COTTON BOWLBOUND OSU WILL SPEND CHRISTMAS IN TEXAS
Bowl practices are taking Buckeyes away fromhome.
COLUMBUS— TheOhioState Buckeyeswill spend Christmas together inTexas. Itwill be day three of their weeklong stay before the Cotton Bowl.
Defensive end Jalyn Holmes plans to make it a special day. Itwill be the fifirst Christmas away fromhome for many of the players. In recent years, the Buckeyes have left for bowl games after the holiday.
“We’re going to do a little Secret Santa,” Holmes said Friday after practice at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center. “We’ll try to have some type of Christmas spirit downthere inDallas. I’ll probably wake up all the young dudes on Christmas morning. I’m going to do something. We’ve got to do something to enjoy each other.”
The Dec. 29 game atAT&T StadiuminArlington, Texas, against No. 8 Southern California (11-2) isnot the best gift No. 5 Ohio State (11-2) could have received this month. It’s not a playoffff game. However, it is a matchup with historic overtones. There are plenty of reasons for the Buckeyes and their fans to be excited about this game. Here are fifive:
1. Last goodbye: Thiswill be the final game at Ohio State for a number of playerswho have played central roles in the fifirst six years of the Urban Meyer era, such as quarterback J.T. Barrett, center Billy Price and a big portion of the defensive line, one of the top position groups in the country. Holmes, afififth-year senior, is one of those players. “It’s all sinking in a little bit,” Holmes said. “This is really the real senior week. This is our lastgame. I’mtrying to enjoy everymoment and not trying to wish away time. Times where I don’t feel like getting up and coming in here, I’ve got to remember next year I won’t be in the Woody.”
2. Last chance: Barrett, the all-time winningest quarterback in Ohio State history, doesn’t havemuch left to prove. He already owns almost every career record in school history.
Onemore victory against
a top-10 team, of course, would add to Barrett’s legacy, especially considering his performance in Ohio State’s last bowl game, a 31- 0 playoffff loss to Clemson a year agointheFiestaBowl. The nagging doubts of fans continue to motivate him.
“A lot of people don’t like me, and they don’t like that it’sme playing theposition,” Barrett said. “They want somebody else doing it. There’s a lot of negativity coming along with the production I’ve had. You can let that weigh on you as a person, or you can embrace it and learn to like people hating you.”
3. Pro prospects: The Cotton Bowl will feature numerous NFL prospects. Leading the groupfromUSC isquarterback SamDarnold, a redshirt sophomore who could be the No. 1 pick if he leaves school. He averages 291.3passingyardsper game and has thrown 26 touchdown passes and 12 interceptions.
USC running back Ronald Jones II, a junior, is another player to watch. He averages 123.8 yards per game and scored 18 touchdowns.
“They have some great skill players,” OhioState linebacker Jerome Baker said. “It’s kind of fun to watch them sling the ball everywhere. Their running back is blazing fast. USC is USC. They’re supposed to be fast, physical and have great athletes. Themain thingwhen I pop on the tape is thatwow factor.”
4. Series history: The Buckeyes and Trojans will meet for the fifirst time since 2009. This will be their eighth meeting in a bowl. All the previous games took place in the Rose Bowl between 1955 and 1985. The Trojans won the last three Rose Bowlmatchups against Ohio State by a total of fifive points (18-17 in 1975; 17-16 in 1980; and 20-17 in 1985).
5. Looking ahead: This game will go a long way toward setting a tone for the 2018 season for Ohio State. A year ago, the loss to Clemson cast a shadow over the offffffffffffseason. A strong performance in the Cotton Bowl could have the opposite effffffffffffect.