Ohio State’s long history of Rose Bowl matchups against USC has been a hot topic in the leadup to this week’s Cotton Bowl, but a more recent appearance in Pasadena by the Trojans may be a bigger indication how Friday’s game could go.
The Buckeyes weren’t the only team to overcome a double-digit fourth quarter deficit to shock Penn State in 2017. The Trojans scored the final 17 points of the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day to win 52-49 on a last-play field goal.
That game, one of the greatest in the legendary history of the Rose Bowl, was as unusual as it was exciting. USC outscored the Lions 13-0 in the first quarter and 17-0 in the fourth, which was just barely enough to overcome a 49-22 Penn State landslide in the middle two quarters.
USC defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast said Tuesday that there were lessons to be learned from that shootout.
“In the third quarter where on the very first play of the second half, we missed six tackles. We had guys on the block that should have made the play. The back made a great run, cut back against the grain and obviously scored,” Pendergast said.
“The very next series, they threw a ball up and Iman Marshall tips it and catches it and runs it for a touchdown. So it was a quick strike, scores. And there was a turnover. So there was a lot of ups and downs in that game,” he said.
Both the Trojans and Buckeyes bring explosive offenses into the Cotton Bowl, so another postseason shootout is a definite possibility. That may be even more true since Pendergast said the 2017 Ohio State offense was similar to those Lions.
“Last year they actually reminded me of Penn State a lot that we played in the Rose Bowl,” he said.
He drew another parallel to a team whose offense Buckeye fans are familiar with, the Texas Longhorns under head coach Tom Herman. Herman, of course, served as offensive coordinator under Urban Meyer at Ohio State from 2012-2014. USC faced UT back in September, pulling out a 27-24 overtime win.
“A lot like Texas that we played earlier in the year,” Pendergast said. “Very similar in their concepts and the running game and passing game.”
He felt the Trojans’ experience against teams that run their quarterback like the Nittany Lions and Longhorns would be a big asset in preparing to defend J.T. Barrett and the Buckeyes.
“I just think when you play teams that play with 11-on-11 offense, the more those kind of teams that you play, the more your guys are going to be familiar with how to defend them. So playing with very good eye control is going to be important,” Pendergast said.
Even so, Pendergast said there’s reason to think Friday night’s game could end up a high-scoring affair.
“There always seems like a lot of points scored in bowl games. And I think a lot of that is because defensively teams take a three-, four-, five-week break from not seeing the speed of the game weekly, not like practice,” he said.
“You can go out there and run your plays at a certain speed and run your plays, run your pass plays, but when you have to defend against that speed, it’s never quite the same in practice. So sometimes in a bowl game, I think it takes time for the defense to kind of get caught up because you haven’t played for so long.
“This year, we played in the Pac-12 championship game, which there wasn’t quite as long of a lull between the last game and the bowl game as there was for us last year. So I hope that’s going to pay dividends for us.”