Greeneview vs. Triad
Beavercreek vs. Springboro boys
2012 HomeWorld
Home > Blogs > Buckeyes Beat > Archives > 2009 > September > 10 > Entry
Odds and Ends: Helping you understand Ohio State-USC
Consider this …
— USC tailback Joe McKnight can run the 100 meters in 10.4 seconds (he was Louisiana state champ in 2006 and second in 2007). Taylor Mays, the superb safety, has run a 4.25 seconds in the 40-yard dash. Those are two seriously fast people to watch.
— The Buckeyes have caught plenty of grief for their performance in night games. Under Jim Tressel, OSU is 2-2 in home night games and 14-9 overall in night games (the USC game is set to kick off shortly after 8 p.m.).
— During Pete Carroll’s nine seasons at USC, he has played 91 first-year freshmen. Ninety-one. That includes five already this season. Of course, Buckeyes fans are really only concerned about on Saturday, quarterback Matt Barkley.
— Under Tressel, Ohio State is 24-1 at home against non-conference teams. Bad news, though. The only loss came against another Top 10 team, No. 2 Texas in 2005 (25-22). Anyone else still think Justin Zwick would’ve been the starter for the year if Troy Smith hadn’t entered the game and screwed everything up? But, it worked out OK. Just not that night.
— Of the 15 losses USC has suffered under Carroll, 14 have come by a touchdown or less. The other was a margin of 11 points. Close games are no stranger here.
— Tressel’s teams have gone 51-6 at home, 32-12 against the Top 25 and 8-7 against the Top 10.
— There have been 11 opposing runners to gain at least 100 yards against USC in the past 87 games. Carroll, meanwhile, is 52-2 when his teams hold opponents to 300 yards or less. Keep that number in mind.
— Carroll is 6-0 against the Big Ten.
— Facing that kind of rushing defense, Ohio State will need some passing success against USC. Remember OSU quarterback Terrelle Pryor’s best passing game: 16-of-25 for 226 yards against Penn State, another very strong defense. I’m just saying, it’s possible.
— If you’re an OSU fan, don’t feel too great about a halftime lead. In Carroll’s tenure, USC has outscored opponents 1,860 to 809 in the second half.
Permalink | Comments (3) | Post your comment |
Comments
By Dan Wigginton
September 11, 2009 10:31 AM | Link to this
The only thing I remember outstanding about the 05 Texas game is Hamby’s dropping the game clinching TD pass. Anderson Russell just plays to get Cosby on the ground last year and OSU could have and should have won all three games against Texas!
By UrbanDweller
September 11, 2009 11:50 AM | Link to this
If Tressel sticks to playing ONE QB, Pryor,they have a chance. We all know what a debacle last year’s flip-flopping of QBs was to the OSU/USC game.
By deuce
September 11, 2009 4:12 PM | Link to this
They need their old shiny silver uni-pants back…the ones they wore in 2002 and I don’t think they have worn them since. Call me supersticious, but why change a good thing.