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We get ready to go into the Fiesta Bowl knowing that Clemson is a really good team but we also know that Clemson played a lot of bad teams. Sure, eight opponents on their schedule (of the Division I - FBS foes) are going to bowl games but I think it is a national consensus that there are too many bowl teams and only one team in the ACC went with just two regular season conference losses, a UVA team that Clemson wiped off the field in the ACC Championship Game.

It is not Clemson's fault that the ACC is horrible. It is not even really Clemson's fault that South Carolina is terrible. That is a yearly game and those deals are in place good, bad or indifferent. Texas A&M was supposed to be better than 7-5, so that was just a matter of catching a team when they were down. Now, playing Wofford on the other hand, we just can't really get behind playing FCS teams. We were not about it when Ohio State would play Youngstown State and we are not about it when another team does it. Don't give us this "keeping dollars in the state" or "providing exposure" argument, that is just a lot of hogwash to try and put lipstick on a pig of a game.

All judging aside, Clemson has had few games against teams with a pulse. The Big Ten was far from perfect this year as well with Northwestern, Maryland and Rutgers all stinking up the joint while Purdue and Nebraska are not exactly exempt from criticism. The one saving grace in the B1G Is that you have to play one more league game and ask 2017 or 2018 Ohio State what that can mean, when you have to crossover one more time.

Clemson faced one top-40 scoring offense (on the FBS level, even Wofford misses the cut in the FCS) all season. That team? Wake Forest, a Demon Deacons team that was without its heart and soul of the offense, receiver Sage Surratt, at that point after he had more than 1,000 receiving yards through nine games. That offense would end up finishing the year only at No. 39 but the drop was noticeable as the Demon Deacon offensive numbers went way down as the team finished the year on a 1-2 streak and eked into a bowl game against Michigan State, another team that is 'offensively challenged'.

Clemson may have the No. 1 scoring defense in the nation but the Tigers have faced three teams in the bottom-30 in scoring offense (Georgia Tech, NC State and South Carolina) as the ACC struggled to put points on the board despite having a collection of the lowest performing scoring defenses in the Power-Five outside of Clemson, of course.

The point is, Clemson did not face many prolific offenses and when it did face a team that could play a little offense, it was just in one phase or the other. North Carolina was the most balanced offense that Clemson faced, in terms of national rankings, with the No. 25 passing offense and the No. 42 rushing offense. While the rankings for Ohio State may be a little skewed with the No. 5 rushing offense against the No. 41 passing offense, Ohio State's No. 1 scoring offense is 16 points higher than anyone that Clemson has faced all season long.

There are plenty of interesting numbers and trends to look at as we get into the first part of our Tale of the Tape.

How will the Ohio State passing offense look in this game? Over the past three games the Buckeyes went up against the No. 38, No. 30 and No. 13 pass efficiency defenses in the nation (Clemson faced exactly one FBS team inside the top-38 in that category) the Buckeyes still went 51-81 for 821 yards with nine touchdowns and zero interceptions (Granted, Justin Fields did not account for 2-3 for 32 yards as Chris Chugunov came in briefly in the Michigan game and Drue Chrisman attempted and completed a pass on a fake punt in the B1GCG). So many questions will be around Fields' knee however, not only as a runner for his chances to gain big yardage on the keeper but also in his ability to protect himself when defenses send more than Ohio State has back to block. Fields has been sacked nine times over the previous three games and since hurting his knee has seen his amount of carries plummet down to a combined 18 for a combined 63 yards and no scores over the past two games. The three weeks off should have him as close to 100-percent as possible and the Buckeyes will need that as Fields has even looked like the knee has even been troublesome in his throwing mechanics as he has not been as sharp as usual with his completion percentage down to 58.9-percent over the last two games but still throwing for seven scores in those games against aforementioned top passing defenses. KJ Hill is now the school record holder for career receptions and does not have that hanging over his head now. With players like Hill, Bin Victor and Austin Mack all set to go through what could be their final collegiate game, it is hard to predict who might be the guy who could become a focal point in the passing game but if we are going off of some recent history, keep an eye on Chris Olave as the guy who could really step up and be an X-factor in this one. This is going to be one of those spots where Clemson's lack of being challenged this season, along with missing quite possible the best receiver in the ACC (that is not currently on the Clemson roster) could really bite Clemson as it is one thing to practice against your own guys, the Buckeyes should have more than enough weapons to keep the Tigers off balance as long as Ohio State is able to keep Fields upright and allow him some time to scan the field.

No team has thrown for 300 yards on Clemson this year and only two have thrown for more than 200 yards on the Tigers this year, most recently with UVA in the ACC Champ Game. The Tigers have played four teams who throw for more yardage than the Buckeyes do per game but no team that is more efficient in the passing game with Ohio State at No. 5 throwing the ball in passing efficiency and the highest opponent the Tigers faced was Louisville at No. 9 and UNC at No. 16 with everyone else outside of the top-30. Ohio State's 47 passing touchdowns is tied for No. 2 in the nation and only trails the 49 by LSU. The highest total by any Clemson opponent is UNC with 35 (The Heels would throw for two touchdowns but were held to just 144 yards with a freshman quarterback). The Tigers have 17 interceptions on the year with Tanner Muse leading the way with four from his free safety position. He is a big body out there at 6-foot-2, 230-pounds and his joined by K'Von Wallace at the strong safety position. Both corners, AJ Terrell and Derion Kendrick are ball hawks and both fit that 6-foot corner role that so many teams are craving these days. Over the course of the last three games, the Tigers have six picks with three coming against a UVA team that threw the ball 48 times after seeing the game get away. Clemson had six games where teams completed fewer than 10 passes, but is that a testament to a solid Clemson defense or just how bad ACC quarterbacks are this year outside of Trevor Lawrence. We think it certainly is a measure of both but the fact that quarterbacking (and overall play) in the ACC has taken a huge step backward is also a strong indicator as Kellen Mond of Texas A&M played relatively well in week two and while the Aggies did not come up with the win, there are plenty of factors outside of the A&M pass offense that led to that.