← The College Football Belt
Reign #303 · Game 1,554 of 1,634
December 28, 2019 Postseason Neutral site Belt changed hands

Clemson takes the belt, 29–23, at a neutral site over Ohio State.

Home · Defending Holder
Ohio State 23
AT
Away · New Holder
Clemson 29
AI-Written

Recap

Ohio State dominated the early going, with J.K. Dobbins bursting through for a 68-yard touchdown run in the first quarter and the Buckeyes extending their lead to 16-0 with three field goals. Clemson's offense sputtered early, with B.T. Potter missing a 49-yard field goal attempt, but the Tigers suddenly caught fire in the second quarter when Travis Etienne punched in an 8-yard touchdown and Trevor Lawrence ripped off a stunning 67-yard scoring run to cut the deficit to 16-14 at halftime. Clemson's defense tightened in the second half, and Lawrence orchestrated two more touchdown drives in the third and fourth quarters—including a spectacular 53-yard completion to Travis Etienne—to overcome Ohio State's late touchdown pass to Chris Olave and secure the belt with a two-point conversion pass to Tee Higgins with 1:49 remaining.

Written by Claude from the box score and play-by-play on this page — a plain-English recap of the numbers below, not a substitute for them.

Full Box Score

Team stats

CFBD box score
 Ohio StateClemson
Total yards516417
Rushing yards196158
Passing yards320259
First downs2720
3rd down conv.7/185/14
Turnovers20
Penalties–yards8–776–47
Time of possession33:2726:33

Full team box score from CFBD’s /games/teams data. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have team-level stats that far back.

Play By Play

Key plays

CFBD play-by-play
WhenTeamYardsPlay
Q1 12:03Ohio State+21 ydBlake Haubeil 21 yd FG GOOD
Q1 13:09Ohio State+22 ydJustin Fields pass complete to Garrett Wilson for 22 yds to the Clem 5 for a 1ST down
Q1 8:44Clemson+49 ydB.T. Potter 49 yd FG MISSED
Q1 11:16Clemson+21 ydTrevor Lawrence pass complete to Tee Higgins for 21 yds to the OhSt 46 for a 1ST down
Q1 8:35Ohio State+68 ydJ.K. Dobbins run for 68 yds for a TD, (Blake Haubeil KICK)
Q1 7:29Clemson+27 ydTrevor Lawrence pass complete to Diondre Overton for 27 yds to the Clem 49 for a 1ST down
Q2 14:11Ohio State+22 ydBlake Haubeil 22 yd FG GOOD
Q1 0:10Ohio State+64 ydJ.K. Dobbins run for 64 yds to the Clem 8 for a 1ST down
Q2 11:40Ohio State+24 ydJustin Fields pass complete to Austin Mack for 24 yds to the OhSt 45 for a 1ST down
Q2 9:17Ohio State+21 ydJustin Fields run for 21 yds to the Clem 23 for a 1ST down
Q2 7:20Ohio State+33 ydBlake Haubeil 33 yd FG GOOD
Q2 2:45Clemson+8 ydTravis Etienne run for 8 yds for a TD, (B.T. Potter KICK)
Q2 1:10Clemson+67 ydTrevor Lawrence run for 67 yds for a TD, (B.T. Potter KICK)
Q3 13:12Ohio State+22 ydJustin Fields pass complete to K.J. Hill for 22 yds to the OhSt 39 for a 1ST down
Q3 7:54Clemson+53 ydTrevor Lawrence pass complete to Travis Etienne for 53 yds for a TD, (B.T. Potter KICK)
Q3 4:13Ohio State-3 ydJustin Fields pass intercepted Isaiah Simmons return for 3 yds to the Clem 36
Q4 11:46Ohio State+23 ydJustin Fields pass complete to Chris Olave for 23 yds for a TD, (Blake Haubeil KICK)
Q4 2:10Clemson+38 ydTrevor Lawrence pass complete to Amari Rodgers for 38 yds to the OhSt 34 for a 1ST down
Q4 1:49Clemson+34 ydTrevor Lawrence pass complete to Travis Etienne for 34 yds for a TD, (Trevor Lawrence pass to Tee Higgins for Two-Point Conversion)
Q4 0:37Ohio State+0 ydJustin Fields pass intercepted, touchback. Nolan Turner return for no gain

Scoring plays, turnovers, and gains of 20+ yards, pulled from CFBD’s play-by-play. This section only appears for belt games with play-by-play on file (2003 onward).

Box Score

Player stats

CFBD player stats

Passing

PlayerC/ATTYDSAVGTDINT
Justin FieldsOhio State30/463207.012
Trevor LawrenceClemson18/332597.820

Rushing

PlayerCARYDSAVGTDLONG
J.K. DobbinsOhio State181749.7168
Justin FieldsOhio State14130.9021
Master TeagueOhio State791.305
Trevor LawrenceClemson161076.7167
Travis EtienneClemson10363.618
Lyn-J DixonClemson11717.0017
TeamClemson2-2-1.000

Receiving

PlayerRECYDSAVGTDLONG
K.J. HillOhio State66711.2022
Austin MackOhio State6549.0024
Chris OlaveOhio State35016.7123
Garrett WilsonOhio State44711.8022
J.K. DobbinsOhio State6477.8013
Binjimen VictorOhio State33812.7017
Luke FarrellOhio State11111.0011
Jeremy RuckertOhio State166.006
Travis EtienneClemson39832.7253
Justyn RossClemson6477.8016
Amari RodgersClemson13838.0038
Tee HigginsClemson4338.3021
Diondre OvertonClemson23015.0027
Joseph NgataClemson11111.0011
Lyn-J DixonClemson122.002
Show more stats (6 more categories)

Defense

PlayerTOTSOLOSACKSTFLPDQB HURTD
Malik HarrisonOhio State6500.5000
Pete WernerOhio State6200.5000
Jeffrey OkudahOhio State5400200
Jordan FullerOhio State5300000
Josh ProctorOhio State4300000
Davon HamiltonOhio State3211000
Baron BrowningOhio State3211000
Tuf BorlandOhio State3200100
Amir RiepOhio State3100000
Chase YoungOhio State2100010
Zach HarrisonOhio State2100000
Tyler FridayOhio State1111000
Damon ArnetteOhio State1100100
Justin HilliardOhio State1100000
Robert LandersOhio State1101000
Jake HausmannOhio State1100000
Chris OlaveOhio State1100000
Jashon CornellOhio State1000000
Tyreke SmithOhio State1000100
Chad SmithClemson12800.5000
Derion KendrickClemson9801200
James SkalskiClemson950.50.5000
A.J. TerrellClemson6500100
Baylon SpectorClemson5422000
K'Von WallaceClemson5411200
Justin FosterClemson540.51.5000
Tyler DavisClemson4401000
Isaiah SimmonsClemson4300000
Xavier ThomasClemson4101.5000
Tanner MuseClemson3300000
Jordan WilliamsClemson3200000
TeamClemson1100000
Denzel JohnsonClemson1100000
Elijah TurnerClemson1100000
Logan RudolphClemson1100000

Interceptions

PlayerINTYDSTD
Isaiah SimmonsClemson130
Nolan TurnerClemson100

Kick Returns

PlayerNOYDSAVGLONGTD
Travis EtienneClemson11616.0160

Kicking

PlayerFGPCTLONGXPPTS
Blake HaubeilOhio State3/3100.0332/211
B.T. PotterClemson0/10.003/33

Punt Returns

PlayerNOYDSAVGLONGTD
Garrett WilsonOhio State231.520
Amari RodgersClemson231.520
Derion KendrickClemson111.010

Punting

PlayerNOYDSAVGTBIn 20LONG
Drue ChrismanOhio State627245.30353
Will SpiersClemson731444.91553

Full player stats from CFBD’s /games/players data. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have player-level stats that far back.