Getting ready for the Fiesta Bowl has not been as easy this time around for No. 3 Clemson.

The Tigers, who will be making their second appearance in the Fiesta Bowl when they play No. 2 Ohio State on Dec. 28 in Glendale, Arizona, will begin bowl practice later this afternoon. Since beating No. 24 Virginia last Saturday in the ACC Championship Game, it has been a whirlwind for the Clemson coaching staff.

First off, they lost co-offensive coordinator Jeff Scott to South Florida as its new head coach, the first coach to leave the Dabo Swinney staff since the end of the 2016 season. Also, with the early signing period being next Wednesday, they had to hit the road recruiting and have had very little time to game plan for the Buckeyes.

Tyler Grisham, who will replace Scott as the receiver coach on Swinney’s staff, joined Tony Elliott on the road recruiting this week.

What also hurt Clemson, and any coaching staff that was playing in a conference championship game last week, was the fact they lost a whole week to prepare compared to last year. Because of the way the calendar was set up this year—a 14-week regular season—the Tigers have just two weeks to prepare for the Fiesta Bowl as opposed to the three weeks they normally receive.

Of course, this has also affected Ohio State, as well as LSU and Oklahoma in the other College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Peach Bowl.

“All of us coaches are scrambling right now because we basically lost a week of our calendar,” Swinney said Thursday night prior to the College Football Awards Show on ESPN. “Literally, we lost a whole week. (The awards show) was last week the past few years.

“So, it’s kinda is what it is. We all had to adjust because we have had only one week to go recruit, so we have been trying to plan.”

Swinney says the coaches will do more planning earlier in the day and the team will get together for an easy practice this afternoon at the Poe Indoor Practice Facility in Clemson. The Tigers will put back on the pads Saturday.

The Clemson players have spent the last week wrapping up fall classes and taking final exams.

When the Tigers get on the practice field this afternoon, their full focus will turn to the Buckeyes, who are without a doubt the best team Clemson has faced to this point in the season.

“Well, Justin (Fields) is a really dynamic quarterback. He can beat you with his arm or his legs,” Clemson linebacker Isaiah Simmons said to ESPN. “He is a smart guy. So, really, it is going to be the team that makes the least mistakes. Turnover margin is a really big thing. He has only thrown one interception. We take it as a challenge. So, turnovers and whoever can make the least mistakes.”

Ohio State running back J.K. Dobbins says the Buckeyes will have to figure out a way to move the football consistently against a Clemson defense that has been stingy all season.

“They are talented guys. They are a disciplined defense, so it is going to be tough to do anything against them, but we are going to try and figure out some ways to beat them,” he said to ESPN prior to the awards show.

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