with a worse record at 2-10 in Chris Ash's first year at the helm, the team Ohio State beat by 67 points in the season opener by far had a more hapless defensive unit. Bowling Green ended Mike Jinks' first season with three straight victories to push its record to 4-8 but allowed more than 464 yards per game. Only 15 teams allowed more per outing in college football during the 2016 season.

Against the Falcons, the man Urban Meyer famously dubbed during fall camp as Ohio State's No. 1 playmaker ran the ball 13 times and caught nine passes. The head coach and offensive coordinator Ed Warinner stressed time and again this season the need for balance within the scheme on Saturday afternoons, stressing it isn't just as simple as shoving the ball into Samuel's arms and saying, "Make it happen, kid."

It is not that elementary and defenses adjusted to take Samuel away but he never reached the 20-offensive touch plateau in Ohio State's final 11 games. The closest he got was at Wisconsin, where he ran it 12 times and caught six passes from J.T. Barrett.

“I am not a coach, I don't demand touches,” the junior H-back said last week at Ohio State Fiesta Bowl Media Day. “I just go out there and make plays and hopefully, the coaches see when I am out there that I am doing a great job and want to put the ball in my hands more.”

Samuel is the ultimate team player. Reporters asked him all season if he felt he should touch the ball more and each time he said he trusted the coaching staff to call the right plays at the right times. He didn't have a reason to believe otherwise and frankly, still doesn't—the Buckeyes are 11-1 and made the College Football Playoff. Their season won't continue if he doesn't play a major in the next game on the schedule, however.

Samuel has 15 touchdowns this season in 12 games—eight rushing and seven receiving. He is the ideal fit for the H-back in Meyer's offense and started returning punts once Dontre Wilson muffed enough to make the head coach change his mind about who should be back there fielding them. Against Clemson in the Fiesta Bowl on Dec. 31, the Buckeyes need every bit of offense they can find in the hope of scoring enough points to keep up with a high-powered Tiger attack.

“The skill set on offense is over the top. They're all NFL players,” Meyer said on Dec. 4 about Clemson's offense. “They have one of the top, maybe the top or top two or three players in America in Deshaun Watson. They go fast. They're creative on offense.”

The Tigers do the same on defense. Coordinated by 2016 Broyles Award winner Brent Venables as the nation's top assistant coach, Clemson has a sterling reputation of using multiple formations and different quirks to neutralize opposing offenses. The defensive line Venables and Dabo Swinney recruited to Clemson is terrific, creating pressure and living in the backfield to the tune of 112 tackles for loss and 46 sacks—those numbers are ranked third and second in college football. Clemson usually opens a series in a Cover 3 Cloud defense, which allows the Tigers to defend the pass while stacking the box to stop the run. Then more nickel coverages come on later downs.

“I'm glad we have this much time so we can spend a lot of time on those multiple defensive looks,” Meyer said.

You already know Samuel is Ohio State's best chance to rip off a huge play that results in a touchdown. He did it multiple times in the regular season, with his longest scores being 79, 74 and 75 yards against Bowling Green, Penn State and Nebraska. Louisville's offense had tremendous success in its 42-36 loss at Clemson on Oct. 1 when Bobby Petrino gave Lamar Jackson multiple options each snap.

Jackson is a special player and won the Heisman Trophy this season after accounting for 51 total touchdowns and more than 4,800 yards of offense. But he was armed with talent at running back in senior Brandon Radcliff (877 yards, six touchdowns) and junior Jeremy Smith (374 yards, eight touchdowns). Neither had that great of a game against the Tigers (combined 120 rushing yards, one touchdown) as the weight fell on Jackson's shoulders to lead the Cardinals to the winner's circle.

Petrino called a bevy of run-pass options for Jackson, who more often than not kept the ball himself and made plays. He ran the ball 31 times and threw it 44—Ohio State doesn't want Barrett to do that, so putting Samuel in situations where he is matched up with a defender 1-on-1 is going to be essential.

The Buckeyes should use Samuel in the backfield more than they ever have before, either with Mike Weber acting as a lead blocker like he did on the final play against Michigan or in read-option looks with Barrett. Giving the quarterback run-pass options with Samuel as the man on the outside is yet another way to get him involved on the outside. Warinner, Meyer and Tim Beck did that brilliantly at Oklahoma and Samuel took one of his carries 36 yards around left end for a touchdown.

When told that Samuel has more receptions this season (65) than any other Ohio State receiver in recent memory, Meyer said the Buckeyes have to change that. Leaning too much on one guy doesn't provide the type of balance he wants.

“In the offseason, we're going to become a good throwing team and spend some time on it,” he said. “We're good now efficiency-wise, but we're going to really start expanding that and work hard at it. I think Curtis is an exceptional receiver.”

Samuel is exceptional at a lot of things. He needs to have plenty of chances to show off his full arsenal of skills against the Tigers for Ohio State to be successful. Other integral parts to how the Buckeyes move the ball—like Mike Weber, the offensive line and Barrett—must step up their play too. It is the College Football Playoff, after all.

But if Ohio State is to put enough points on the board to keep pace with Deshaun Watson and the Tigers, Samuel needs to get plenty of opportunities. That falls on the trio of Meyer, Warinner and Beck to put him in positions to slice up Clemson's defense and gain yards.

“I think we are going to use me the same way that I have been used, some at running back and some at receiver. A little bit of both just to mix it up,” Samuel said. “Can't have the defense key on just one spot. Just put me in positions to get a mismatch out there and I feel like we will be all right.”