Fiesta Bowl Features Two Best Pass Defenses In College Football

Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence (20) and Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields (18) have combined to throw 38 touchdowns and zero interceptions over their last six games, but neither of them has faced a pass defense like they are about two see in two weeks when the Buckeyes and the Tigers meet in the Fiesta Bowl.

In fact, if you look at the statistics, there’s a pretty good chance it will be either Ohio State or Clemson at the top of any given pass defense metric.

Generally, one of the most meaningless statistics when it comes to defense is passing yards allowed. Good teams are generally leading their games for most of the way, which then forces opponents to throw the ball more just to catch up. As such, you can have very good defenses who sit in the middle of the pack in passing yards allowed.

LSU, for instance, is No. 56 in the nation in passing yards allowed per game with 221.7.

The interesting part about all of this, however, is that despite their weekly insurmountable leads, Clemson (No. 1 — 138.5 ypg) and Ohio State (No. 2 — 148.1 ypg) are first and second, respectively, in terms of passing yards allowed per game.

So even though opponents are throwing the ball in order to try and catch up, neither defense is allowing anything in the way of leniency even against pass-happy offenses.

Another telling metric is the fact that Clemson (92.81) and Ohio State (93.56) are first and second nationally in pass efficiency defense. In fact, they are the only teams in the nation under 100.

They are also at the top of the heap in terms of yards per pass attempt. Clemson allows 5.33 yards per attempt and Ohio State allows 5.35.

The Tigers have 19 interceptions on the season, which is tied for third in the nation. Ohio State, meanwhile, has 15, which is tied for ninth nationally.

Of course, every pass defense starts up front, and the Buckeyes lead the nation with 51 sacks. The Tigers are a bit further back at 13th nationally.

Clemson’s 50.29 completion percentage allowed is second nationally behind Missouri’s 50.28, while the Ohio State defense is fourth in the nation, allowing 50.55% of the passes against them to be completed.

Sometimes, being at the top of a statistic like pass defense is because teams don’t need to throw it against them because their run defense is a weakness. That is definitely not the case here as both the Buckeyes and the Tigers have top 10 rush defenses this season.

Regardless of the team, completing passes against these two defenses is going to be difficult. Neither team is allowing better than a 50% completion percentage. Attempts usually only net about five yards. And chances are that whatever happens on any given pass attempt won’t be good enough to get the job done.

The respective quarterbacks these defenses will be facing are going to provide the stiffest test of the season. Clemson has not faced a quarterback like Justin Fields, and Ohio State has yet to face a quarterback like Trevor Lawrence.

Lawrence is currently No. 7 in the nation with a pass efficiency of 176.44. Fields is a few spots higher at fourth nationally with a 190.28 mark. Fields’ 40:1 touchdown-to-interception ratio is the best in the nation by a wide margin. He is also third in the nation in touchdown passes.

Lawrence is fifth in the nation with his 34 touchdown passes. He has also tossed eight interceptions, but none of them have happened in the last six games. Fields has gone seven games without throwing an interception.

Having success against these two pass defenses is a lot to ask. Completing something downfield is an even tougher ask.

Clemson’s 64 completions of 10 or more yards is the fewest allowed in the nation. Ohio State is fourth with 76 such completions.

The Tigers are again first when looking at 20-yard completions (20), followed by the Buckeyes at No. 5 with 25.

Clemson almost starts to look human when the ball goes a little further downfield, however. They have allowed 12 30-yard completions in 13 games and six 40-yard completions. Now, neither of those numbers are any worse than 23rd nationally, but it’s more than the Buckeyes have allowed.

The Tigers’ four completions of 50+ yards allowed are four more than Ohio State has allowed this season.

It has been said countless times that games are won upfront and the team that runs the ball better will likely come out on top, but both of these two teams are going to throw the ball, so success there will be instrumental to a win as well.

Let’s not forget that this game just happens to feature the top two quarterbacks of the 2018 recruiting class.

Ohio State head coach Ryan Day likes to say the team that is prepared the best will win. When it comes to facing a top pass defense, the numbers are pretty clear about which quarterback has had more practice against tough pass defenses this season.

Here’s Justin Fields’ numbers combined from his seven games against a top 40 pass efficiency defense: 114-171 (.667) for 1,626 yards (232.3 ypg) with 20 touchdowns and zero interceptions.

Here’s Trevor Lawrence’s numbers from his one game against a top 40 pass efficiency defense (Texas A&M): 24-35 for 268 yards with a touchdown and an interception.

Looking at those numbers, there is no argument about which quarterback has seen better pass defenses this season.

The only argument is whether they’ll be able to handle the one they see three Saturdays from now, because nobody’s been able to yet.