USC-Ohio State Preview

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Since it’s the marquee matchup of the season (at least so far) and because we didn’t have any better ideas, we decided to preview this weekend’s game between USC and Ohio State. Would we, as fans of a Big11Ten team, feel vindicated if our conference’s top team goes to LA and takes down the vaunted Trojans? Maybe, but not much. Would we laugh heartily if the Buckeyes lose yet another big game to an excellent team? Yes, yes we would. Onto the preview.

Ohio State
There’s no doubt that Ohio State is the class of the Big11Ten this year, as much as it pains us to say that. They returned nine starters on both sides of the ball, and they have highly skilled and experienced players all over the field. They have the nation’s #1 recruit in Terrelle Pryor, a guy who spurned Penn State to play for the Sweater Vest. Pryor would’ve fit in great in Happy Valley though, as he punched a dude after a game in the state basketball tournament last year. He didn’t get suspended, mostly because he’s Terrelle Pryor. Sounds like a great kid though. Buckeye fans are hoping he’s not a repeat of this:

The Buckeyes’ offense is anchored by senior quarterback Todd Boeckman. We were pissed last year when Boeckman just stepped in without any growing pains and led the team to the national title game, while we were saddled with another season of Morelli. Then again, Boeckman did have Chris “Beanie” Wells and his 1600+ yards rushing to take some of the pressure off of him.

You may remember two days ago when Wells said he wanted 45 carries on Saturday. Well guess what: now he’s probably not even going to play. This, of course, is disastrous Ohio State’s chances. No offense to backups Maurice Wells and Brandon Saine, but they ain’t Beanie Wells. Boeckman is going to have to step up big time, and he was very shaky last week against Ohio. His two main targets are Anthony Robiskie and Brian Hartline, and luckily for Buckeye fans, you may not find two guys as solid as those them in the rest of the conference.

"Hey assholes, what about us?"

Whoops! Sorry guys.

But really, if Ohio State has any shot at winning this game, it’s going to be because of their defense. Led by All-American linebacker James Laurinaitis, the Buckeyes D can stop anyone on any given day. Unless it’s an SEC team on national championship day, that is. Ohio State also has an outstanding D-line, and ends Lawrence Wilson and Cameron Heyward have looked great so far. Stud cornerback Malcolm Jenkins anchors the backfield for the Bucks. They’re going to have to hold the USC offense under 30 if they want a shot, and probably around 20 if they realistically want to win. We’re not even sure that’s possible.

USC
It's gonna be tough to predict what USC is going to do in this game.
What do we know? They came out and destroyed Virginia. It wasn't even close. Sanchez was tearing it up out there and despite the rout, played enough of the game to end up making 35 pass attempts. So much for those knee issues.

So Sanchez played well, what about the rest of the offense?

What else do we know? Half the team got their hands on the ball. Eight guys got at least one rushing attempt in (including Sanchez) and ten more caught passes. USC spread the ball all over the field, piled up a ton of points, played the entire team, yet really didn't even show any of their cards.

It looks to be another year of running back by committee, as returning players Joe McKnight, Stafon Johnson, Allan Bradford and CJ Gable all got touches. It will be some time before we find out who the #1 horse is going to be, and which ones will fall back to the practice squad. Regardless, if history has taught us anything it's that USC will create an effective running game however they have to. Last season, Johnson and McKnight got a shade under 100 carries each and averaged 6.9 and 5.7 yards per carry, respectively.

At the receiver spot, the Trojans return Patrick Turner and Vidal Hazelton. They will be the veterans of the receiving corps. Last season, Turner caught 48 balls for 569 and Hazelton 50 for 540. With another year of experience, they should be a great receiving corps for a quarterback who's looking to make an impact on a team that's seen more than their fair share of impact quarterbacks.

Obviously these guys will pose the first big test for the Buckeyes, who so far have been able to stop the mighty Penguins and Bobcats.

Now, for as good as USC offenses have been recently, this season it's the defense that could be the strength of the team.

Like the Buckeyes, USC boasts a great linebacker or two. Ray Maualuga and Brian Cushing anchor the Trojans defense, much the same way Laurinaitis and Marcus Freeman do the Buckeyes. Both men are All-Americans that can make any play on the field. Maualuga is returning as the leading tackler from a year ago, while Cushing was the 2007 MVP Rose Bowl MVP. If Beanie Wells ends up not playing this weekend, these guys would cause huge problems for whatever back the Buckeyes throw in there. Boeckman too.

If Ohio State had that much trouble against Ohio without Wells, it's almost scary to think about what might happened when they play against an experienced USC team that plays big games like this all the time.

Though some faces have changed, USC never has a problem filling in the gaps. They get their pick of the best in the nation and throw them out there to become stars. Will it happen this year? We're not gonna know for a while, but this weekend will go a long way to proving what kind of teams both USC and OSU are.


Half-Ass Analysis
Well frankly, we don’t think Ohio State stands much of a chance in this one. If Wells were completely healthy, we’d surely change our tune. Things just don’t look good. They’re coming off a questionable performance against a horrible team, their QB looks a bit shaky, and even though they have the best freshman in the country, they probably can’t even utilize him enough to make a difference. That’s a lot of shit stacked against them.

When you watch USC play, sometimes their players seem so much bigger, faster and stronger than the other team that it doesn’t even seem fair. You start to question why they would ever lose, and how they could ever not have the best recruiting class in the nation. You start to curse Pete Carroll, but in your heart, you’re envious of the bastard. It’s almost unfair. Add all that to the fact that they’re playing at home, and you have a recipe for disaster for the Buckeyes.

Prediction: USC 38, Ohio State 14