Ohio State QB Justin Fields: "I'll Be Good By Monday Night"
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields is optimistic that his ribcage will hold up on Jan. 11 when the Buckeyes face Alabama in the 2021 College Football Playoff National Title Game in Miami Gardens.
"I'll be good by Monday night," Fields told the media on Thursday afternoon.
The Buckeyes signal caller took a nasty shot to the right side of torso in the second quarter of Ohio State's 49-28 victory over Clemson in the Allstate Sugar Bowl back on Jan. 1.
He went on to pull out a gutsy performance, tossing six touchdowns passes along with 385 passing yards in the upset win.
"I've been watching Justin Fields since he came out of high school," Alabama linebacker Dylan Moses said earlier in the day. "I always had high praise for him. He kind of reminded me of a young Cam Newton or something like that. The dude has a lot of great talent. He can deliver the ball to his receivers, has a strong arm, athletic. He's everything that you want in a quarterback.
"We respect him, and like I said, we're going into the game confident and knowing that this is going to be a great challenge."
However, facing the Crimson Tide isn't new to Fields, who is a native of Kennesaw, Ga.
Fields, now a junior, was a member of the Georgia Bulldogs back in 2018 when it played Alabama in the SEC Championship Game that season. He was a backup to starter Jake Fromm and only entered the contest for two plays, where he threw an incompletion and attempted a fake punt.
The fake-punt attempt came late in the fourth quarter with the game tied at 28 near midfield. Fields took the direct snap and was only able to gain two yards, nine short of the first down, turning the ball over to the Crimson Tide.
Alabama quarterback Jalen Hurts scored a touchdown from 15 yards out on the subsequent drive to secure a 35-28 victory inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
"I don't really hear about it anymore," Fields said of the fake punt. "All I remember is that I went out on the punt. Everybody was yelling my name and the punt didn't go the way we wanted to. That's the only memory that I have from that one play."
Fields finished seventh in the 2020 Heisman Trophy voting after completing 141 of his 192 pass attempts for 1,902 yards and 21 touchdowns with six interceptions. He also has rushed for 316 yards and an additional five scores on 75 carries.
"Obviously he's a great talent," Alabama cornerback Patrick Surtain II said. "He's got a tremendous arm. Like I say, he's a leader on that team. Whatever he does affects the team a lot.
"But we've just got to look at things to do to affect him as far as getting to the quarterback, pressuring him, different disguises in the back end, many different things to look at through the film room."
