The more I hear random people on the street talk about this game, the more convinced I am that most people are judging this game based on the name brands, not the teams that will be taking the field in roughly 26 hours. I've heard people in bars, at work, waiting in line for coffee, all say that USC is going to destroy the Buckeyes. When anyone asks me about it and I say with confidence that OSU will win, they look at me like I have two heads (I don't). The couple of times I actually bothered to inquire why they were so sure that USC will blow us out, it was immediately clear that they couldn't name 3 players on the trojans roster. I think they're expecting to see Marcus Allen and Reggie Bush run behind Anthony Munoz, and Carson Palmer heave 150 yd bombs to...some WR who played at USC. "ESPN said USC is the best and wins every game." "ESPN said Ohio State plays in a weak conference and can't win the big one." That's about how deeply the casual sports fan looks at this game.
The personnel differences compared to last year have been covered previously, so I won't rehash them again. Considering those changes, I have one big question about this season's USC. Where will all the eye popping, highlight reel, big offensive plays come from? That's what USC's reputation has been built on in the Carroll era. With RoJo out, and a frosh QB, does USC have the ability to burn OSU's D on a big pass? I'm sure they'll give it a few goes, but I'm not seeing the speed and time/"decision making" needed to get behind the secondary.
Sure, USC has 6 HBs who could start on any team, but generally, there's only one of them on the field at a time, and definitely only one who can get the ball on any play. McKnight and co. are very good, but I think our D will do a better job of containing them this time around. Start with improved DE contain; I think L. Wilson may be a surprise contributor, if he's back to his old form. The JL/MF/RH LB corps was not so good at attacking the run, IMO. The were a solid group, but just never seemed to hold good running teams below 3-4 yds a pop. Enter Brian Rolle. He should have more room to operate and more freedom from an assignment standpoint than vs. Navy. BR is more of a read play, pick a line, explode to the ball, kill, kind of LB. He's shown he's got some serious wheels, and I think we'll see him blowing up a fair share of plays on Sat. I'm a bit concerned about Spittler; if he's still a bit gimpy, he may not have the speed to keep up. I think USC moves the ball on the ground some, but nothing like last year.
Even if USC manages to march down the field with runs and dink and dunk passing, things change when the endline comes into play. Safeties don't have to play as deep, CBs don't have to cover as long, LBs and DLs can pin their ears back and focus on what's in front of them. Even if USC looks good between the 20s, I hope to see the Silver Bullets tighten the clamps in the red zone, ala 2002. Holding USC to FGs may be enough to win the game. The biggest home run threat I see on USC's O is Havili, and I hope a lesson was learned from last year. I personally would have liked to see Hines matched up with him, but if he's at SS, I don't know if that's feasible. I think BR is needed more close to the line. I don't know if Homan has the quicks to keep up. Perhaps a safety with over responsibility will be enough. Whatever the case, the D needs to be aware of him at all times.
Damn, I could have sworn that post took 26 hours to write. This game needs to get here faster!
GO BUCKEYES!!!
