Sugar Bowl Roster Update: Clemson Still Without Xavier Thomas, Joseph Ngata

Clemson will once again be without one of its top pass-rushing options, but the No. 2 Tigers brought everyone else to New Orleans for Friday's 8:20 p.m. Sugar Bowl against No. 3 Ohio State.

Junior defensive end Xavier Thomas will miss his second consecutive game as he was on the unavailable list before the College Football Playoff semifinal. Thomas sat out the ACC Championship Game against Notre Dame for unknown reasons, and he was again left off the travel roster for undisclosed purposes.

The Tigers' defensive front still produced six sacks against the Irish.

WR Joseph Ngata, who's missed much of the second half of the season after having surgery, will also miss the game. Other Tigers out include DE Jack Brissey, DE Justin Foster, CB Jack McCall, TE Luke Price, WR Justyn Ross, LB Jake Venables and DT Tré Williams.

This is good news for receiver Frank Ladson Jr., who's been limited with a hip injury. He was listed on this week's depth chart, but it remains to be seen how helpful he'll be against the Buckeyes.

Ohio State, meanwhile, is without two starters. Left guard Harry Miller is out after testing positive for COVID-19. Running back Master Teague, who was listed ahead of Trey Sermon in the depth chart, will also miss the game. Teague was injured in the Big Ten Championship Game against Northwestern.

Clemson released its weekly COVID-19 update before the game as well. The athletic department completed 1,909 COVID-19 PCR tests on student-athletes and staff from Dec. 18 to Dec. 31. A total of nine individuals tested positive, eight staff and one student-athlete, or 0.5 percent positive.

Tiger offensive coordinator Tony Elliott is one of the coaches who tested positive and didn't make the trip to New Orleans, leaving QB coach Brandon Streeter to call the plays.

Since June 1, Clemson student-athletes and athletic staff have completed 23,989 COVID-19 PCR tests, with 231 positive results (169 student-athletes, 62 staff), 0.9 percent positive, and no hospitalizations.