Ohio State football: Justin Fields doesn’t make excuses for poor title game performance
By John Buhler
Justin Fields will not blame his bad performance in the national title bout on an injury.
Ohio State football star quarterback Justin Fields may have dealt with a hip pointer during Monday night’s National Championship game, but he did not let that serve as any excuse for his poor performance.
“At the end of the day I was able to play and we didn’t get the job done,” said Fields. “So I don’t think my injury had an effect. I mean, of course I could’ve been healthier, but I was healthy enough, and I was able to be out there. We just weren’t able to get the job done.”
Justin Fields’ last game in Ohio State uniform was a dud
With Fields expected to turn pro after his true junior season in Columbus, he played arguably the worst game of his Ohio State career on Monday night. Fields completed only 17-of-33 passes for 194 yards and a touchdown vs. top-seeded Alabama. The Crimson Tide won easily over the Buckeyes 52-24, culminating in head coach Nick Saban’s seventh national championship to date.
Fields projects as the No. 2 player taken in the upcoming 2021 NFL Draft by the New York Jets. Only Clemson Tigers quarterback Trevor Lawrence will come off the board before him, almost certainly to the Jacksonville Jaguars with the top overall selection. It is interesting that these two A-level quarterback prospects grew up miles apart from each other in suburban Atlanta.
Fields may have been banged up on Monday, only 10 days removed from getting speared by Clemson linebacker James Skalski. However, he did say he was health enough to play, but did not do enough under center for the Buckeyes to lead them to their second national title of the College Football Playoff era. We should be thankful Fields was willing to take the title bout loss in stride.
After playing the game of his life vs. Clemson, Fields was unable to recreate it vs. Alabama.
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