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No. 8 USC Football Faces No. 5 Ohio State in Cotton Bowl
December 21, 2017 | Football, Features
*In a matchup between traditional college football powers, Pac-12 champion No. 8 USC and Big Ten champ No. 5 Ohio State will travel to Texas to battle in the 82nd annual Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic. This is the earliest date that a Cotton Bowl has been played.
*It's the 24th meeting between the teams (the first since 2009), including the eighth time they've squared off in a bowl (but the first non-Rose). Troy has won the last 7 clashes and also historically has fared well against Big Ten competition and in season enders.
*USC is one of the nation's premier bowl teams (51 bowls, 34 wins), as is Ohio State (47, 22). But it's just the second time each team has appeared in a Cotton Bowl.
*It's a rare indoor game for USC, but the second year in a row that the Trojans have played in 80,000-seat AT&T Stadium.
*Traveler will be at the game, a rare road trip for USC's white horse mascot.
*Five USC players hail from Texas, as does Trojan head coach Clay Helton. USC defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast used to work for the Cowboys and Trojan ILB Levi Jones' dad was a well-known Cowboy. Even the state's governor has a USC link.
*Five previous USC head coaches have an Ohio background, as does USC's running backs coach Deland McCullough.
*USC, which has won 20 of its last 22 games, is going after its fifth-ever 12-win season.Â
*Head coach Clay Helton's Trojan team, which played its 12 regular season games in 2017 without a bye, was the first South Division representative to win the Pac-12 Championship Game when it defeated Stanford. USC's offense, which is averaging 489.5 total yards (its highest average since 2005) and 34.5 points, has had 600-plus yards of total offense 3 times this season (the other Pac-12 teams combined have done so just 6 times). QB Sam Darnold, 20-3 as a starter, is Troy's season total offense record holder and is on the verge of becoming the first Trojan signalcaller to throw for 4,000 yards in a season (he is at 3,787, while completing 63.7% of his passes with 26 TDs). All-American TB Ronald Jones II, who has 1,486 rushing yards with 18 TDs in 2017 and 9 100-yard games, is fifth on USC's prestigious career rushing list (3,555 yards), with 2 Heisman Trophy winners and 2 Heisman runners-up ahead of him. WR Deontay Burnett, with 74 receptions and 9 TDs in 2017, is 25 yards shy of 1,000 receiving yards. USC's defense, which leads the nation in sacks (43) and has 24 takeaways in 2017, is led by ILB Cameron Smith (Troy's tackle leader—102—for the second year in a row), All-American OLB Uchenna Nwosu (13 deflections in 2017, the most by a Trojan linebacker since 1998), DL Rasheem Green (9 sacks in 2017) and S Chris Hawkins (24 tackles the past 2 games). Darnold, Jones, Smith, Nwosu and Green were among USC's 7 All-Pac-12 first teamers in 2017.
*Ohio State's Urban Meyer (the nation's winningest active coach) guides a strong, balanced team that is sixth nationally in total offense (523.6), fifth in scoring offense (42.5), eighth in total defense (292.3) and seventh in rushing defense (108.8). Dynamic QB J.T. Barrett, the winningest (37) quarterback in OSU history, has thrown for nearly 3,000 yards with 35 TDs in 2017 and run for another 732 yards with 10 scores. He owns 35 school and Big Ten records. RB J.K. Dobbins has rushed for a school freshman record 1,364 yards and is complemented by RB Mike Weber (608 yards). Eleven OSU players have caught touchdowns, with WR K.J. Hill the leader in receptions (55). Three All-Big Ten first teamers--All-American C Billy Price, the 2017 Rimington Trophy winner, OG Michael Jordan and OT Jamarco Jones--anchor the Buckeye offensive line. Ohio State's top tacklers include LB Jerome Baker, S Jordan Fuller and S Damon Webb, along with All-Americans in CB Denzel Ward and DL Nick Bosa (14.5 tackles for loss, 7 sacks).
*The game will be broadcast live in primetime on ESPN and ESPN Radio
