One of the most anticipated games of the year is coming up this weekend when No. 3 Ohio State plays No. 1 University of Southern California in Los Angeles. There are not many instances during a college football season that two top five teams play each other so early in a season without belonging to the same conference.
The last time these two teams played was Sept. 29, 1990 in Columbus, Ohio. The Trojans of USC won that game 35-26, though the game was called with 2:36 left due to thunderstorms.
This game is especially important for the Buckeyes. After resounding loses in the past two national championship games, Ohio State is trying to prove that they can beat big programs from outside their conference, or at least hang with them.
USC is looking to make it to three national titles since the turn of the century. The Trojans moved into the number one spot, hopping Georgia, when they soundly defeated Virginia 52-7 at Charlottesville in the opening week.
Even though USC is replacing four players on the offensive line and have a new starting quarterback in Mark Sanchez, it still seems like they are the favorites in this matchup.
To start out with, the Trojans are playing at home. In the past three seasons, USC is 17-1 (.944) at home, with that lone loss being 24-23 to Stanford last year, which was actually one of the biggest upsets in the Pacific-10 Conference history.
Also, one of the Buckeye’s main offensive weapons, running back Chris Wells, was hurt in their season opener against Youngstown State. Though he has not officially been pulled from the game yet, it appears that the foot injury could keep him on the sidelines.
Even if Ohio State had Wells, they would still be the likely underdogs. Until Ohio State can prove that they have speed like USC, then USC should be the favorite. The reason Ohio State lost to Florida and LSU the past two national championships is because those two teams were faster.
Speed kills in the game of college football, and the Trojans’ defense is one of the fastest. USC’s offensive also has speed, easily seen in their tailback Joe McKnight, who some consider to be the next Reggie Bush.
Hopefully the game will live up to the hype, but if the past two years have proven anything, this could be a game to forget for Buckeye fans.
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