OSU has never been great in the rose bowl, particularly against USC in their hometown. (It's also UCLA's home stadium)But was this opinion as prevalent when the Bucks were kicking ass and taking names in the Rose Bowls/Bowl Games past?
The one locale where OSU enjoyed a rare neutral site was Glendale. There was obviously the exception against UF (though I think most would agree that outcome would be similar if played in a Columbus OH dome... that was about toughness & heart not locale), but the rest of the decade went pretty well for OSU. The other 4 games saw OSU beat up the highly touted offenses (which were all predicted to continue that trend) from Miami, Kansas St, Notre Dame and Texas.
Locales don't win games, but they can definitely pour more gasoline on the explosive plays & momentum of the home team. There's a reason the SEC has had a tougher time in road games far from home.
The crowd can't stop OSU from getting routed (like by UF), but when OSU starts stringing together huge plays (like sacks, forced fumbles and interception returns vs Miami), the crowd can really fuel the defense (in a cyclical manner). This was huge against Miami, especially with the lack of consistent offense by the buckeyes.
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