SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Justin Fields is done talking about his sprained left knee. Teammate J.K. Dobbins, however, isn’t.
Two days after the Ohio State quarterback said the knee was only 80-85 percent and it’s “probably not where I want it to be right now,” he declined to address it during Fiesta Bowl media day. He did nod his head when asked if he’s moving around well and said he doesn’t have to adjust his game at all when wearing the brace.
“He looks great, he looks 100 percent to me,” Dobbins, the Buckeyes’ standout running back, said. “Physically, he looks good.”
Fields, slowed by the knee, wasn’t as effective late in the year as a runner, picking up just 26 yards on 18 carries in his last two games. The sophomore was a dangerous rusher this season, averaging 3.8 yards per carry, amassing 471 yards and scoring 10 touchdowns.
Jackson Carman grew up less than two hours away from Columbus, but rather than stay close to home, the former five-star recruit spurned Ohio State for Clemson. Now the left tackle will face the Buckeyes for the first time. He will be important. His job is to help keep defensive end Chase Young, the nation’s leader with 16.5 sacks who is expected to be a top-three NFL draft pick, in check, a matchup Clemson coach Dabo Swinney called “must-see TV.”
“Played a lot last year backing up Mitch Hyatt, but a first-year starter, and I think as good as we’ve ever had and has the potential to be really, really special,” Swinney said of the 6-foot-5, 345-pound Carman. “Got his hands full Saturday, though.”
In 2015, Clemson lost a heartbreaker to Alabama in the title game in Arizona at State Farm Stadium. The next year, back in the desert, the Tigers routed Ohio State in the semifinals. Win or lose, though, Swinney always enjoys coming out to the Fiesta Bowl because of how different it is from where he grew up in Alabama.
“Every time I get on the bus you see the mountains, see the cactus,” Swinney said. “There’s not many cactuses in Alabama. I used to watch Westerns with my dad all the time growing up and that’s what it reminds me of. It feels like you’re in cowboy land or something. It’s pretty cool.”
Twice a week, Ohio State’s Young meditates. It helps him relax.
“It clears my mind,” he said. “I feel like it helps you focus throughout the day.”
