Ryan Day was upset with a targeting call on Shaun Wade late in the first half of Saturday’s Fiesta Bowl playoff game between his Ohio State Buckeyes and the Clemson Tigers.
Clemson had a 3rd-and-5 with just under five minutes remaining in the half, down 16-0 to Ohio State. Trevor Lawrence got sacked on the play for a 10-yard loss, which would have made it 4th-and-15, forcing a likely punt. Instead, Shaun Wade was called for targeting and ejected.
Trevor Lawrence was slow to get up after this hit from Shaun Wade and Chase Young.
Wade was called for targeting and ejected. #CFBPlayoff pic.twitter.com/YXJIqTnUqY
— ESPN (@espn) December 29, 2019
The targeting call gave Clemson 15 yards and a first down, placing them at Ohio State’s 30. They ended up scoring a touchdown on the possession for their first points of the game. They followed that up with a stop and second touchdown, making it 16-14.
“You talk about a change of events when they threw Shaun out of the game. I have not seen that,” Day said in his halftime interview. “You talk about a change of the game — he’s out of the game, it’s 4th-and-15. They get the first down and score, that was a huge change. But that’s behind us.”
Day may have said the play was behind them, but he sure focused on it in his interview. He and Buckeyes fans have every reason to be upset — if Trevor Lawrence doesn’t duck, that’s not a helmet-to-helmet hit.
