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Kirk Herbstreit explains why Ryan Day has an ‘easy job’ of getting Ohio State ready for Clemson

Teddy Rydquist

By Teddy Rydquist

Published:

Set to meet in the Allstate Sugar Bowl at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana on Friday, the matchup between the No. 2 Clemson Tigers and No. 3 Ohio State Buckeyes has generated even more discussion than normal because of Dabo Swinney ranking the Buckeyes 11th in his Coaches Poll ballot.

Swinney’s reasoning was he did not include any team that did not play at least nine games in his top-10, but, during the Monday edition of the Herbie, Pollack & Negandhi podcast, Kirk Herbstreit explained why this makes life easier for Ohio State head coach Ryan Day.

“Ohio State is going to spin it into ‘not only should we have beaten them a year ago and we got jobbed on a few calls, but now their coach is saying we’re the 11th-best team in the country,’” he said.

“Coaches are always looking for a reason to get their team collectively fired up and to get angry and Ryan Day has an easy job this time around to get his team ready.”

While only having met four prior times, the Buckeyes and Tigers have become familiar with another recently, as Friday will be the fourth bowl meeting between the two in the last eight years. Clemson leads the series, 4-0, including College Football Playoff semifinal victories in both 2016 and 2019, each of which came at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.

Friday’s action will kick at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN.

Teddy Rydquist

A graduate of Bowling Green State University, Rydquist has been contributing to Saturday Down South and Saturday Tradition since 2019. He can be found on Twitter @TeddyRydquist.