Ohio State redshirt sophomore receiver K.J. Hill (14) returns a kick in the fourth quarter of the B1G Championship game against Wisconsin on Dec. 2 in Lucas Oil Stadium. Ohio State won 27-21. Credit: Jack Westerheide | Photo Editor
When the College Football Playoff committee announced its four teams that would compete for a national championship and excluded Ohio State, the word “devastated” was used to describe the feeling of the players by both linebacker Chris Worley and head coach Urban Meyer.
But now nearly two weeks after the Buckeyes were left out of the playoff, players are starting to warm up to the idea of traveling to Dallas to play USC in the Cotton Bowl.
Ohio State versus USC is matchup between two of the most decorated college football programs. Even if national title implications are not on the line, the players view the significance of the matchup as motivation enough to push them.
“The intensity [in practice] is high,” H-back K.J. Hill said. “This is a big game. Back far, OSU and USC was a big game, so we are just thankful to be able to play in the bowl game and we have to take this as another shot.”
Success has followed both these programs throughout their respective histories. Ohio State has claimed eight national titles, while USC has taken home 11, though one has since been forfeited. Seven Buckeyes have won the Heisman Trophy, tied for the most in college football, with six Trojans capturing the award. USC’s 80 players taken in the first round of the NFL draft are most in college football. Ohio State’s 77 ranks second.
Seemingly every other statistic will have both teams in the top 10 in college football history. All-time wins, weeks in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll, total NFL draft picks, consensus All-Americans, conference championships — the lists seem to go on and on.
There have been 22 meetings since the teams first met in 1937. Overall, the Trojans hold a 13-9-1 edge over the Buckeyes, including having won each of the last seven meetings. Ohio State and USC have met seven times in Pasadena, California, for the Rose Bowl.
“It’s two iconic programs going at it,” defensive end Nick Bosa said. “I know how that rivalry has been and how there hasn’t been a Rose Bowl matchup in awhile, so we’re doing it in the Cotton Bowl.”
While none of the players on Ohio State’s roster were alive to see any of the matchups in the Rose Bowl, they were alive to see the two teams play one another. The most recent meetings between the two came in a home-and-home in 2008 and 2009. USC won the first, 35-3, in Los Angeles and the second in Columbus, 18-15.
H-back Parris Campbell said he remembers watching both those games since both were around the time he began to dream about playing for Ohio State.
“Honestly, I remember the blowout more because my family were all big Ohio State fans, so you can imagine how that day went,” Campbell said.
The Cotton Bowl might not be one of the two playoff games this season, but a strong case could be made that it is the closest thing to a third playoff game that is out there. Ohio State is the fifth-ranked team in the country and Big Ten champion. USC is the eighth-ranked team and Pac-12 champion.
It is a battle of two of the best teams in the nation and will be the the last chance for many potentially NFL-bound players to showcase themselves in a game before the draft. Because of that, a lot of players are looking at this as a chance to get one last chance to impress scouts.
“Go into every game that way,” redshirt junior wide receiver Johnnie Dixon said. “Just knowing the opportunity is there for big plays, you kind of get a little more excited for that. But just take it one day at a time, get there and do what we supposed to do.”
On the day of the selection, the Buckeyes felt devastated that they would not be holding a national championship trophy at the end of the season. Now having time to look ahead to a tradition-rich matchup, the magnitude of the game is starting to catch up to the players.
It no longer looks like just a consolation prize for missing the playoffs. The tradition, the implications for their respective futures and the caliber of the opponent have helped turn devastation into motivation.
“That’s what we’re made for. That’s what we’re built for. That’s what we dream of,” Campbell said. “So at the end of the day, it’s a big-time game. We’ve got to go win it.”
