Ohio State Football: 5 reasons Buckeyes will win 2017 national title

5. The Buckeyes are looking for redemption

31-0. That was the final score of last year’s Fiesta Bowl matchup against the Clemson Tigers. Anything you could imagine going wrong, did in fact go wrong for the Ohio State Buckeyes.

After falling short of the Big Ten Conference title, the Buckeyes were still selected in the College Football Playoff field as the third seed. Only, they laid an egg in the Fiesta Bowl. Things fell apart quickly for Ohio State and they trailed 17-0 by halftime.

The Ohio State Buckeyes offense was held to nine first downs, 88 rushing yards and 127 passing yards in the game. They also had three turnovers in the game.

It was the Buckeyes worst game of the season and an awful way to go out. That’s why a lot of their veteran players chose to return for their senior years. The players on this team have a lot of bad memories from that; 15 starters from last year’s squad return.

The Ohio State offense struggled a bit down the stretch last season. Clemson’s defense did all it could to expose those flaws and it worked to perfection.

Entering 2017, the Buckeyes will have to continue to improve, especially on offense. They have some young weapons on offense to develop but with running back Mike Weber returning, they should be good to go.