Ohio State, Clemson see plenty of themselves in each other

PARADISE VALLEY, Ariz. — To find Urban Meyer on Clemson’s campus, simply don a hardhat and make your way to the Tigers’ new football facility, a gleaming, $55 million base of operations set for its ribbon cutting in late January, shortly before national signing day.

Head to the second floor and turn right to find his words emblazoned on the walls: As the color analyst for the ESPN broadcast of the Tigers’ matchup with Auburn on Sept. 14, 2011, Meyer called Clemson “an exceptional, special place,” quoted remarks that pop even among the facility’s many bells and whistles — including, among other quirks, a putt-putt course, of all things.

It was during that 2011 season that Meyer, in a one-year break from coaching, scoured the country in search of new tricks. In Clemson, he found one prototype for the program he would eventually build at Ohio State.

“I compare programs all the time,” he said. “I like to study winners.”

On offense and on defense, in how the two programs approach social-media tactics, in recruiting and in player development — not to mention how each has found almost unmatched success — Clemson and Ohio State share common traits and themes, similarities that will be on bright display in this week’s Fiesta Bowl.

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The Buckeyes have “a very deep respect” for Clemson, said co-offensive coordinator Ed Warinner. “They’ve done a tremendous job there.”

“We’re always pushing the envelope to grow on offense. We’ll watch film of anyone that’s doing some really cool stuff that we think can tie into what we do. Clemson’s one of those offenses.”

Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery, after all.

“I think there’s a lot of similarities,” said Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables. “There’s more similarities than not.”

Along with Oregon and Auburn, the Tigers’ offensive philosophy is fingerprinted upon Ohio State’s system, most clearly in how the Buckeyes utilize their tight ends. Looking to add a wrinkle to his own offense during his one-year coaching sabbatical, Meyer was struck by how former Clemson offensive coordinator Chad Morris tinkered with the position and has since implemented a similar concept.

Compared to how the position was utilized during Meyer’s stint at Florida, the tight end has become a key tool for creating mismatches. A defense that views one of Ohio State’s tight ends as a wide receiver will be at a disadvantage against the run; an opponent that defends the tight end with a linebacker will be handicapped in the passing game.

On a grander scale, the offensive similarities can be found in tempo, formations and spacing, to a point where replicating the Tigers’ attack during the team’s bowl practices — in theory, if not in action — came easily to Ohio State’s scout-team offense, Warinner said.

“You notice it at practice, when you’re out there and the second offense is going against our defense running Clemson’s stuff,” he said. “You see all the similarities.”

There’s a common mentality on defense: Clemson, like Ohio State, wants to “deny every pass, every pass, deny, deny, every run,” Meyer said.

“Their athletes, their formations, their schemes are obviously a variation of ours, and of other teams,” added Clemson linebacker Ben Boulware.

But the parallels between the two programs run deeper than on-field schematics. Meyer and Ohio State studied and borrowed from Clemson’s approach to social media, Meyer said, because he thought the Tigers did it better than any team in college football.

“Our guys tell me we're No. 1 now,” Meyer said. “We hired a guy just for that reason.”

Both teams recruit at a level nearly unparalleled across the Football Bowl Subdivision. And, three or four years after these prospects arrive on campus, both programs are headliners at the NFL draft: Ohio State had three selections in the top 10 this past spring, for example, and Clemson had four defenders taken among the top 60 picks.

“One after the other after the other Ohio State guy gets taken,” Venables said, “and then to see them back where they are is pretty remarkable.”

Both were forced to reload as a result, and both, in a way, were able to exceed expectations. Ohio State was viewed as too young and too inexperienced to make a run at the national championship; the Buckeyes may be young, and they may have been inexperienced but are nonetheless back in the College Football Playoff. Clemson’s defense was viewed as a potential Achilles heel— and then the Tigers started playing football, and all concerns were forgotten.

And it would be incorrect to assume this is a one-way street, with Ohio State borrowing from Clemson’s blueprint while the Tigers blaze their own path. “We’re all copycats,” said Venables, and Clemson’s no different — with coaches unearthing small patterns over long hours in the film room, including time spent evaluating the Buckeyes’ methodology.

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Given the thread that ties these two powers, it’s only reasonable that each has carved out space atop the heap. Clemson and Ohio State have together lost just eight games since the start of the 2014 season with three conference championships and four College Football Playoff berths, drawing within a whisper of Alabama, the sport’s current gold standard.

So forget about the element of surprise — Ohio State knows what Clemson’s about and vice versa, since each sees a variation on itself in the other. That means the Fiesta Bowl may be determined in simple terms: The winner will simply execute better than the loser.

“There’s definitely similarities,” Boulware said. “But at the end of the day, it’s football. I don’t really worry about the bells and the whistles. They’re going to do what they’ll do. We know that. We’ve got a good idea and a good game plan in place to hopefully slow that down.”

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