2021 Sugar Bowl

2021 Allstate Sugar Bowl
2021 Allstate Sugar Bowl
College Football Playoff Semifinal; 87th Sugar Bowl
Ohio State Buckeyes	Clemson Tigers
(6–0)	(10–1)
Big Ten	ACC
49	28
Head coach: ; Ryan Day	Head coach: ; Dabo Swinney
Date	January 1, 2021
Season	2020
Stadium	Mercedes-Benz Superdome
Location	New Orleans, Louisiana
MVP	Offensive:; Justin Fields (QB, Ohio State); Defensive:; Tuf Borland (LB, Ohio State)
Favorite	Clemson by 7
Referee	David Alvarez (Big 12)
Attendance	3,000
United States TV coverage
Network	ESPN and ESPN Radio
Announcers	ESPN: Chris Fowler (play-by-play); Kirk Herbstreit (analyst); Maria Taylor and Tom Rinaldi (sidelines); ESPN Radio: Sean Kelley and Barrett Jones
Nielsen ratings	(19.15 million viewers)
International TV coverage
Network	ESPN Deportes; ESPN Brasil
Announcers	ESPN Brasil:; Matheus Pinheiro (play-by-play); Weinny Eirado (analyst)
Sugar Bowl
< 2020	2022 (Jan.) >
2 vs. 3 Seed CFP Semifinal Game
< 2019 Fiesta	2021 Orange >

The 2021 Sugar Bowl was a college football bowl game played on January 1, 2021, with kickoff at 8:00 p.m. EST (7:00 p.m. local CST).^[4] The Sugar Bowl was one of two College Football Playoff semifinal games, it featured two of the four teams selected by the College Football Playoff Selection Committee—Ohio State from the Big Ten and Clemson from the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), with the winner advancing to face the winner of the Rose Bowl, Alabama, in the 2021 College Football Playoff National Championship. It was the 87th edition of the Sugar Bowl, and was one of the 2020–21 bowl games concluding the 2020 FBS football season. Sponsored by insurance provider Allstate, the game was officially known as the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Allstate Sugar Bowl.

The game was carried by ESPN, with its lead college football broadcast team of Chris Fowler on play-by-play and Kirk Herbstreit on color commentary. Three days before the game, Herbstreit announced that he had tested positive for COVID-19 and would work the game from his home.^[5]

College Football Playoff

Semifinals			Championship

January 1 – Rose Bowl AT&T Stadium, Arlington^[a]
1	Alabama	31
4	Notre Dame	14	January 11 – National Championship Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens

			1	Alabama	52
January 1 – Sugar Bowl Mercedes-Benz Superdome, New Orleans			3	Ohio State	24
January 1 – Sugar Bowl Mercedes-Benz Superdome, New Orleans
2	Clemson	28
3	Ohio State	49

^ The 2021 Rose Bowl was moved to AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in California.

Teams

The 2021 Sugar Bowl was held between the Clemson Tigers of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and the Ohio State Buckeyes of the Big Ten Conference. The game was a rematch of the 2019 Fiesta Bowl, where Clemson defeated Ohio State to advance to the 2020 National Championship Game. It was the 18th Sugar Bowl featuring a matchup of two teams ranked in the top 5.^[6] The teams were announced by College Football Playoff selection committee on December 20, 2020.^[7]

Only 3,000 ticketed spectators were permitted because of the coronavirus pandemic.^[8] There were 728 tickets for family members of Ohio State players and coaches, 728 tickets for family members of Clemson players and coaches. The remaining 1,544 tickets were for sponsors, business partners, and local Sugar Bowl season ticket holders.^[8]

Clemson Tigers

Clemson entered the game with a record of 10–1 (8–1 ACC) after defeating Notre Dame in the 2020 ACC Championship. Clemson's only loss was to Notre Dame earlier in the season, a double-overtime loss in a game the Tigers played without starting quarterback Trevor Lawrence.^[9] Other than Notre Dame, Clemson's only win over a ranked team came against Miami (FL). The Tigers were ranked No. 2 entering the game.

Ohio State Buckeyes

Ohio State entered the game with a record of 6–0 (5–0 Big Ten) after defeating Northwestern in the 2020 Big Ten Championship. In addition to Northwestern, Ohio State defeated two ranked teams during the season, Penn State and Indiana. The Buckeyes were ranked No. 3 entering the game.

Game summary

Scoring summary

College Football Playoff Semifinal at the 2021 Allstate Sugar Bowl

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 3 Ohio State	14	21	7	7	49
No. 2 Clemson	14	0	7	7	28

at Mercedes-Benz Superdome • New Orleans, Louisiana

Date: Friday, January 1, 2021
Game time: 8:00 p.m. EST (7:00 p.m. CST)
Game weather: n/a (game played indoors)
Game attendance: 3,000
Referee: David Alvarez (Big 12)
TV announcers (ESPN): Chris Fowler (play-by-play), Kirk Herbstreit (analyst), Maria Taylor and Tom Rinaldi (sidelines)
ESPN game summary

Game information

First quarter

(12:10) CLEM – Trevor Lawrence 2 yard rush, B.T. Potter kick (Drive: 8 plays, 82 yards, 2:50; Clemson 7–0)
(7:59) OSU – Trey Sermon 32 yard rush, Blake Haubeil kick (Drive: 3 plays, 77 yards, 1:12; Tied 7–7)
(5:01) CLEM – Travis Etienne 3 yard rush, B.T. Potter kick (Drive: 7 plays, 75 yards, 2:58; Clemson 14–7)
(1:36) OSU – Luke Farrell 8 yard pass from Justin Fields, Blake Haubeil kick (Drive: 6 plays, 75 yards, 3:25; Tied 14–14)

Second quarter

(10:35) OSU – Jeremy Ruckert 17 yard pass from Justin Fields, Blake Haubeil kick (Drive: 9 plays, 84 yards, 4:16; Ohio State 21–14)
(5:12) OSU – Chris Olave 9 yard pass from Justin Fields, Blake Haubeil kick (Drive: 9 plays, 75 yards, 4:25; Ohio State 28–14)
(0:11) OSU — Jeremy Ruckert 12 yard pass from Justin Fields, Blake Haubeil kick (Drive: 12 plays, 80 yards, 3:09; Ohio State 35–14)

Third quarter

(7:56) CLEM – Cornell Powell 10 yard pass from Trevor Lawrence, B.T. Potter kick (Drive: 9 plays, 80 yards, 3:49; Ohio State 35–21)
(4:55) OSU – Chris Olave 56 yard pass from Justin Fields, Blake Haubeil kick (Drive: 7 plays, 91 yards, 3:00; Ohio State 42–21)

Fourth quarter

(14:03) OSU – Jameson Williams 45 yard pass from Justin Fields, Blake Haubeil kick (Drive: 2 plays, 59 yards, 0:49; Ohio State 49–21)
(10:42) CLEM – Cornell Powell 26 yard pass from Trevor Lawrence, B.T. Potter kick (Drive: 10 plays, 75 yards, 3:21; Ohio State 49–28)

Statistics

Statistics	OSU	CLEM
First downs	26	23
Plays–yards	72–639	70–444
Rushes–yards	44–254	22–44
Passing yards	385	400
Passing: comp–att–int	22–28–1	33–48–1
Time of possession	34:05	25:55

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Ohio State	Passing	Justin Fields	22/28, 385 yards, 6 TD, 1 INT
	Rushing	Trey Sermon	31 carries, 193 yards, 1 TD
	Receiving	Chris Olave	6 receptions, 132 yards, 2 TD
Clemson	Passing	Trevor Lawrence	33/48, 400 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT
	Rushing	Travis Etienne	10 carries, 32 yards, 1 TD
	Receiving	Cornell Powell	8 receptions, 139 yards, 2 TD

Trivia

This was the first time the Buckeyes beat the Tigers, after four previous attempts.

References

^ "Ohio State-Clemson odds". Oddsshark. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
^ Austro, Ben (December 23, 2020). "2020-21 bowl officiating assignments". footballzebras.com. Retrieved December 30, 2020.
^ "CFP semis hit New Year's Day low, but top non-NFL events in year". www.sportsmediawatch.com. Sports Media Watch. January 5, 2021. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
^ "College Football Bowl Schedule | 2020". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved September 16, 2020.
^ "ESPN star Kirk Herbstreit to call Clemson-Ohio State from home after getting COVID". New York Post. December 29, 2020. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
^ Team, WDSU Digital (December 20, 2020). "Clemson and Ohio State to Meet in College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Allstate Sugar Bowl". WDSU. Retrieved December 20, 2020.
^ Dinich, Heather (August 5, 2020). "College Football Playoff selection committee moves final ranking release to Dec. 20 from Dec. 6". ESPN.com. Retrieved December 6, 2020.
^ ^a ^b Rowland, Kyle - Sugar Bowl among the most expensive college football games ever. Toledo Blade, December 29, 2020.
^ Selbe, Nick (November 8, 2020). "Ian Book, Notre Dame Outlast No. 1 Clemson, D.J. Uiagalelei in Double-Overtime Victory". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved December 19, 2020.

External links

Game statistics at statbroadcast.com

[6] The 2021 Rose Bowl was moved to AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in California.

[1] "Ohio State-Clemson odds". Oddsshark. Retrieved January 1, 2021.

[2] Austro, Ben (December 23, 2020). "2020-21 bowl officiating assignments". footballzebras.com. Retrieved December 30, 2020.

[3] "CFP semis hit New Year's Day low, but top non-NFL events in year". www.sportsmediawatch.com. Sports Media Watch. January 5, 2021. Retrieved January 6, 2021.

[4] "College Football Bowl Schedule | 2020". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved September 16, 2020.

[5] "ESPN star Kirk Herbstreit to call Clemson-Ohio State from home after getting COVID". New York Post. December 29, 2020. Retrieved December 29, 2020.

[7] Team, WDSU Digital (December 20, 2020). "Clemson and Ohio State to Meet in College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Allstate Sugar Bowl". WDSU. Retrieved December 20, 2020.

[8] Dinich, Heather (August 5, 2020). "College Football Playoff selection committee moves final ranking release to Dec. 20 from Dec. 6". ESPN.com. Retrieved December 6, 2020.

[tix-9] Rowland, Kyle - Sugar Bowl among the most expensive college football games ever. Toledo Blade, December 29, 2020.

[10] Selbe, Nick (November 8, 2020). "Ian Book, Notre Dame Outlast No. 1 Clemson, D.J. Uiagalelei in Double-Overtime Victory". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved December 19, 2020.

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v t e 2020–21 NCAA football bowl game season
Myrtle Beach (Dec. 21) Famous Idaho Potato (Dec. 22) Boca Raton (Dec. 22) New Orleans (Dec. 23) Montgomery (Dec. 23) New Mexico (Dec. 24) Camellia (Dec. 25) Cure (Dec. 26) First Responder (Dec. 26) LendingTree (Dec. 26) Cheez-It (Dec. 29) Alamo (Dec. 29) Duke's Mayo (Dec. 30) Cotton (Dec. 30) Armed Forces (Dec. 31) Liberty (Dec. 31) Arizona (Dec. 31) Peach (Jan. 1) Citrus (Jan. 1) Gator (Jan. 2) Outback (Jan. 2) Fiesta (Jan. 2) Orange (Jan. 2)
College Football Playoff games: Rose (Jan. 1) Sugar (Jan. 1) National Championship Game (Jan. 11)
All-Star Games Senior Bowl (Jan. 30) Hula Bowl (Jan. 31)

v t e Sugar Bowl
History & conference tie-ins	History Tulane Stadium Georgia Dome Caesars Superdome College Football Playoff New Year's Six Southeastern Conference Big 12 Conference
Games	1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 (Jan) 1972 (Dec) 1973 1974 1975 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 (Jan) 1995 (Dec) 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 (Jan) 2022 (Dec) 2024 2025
Notes	The 2006 game took place in Atlanta, Georgia due to Hurricane Katrina. The game was also the national title game for either the Bowl Coalition, Bowl Alliance, or Bowl Championship Series in 1993, 1997, 2000, and 2004. There was a Sugar Bowl in January and December in 1972, 1995 and 2022. The game was a College Football Playoff semifinal in its 2015, 2018, 2021, and 2024 editions.