NCAABy Kevin McGuire on

Former Ohio State quarterback Cardale Jones spent his New Year’s Eve watching his alma mater and former teammates play in the Fiesta Bowl, which served as a semifinal game in the College Football Playoff. Jones, who led the Buckeyes to a national championship run two seasons ago (some guy named Ezekiel Elliott helped with that, if I recall), was every Ohio State fan Saturday night in voicing his displeasure over how the Buckeyes were playing against ACC champion Clemson.

Ohio State didn’t score on whatever drive was happening when Jones tweeted this, but he didn’t turn the game off. He kept watching.

This was extra funny because a handful of college football media types covering the Fiesta Bowl decided to share an image of all the phones on the sidelines at the game. With Ohio State really looking sluggish all around, Cardale offered up some halftime advice.

As the game went on, and Clemson built an astounding 24-0 lead, there were plenty of criticism directed at Ohio State quarterback J.T. Barrett, the player Cardale once stepped in to replace two years ago and beat out for the starting job last year (before ultimately losing it to Barrett along the way). Jones made sure everybody knew he had his former teammate’s back and suggested the anger be directed somewhere else.

Nothing got better for Ohio State. Clemson took a 31-0 lead after picking off a pass from Barrett in the end zone on a desperation Hail Mary with 10 minutes to play in the fourth quarter. Jones, allegedly, had seen enough and called it a night.

We don’t blame you, Cardale. This was a tough one to swallow for Buckeye fans.

About Kevin McGuire

Contributor to Athlon Sports and The Comeback. Previously contributed to NBCSports.com. Host of the Locked On Nittany Lions Podcast. FWAA member and Philadelphia-area resident.

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