Worley impressed with USC’s tradition
There is plenty of video to be studied by Chris Worley and his Ohio State teammates before the Cotton Bowl on Dec. 29, but they already have a strong mental picture of their opponent, Southern California.
“That’s a traditionally rich program right there, just like Ohio State,” Worley said Sunday after the pairing was announced. “They’ve had some crazy guys come through there.
“And I actually remember the battles when I was younger and just watching them play, watching some of the guys that I know playing in those games. It’s going to be fun.”
USC, which beat Stanford in the Pac-12 championship game last weekend, holds a 13-9-1 advantage in the previous meetings with the Buckeyes, including regular season wins in 2008 and ’09, the last two times they’ve played. The Trojans have won the past seven meetings overall, dating to the Rose Bowl after the 1974 season.
It’s in the Rose where their rivalry gained prominence; OSU holds a 4-3 lead in that category. This will be the first bowl other than the Rose in which the two have met.
Despite the fact they haven’t played since 2009, they know of each other. USC coach Clay Helton said Sunday that because the Trojans play later on the West Coast and often at night, he has been able to watch at least part of several Ohio State games this season, and referred to OSU’s Urban Meyer as “a legend” in the college football world.
The Buckeyes know a little about the Trojans, too, and their standout quarterback Sam Darnold.
“I actually didn’t know who he was until last year when they played Penn State” in the Rose Bowl, Worley said. “Because when you’re on different sides of the country, you don’t really get to see guys play. But my first time actually watching a USC game last year was against Penn State. He lit it up.
Speaking of balance
Helton said one aspect of Ohio State that jumps out immediately is its balance. He was speaking specifically about the offense, but the observation holds true for offense compared to defense, too.
Now that the regular season and conference title game are done, OSU is the only team in the nation that is in the top 10 in total offense (sixth, 523.6-yard average) and total defense (eighth, 292.3).
In a 27-21 win over Wisconsin on Saturday night, the Buckeyes rushed for 238 yards against what was the nation’s No. 1 defense against the run at just over 80 yards per game. Freshman running back J.K. Dobbins was named the game’s MVP after gaining 174 yards on 17 carries to up his season total to an OSU freshman-record 1,364 with one game to play.
The Buckeyes are No. 1 in the Big Ten in total offense; they have gained 3,242 rushing (249.4 average) and 3,565 passing (274.2).
About that rip
Ohio State defensive tackle Dre’Mont Jones has one of the more unusual memories to tell folks about in years to come, the play in the 2017 Big Ten title game in which his legs went under the turf. Digging in to try to stop a touchdown plunge by Wisconsin in the fourth quarter, Jones suddenly found himself trying to dig out — a seam of the artificial turf had ripped in Lucas Oil Stadium.
“I’ve never seen that before,” Jones said. “My legs were caught in the turf. I was thinking, my goodness, I didn’t know what I’d done. I was just trying to stop the run.”
The game was stopped for at least 10 minutes while a turf maintenance man repaired the split.
“So I’ve got tremendous respect for him already. … (I will) continue to watch film on him, but he’s a tremendous talent.”