The game we've been waiting for all year long is finally here.
This week's Real Pod Wednesdays is all about Friday's College Football Playoff semifinal at the Sugar Bowl, starting with an interview with Brad Senkiw, who covers Clemson for 105.5 The Roar and Clemson SI. We get Brad's insight on why Clemson fans are so confident entering this game, where the Tigers are better and worse than last season and what the biggest areas of concern for the Tigers are entering their matchup with Ohio State.
After that, we embark on a wide-ranging discussion about the game from Ohio State's perspective, including:
- How important this game is for the Buckeyes to remain alongside Clemson and Alabama as one of college football's elite teams (22:00)
- How Ohio State has to play its best football in this game, and what that actually means (28:00)
- Why Ohio State could have the edge in passing offense, rushing offense and rushing defense, and why Clemson's passing offense vs. Ohio State's passing defense could outweigh those three combined (33:40)
- Why Clemson's offense will present a different test than Indiana – and why that might be one Ohio State is better equipped to handle (35:42)
- What to expect from Trey Sermon and Justin Fields against Clemson (51:40)
- Brent Venables' sign-stealing and what Ohio State could do to counteract that (59:30)
- The single most important things Ohio State must do to beat Clemson (1:07:50)
All in all, you get an hour and 20 minutes of Ohio State vs. Clemson talk on this week's Real Pod Wednesdays before we wrap up the show with a brief Three Things We Think on why Ohio State should stop recruiting H-backs, how Kerry Coombs is rolling on the recruiting trail and why it could be important for quarterback recruiting for Justin Fields to change the narrative about Ohio State quarterbacks in the NFL.
Listen to this week's episode of Real Pod Wednesdays in the audio player above or click subscribe to listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or another platform of your choice.
