The No. 8 USC Trojans (11-2, 8-1) have played 12 FBS opponents this season, which is one more than Ohio State has played, and three more than Alabama has played.
Five of those opponents for USC were ranked at the time they played, and the Trojans finished with a 3-2 record in those five games.
Two of the wins came against Stanford, and the third was a 49-35 win over an Arizona team that is currently 7-5.
The losses, meanwhile, came against Notre Dame and Washington State. Neither the Irish or the Cougars were balanced in their wins, as the Irish rushed for 377 yards and passed for 120 yards, while the Cougars passed for 340 yards and rushed for 122 yards.
The fact that the Trojans do not require a balanced offense to give up yards could be very bad news for them, because their next opponent is the only team in the nation that has rushed for 3,000 yards and thrown for 3,000 this season.
Ohio State comes into this game No. 6 in total offense, averaging 523.6 yards per game, and No. 5 in scoring, at 42.5 points per game. The Buckeyes are 3-1 against ranked opponents, including two wins over Top 4 teams.
USC head coach Clay Helton knows that his Trojans face one heck of a test on Friday.
“I think they’re a complete football team,” he said. “You think about defensively only giving up 19 points a game, about 290 yards a game. Then you look offensively, basically scoring 42 points a game, have an unbelievable quarterback in J.T. [Barrett] that can both run athletically over 700 yards rushing, 35 touchdown passes, 3,000 yards passing. He’s got J.K. [Dobbins] behind him, Mike Weber behind him, about six wide-outs that are as good as anybody in the country.”
Where Washington State and Notre Dame were one dimensional, the Buckeyes are multi-dimensional. Offensively and defensively.
“This is a complete football team, in my opinion, that’s coached by a guy that’s a legend in our game, in Coach Meyer,” Helton said. “So this will be our biggest challenge of the year. It’s by far the best team that we have played and, when you watch them on tape, the most complete team. And we look forward to the challenge.”
Ohio State leads the Big Ten in rushing this season, averaging 249 yards on the ground per game. They rushed for at least 200 yards in all but three games this season, and two of those games were their losses to Oklahoma and Iowa.
If USC is going to walk away with a win, it will start by stopping the run, and the Trojans know it.
“I’d say it starts with the running game. That’s kind of our key every single time we walk out on the field,” said USC linebacker Cameron Smith. “We’ve got to limit that running game and make them one-dimensional. So that will be our goal. But they do that very well as well. So, you know, we put a game plan together, and we’re going to start there.”
All teams have set out to stop Ohio State’s running game, but nobody has really accomplished that feat this season. Even when Oklahoma and Iowa were holding OSU under 200 yards rushing, it was because the Buckeyes had to abandon the running game due to the score.
In other words, the USC offense could do a lot to help the USC defense.
If the Buckeyes are going to be allowed to run the ball all game long, the Trojans are going to have be up for the biggest challenge they have faced all season long.
“I think they work really well as a whole unit, watching their offensive line work,” Smith said. “And they’ve got some big names up there who have done a really good job and that have a lot of experience. So I think it starts there. And I think, as a unit, they work tremendously well together.
“I think they’re just overall very balanced as an offense. They run the crap out of the football, and that’s what they are going to start out with. And the way that they work off of that is just pretty impressive. So they’re a great bunch, and it’s going to be a challenge for us.”
All of Ohio State’s 13 opponents were FBS schools. Only 11 were from Power Five conferences if that’s what you meant.
Just remember it’s Clay Helton saying it and it’s rat poison. They ought to bring him in for the Buckeye pre-game pep talk. The “by far” touch sent it out of the park. Ol’ Clay is a master flatterer. He’s a good
I was saying that Helton’s a good coach and will have the Trojans ready. I’m looking for a tough game as usual in this long and recently lopsided series. I’d like to see Ohio State beat USC but no coach since Woody Hayes has been able to do that. Maybe Urban. We’ll see.
The key to this statement is ex head coaches .I feel it is obvious as to why we have 2 ex head coaches on our staff . It was never more obvious than against Oklahome when we went to a soft zone defense leaving the middle of the field wide open against one of the best passers in college football giving them 1st down after 1st down. Leaving the running game with Barrett passing the ball speaks for itself
Word to the team:
Do NOT “drink the koolaid” the headlines of this article state.
It is a recipe to blow smoke and get into your heads. If you think you do not have to earn this victory, you WILL lose…bet your sweet bippy on it!
“Nine units strong” should be your slogan!
Go Bucks!
Didn’t OSU lead Oklahoma 10-3 when it abandoned the running game?
Nice try at sneaking one past the readership in the segment beginning “All teams have set out to stop Ohio State’s running game”… In both the OU and Iowa debacles, OSU were outplayed in many facets and outcoached in practically every facet. In each case OSU abandoned the running game out of stupidity/stubbornness and lack of awareness, which THEN led to the lopsided scores. They didn’t miraculously find themselves behind by 21 points and decide it was time to throw low percentage 40 yarders. I’ve ignored the fluff articles (UM getting a new QB by grad transfer merits an O-zone piece- really?) but now its bowl time. The fan base has to hope that the Bucks play a complete game, starting offensively with a coaching focus on the most effective players getting the most touches. If that happens, there likely won’t be any need to dress up the VERY recent history of its two worst played games. We’ll see if coaching and prep have gotten the time they greatly deserve while so many eyes have been on recruits. GO BUCKS, beat USC!