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Game Thread 2017 Cotton Bowl: OSU vs. USC - 12/29/17 @ 8:30 ET (ESPN)

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It just goes to show you that there wouldn't be too many football programs around the country if they couldn't get Ohio players.
Put a Dabo of foot-in-mouth repellent on the end of that tongue, William Christopher.
We just have to beat the damned grits out of this team next year in the playoffs. That is mandatory. And, we gotta do it!
 
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You know there is one thing about playing USC that I am really looking forward to...
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Still wondering how she gets that square on her ass so tan.
 
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INSIDE THE BOX: USC'S RUSHING OFFENSE RANKS HIGH BUT OHIO STATE'S DEFENSE MATCHES MORE THAN FAVORABLY AGAINST IT

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Ohio State's path to beating USC may involve Ronald Jones II more than Sam Darnold.

Sam Darnold will be the focal point of strategic discussions about how the underdog Trojans compare with the Buckeyes. Darnold set a Rose Bowl record last year for total offense and led the Pac-12 in passing yards. He could be the No. 1 overall pick the 2018 NFL Draft if he 1) comes out early and 2) is okay playing in Cleveland. He will pose a special challenge to Ohio State's defense given how smart he is at identifying blitzes and beating them.

However, Ohio State's chances may hinge more on the favorable matchup against USC's rushing offense. Simply put, USC's rushing offense is mediocre at best and does not consistently surpass expectations against its opponents. Further, its disappearance in the middle of the season and overall meager showing against what are some dreadful rushing defenses in the Pac-12 should give some optimism to Ohio State fans in advance of the Cotton Bowl on the 29th.

Ronald Jones II effectively is USC's rushing offense. The junior tailback from Texas leads USC's rushing attack with 1,486 yards on the season. This is 58% of all USC's rushing yards in 2017. Further, he averages a respectable 6.14 yards per carry, 123 yards per game, and has 18 of USC's 28 rushing touchdowns. Nationally, he ranks No. 49, No. 9, and No. 5 in those respective categories.

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However, the overall statistics belie a pattern we also observe in USC's team overall this season. Jones started hot against Western Michigan but his production petered from there. The nadir was the Notre Dame loss in which the Irish routed the Trojans by 35 points and held Jones to a season-low 32 rushing yards (i.e. excluding the California game in which he did not play).

Thereafter, Jones caught fire against the two Arizona schools that were next on USC's schedule. However, his performance effectively regressed to the (overall good) mean in the remaining three games.

Jones' per-game rushing yardage is emblematic of USC's rushing offense through the course of the season. The Trojans started hot but disappeared in the middle of the season. This resulted in two losses to Washington State and Notre Dame that ultimately cost the Pac-12 champions a berth in the playoff.

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Sam Darnold is going to occupy a lot of attention from Greg Schiano as the Buckeyes prepare for what will be the second-best passing offense it has seen all season. He should; he's probably the best pro prospect Ohio State has seen at any position all year.

However, Ohio State fans should be excited about the matchup with USC's rushing offense. USC's ground game, led by Ronald Jones II, seems like an an auxiliary part of the offense that puts more emphasis on Sam Darnold. However, USC's struggles in the ground game reliably coincide with USC's mid-season struggles notwithstanding the high-volume passing output from Sam Darnold. Cramping USC's ground game may be the difference in holding USC's overall offense in check.

Fans should be doubly excited in comparing Ohio State's defense to what USC has seen all season. As much as USC has the second-best passing offense Ohio State will have seen all season, the Trojans haven't quite seen a defense like Ohio State all year. It fared poorly against the closest comparisons (Texas, Washington State, Notre Dame).

Entire article: https://www.elevenwarriors.com/ohio...io-states-defense-matches-more-than-favorably
 
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USC COACH CLAY HELTON: OHIO STATE BETTER “BY FAR” THAN ANY TEAM TROJANS HAVE PLAYED

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USC coach Clay Helton expects his team to be in for its toughest test of the season to date when the Trojans play Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl on Friday.

While the Trojans finished with the same record as the Buckeyes (11-2), likewise won their conference championship and have faced three teams this season that finished in the top 18 of the final College Football Playoff rankings, Helton says the Trojans haven’t played any opponent that compares to the No. 5-ranked Buckeyes.

"This will be our biggest challenge of the year," Helton said Saturday during USC’s arrival press conference in Dallas. "It's by far the best team that we have played and, when you watch them on tape, the most complete team. And we look forward to the challenge."

Helton is particularly impressed by what he has seen on film from Ohio State’s offense, which ranks fifth in the nation in scoring offense (42.5 points per game) and sixth in the nation in total offense (523.6 yards per game), led by J.T. Barrett at quarterback, J.K. Dobbins and Mike Weber at running back and the six-man group of Parris Campbell, K.J. Hill, Terry McLaurin, Johnnie Dixon, Binjimen Victor and Austin Mack at wide receiver.

"You look offensively, basically scoring 42 points a game, have an unbelievable quarterback in J.T. ... over 700 yards rushing, 35 touchdown passes, 3,000 yards passing," Helton said. "He's got J.K. behind him, Mike Weber behind him, about six wideouts that are as good as anybody in the country."

Entire article: https://www.elevenwarriors.com/ohio...tter-by-far-than-any-team-trojans-have-played
 
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OHIO STATE RETURNS TO A PRE-NEW YEAR'S EVE BOWL FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE 2004, WHEN THE BUCKEYES TOOK DOWN OKLAHOMA STATE IN THE ALAMO BOWL

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Merry almost Christmas! In this time of cheer, you may be feeling a little low, a little sad about the fact that you aren't prepping for an inevitable Ohio State championship as they steamroll through the playoffs, instead awaiting an (ugh) Cotton Bowl against (double ugh) the USC Trojans.

Okay, that's a little melodramatic. The Cotton Bowl should be reasonably lit, and getting an opportunity to beat USC for the first time since the 1970s is not one anyone should want to miss. Plus, you know, the last chance you'll ever get to see J.T. Barrett in an Ohio State uniform and all that. Big things.

Still, if you're still feeling some tinge of disappointment, let me be your personal Ghost of Christmas Past and take you back to a memory of a December 29th where the Ohio State Buckeyes absolutely boatraced a hotshot coach and a program effectively playing a home game.

First, we need to set the stage. Ohio State's 2004 football season has a lot of importance to me personally, because it's the first year that I allowed myself to become unreasonably emotionally invested in a sports team not named the Cincinnati Reds. I was a sophomore at Ohio State, and something in the universe aligned correctly to give me, in some ways, everything that I could've possibly wanted in a football season.

Not in overall wins or national recognition, of course. The Buckeyes finished the regular season at a pretty weak 7-4, with losses against Northwestern, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Purdue. Keep in mind that this was 2004, so only one of those losses was truly embarrassing, but to even get to seven wins Ohio State had to rely heavily on the leg of Mike Nugent. Nugent, no joke, scored 31 of the 73 total points that Ohio State put on the board in their first three games of the season.

The Buckeyes won all of those games, but probably would've been 1-2 if Nugent hadn't hit on a clutch field goal against Marshall and made five field goals against North Carolina State. Enjoy all of the following 12 pixels that sum up the first half of the 2004 Ohio State football season.

Entire article: https://www.elevenwarriors.com/ohio...nce-2004-when-the-buckeyes-took-down-oklahoma
 
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