Ad Disclosure
Dabo Swinney complimentary of Ohio State QB Justin Fields: ‘He can do it all’
Published:
While Dabo Swinney hasn’t always been complimentary of Ohio State in the run-up to their CFP matchup, he is very impressed with quarterback Justin Fields.
“He’s a great football player. He’s going to be a top-two pick, top-three pick, I can’t imagine he wouldn’t be,” Swinney told reporters on Monday morning. “He can do it all.”
Fields was having a historic season before a combination of COVID-19 and injuries de-railed his progress. Unfortunately for Fields, he’s coming off arguably the worst game of his career in the Big Ten Championship Game vs. Northwestern.
Fields is evidently battling a thumb injury, but his status for the Sugar Bowl is not in doubt.
Still, his numbers are better than most: 1,521 yards, 20 total touchdowns and five interceptions in six games. He also completed 72.6 percent of his throws and averaged 9.3 yards per attempt.
Swinney did bowl prep on Fields last year, too. These two teams met in the College Football Playoff a year ago, with Clemson winning after Fields threw an interception in the game’s final minutes. Fields threw two interceptions in last year’s semifinal after only throwing one prior all season.
Fields and Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence will be under the microscope in this one. Both are from the Atlanta area and have been viewed as NFL prospects for several years now. So it’s fitting they will face each other on this stage before (likely) closing out their collegiate careers.
Kick off is at 8 p.m. ET on Jan. 1, 2021.
Spenser is the news manager at Saturday Road and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.