The Ohio State Buckeyes defeated the USC Trojans en route to a Cotton Bowl victory on Friday night.
Just about every little thing that could go wrong for the USC Trojans occurred on Friday night. The Cotton Bowl didn’t prove to be too friendly to USC from the beginning and the Ohio State Buckeyes took full advantage of their opportunities to the tune of a 24-7 victory that was salted away by halftime.
From the beginning, the Trojans fell behind when Deontay Burnett fumbled the ball after a big first down. Damon Webb returned the ball deep into USC territory, and the Buckeyes would set up shop from there.
That’s where J.T. Barrett rushed in for the touchdown. In his final game as a member of the Buckeyes, Barrett finally passed Drew Brees for most career Big Ten offensive yards, which includes rushing and passing.
It was a fitting night that Barrett would go out on top, have a touchdown of his own and break a record. As mentioned, it was Webb’s return that set up the touchdown for Barrett to give the Buckeyes an early lead.
Webb wouldn’t stop there either. When USC trailed by 10 and looked like they might get a drive going, he picked off Sam Darnold and took it all the way back to the house for a touchdown and put the Trojans in an insurmountable hole.
That was the narrative on the night for the Trojans. It wasn’t their defense struggling, but rather their offense and special teams putting them in a hole. To the credit of the special teams, they did recover a muffed punt that would lead to an eventual USC touchdown.
Nonetheless, the return to Arlington after being blown out by Alabama the season prior was something they’d like to also forget. It was yet another loss for the Pac-12 and a statement victory by the Buckeyes.
3. Sam Darnold needs to return to USC
With Josh Rosen sitting out the Cactus Bowl against Kansas State, this was a great opportunity for Sam Darnold to have the spotlight to himself. Unfortunately, a lot of the mistakes he has had with turnovers were on display yet again.
Darnold had a bad pick-six early in the game that had everyone buzzing about what exactly is wrong with him. Later he fumbled the ball on a sack, albeit on a play when his offensive line gave him no help at all (a recurring theme on the night).
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That being said, he was slinging the ball around on other plays as well. While there were the bad plays, he made some exciting throws at times and even tried to cut the deficit late in the fourth quarter with some incredible passes, but another fumble would ultimately doom him.
There’s a lot to like about Darnold and what he can do throwing the ball, but the mistakes right now are something that he will need to continue working on. Another year in school feels like the best decision he can make right now.
USC quarterbacks have stayed before, and another year at the helm would allow him to fix what has been broken this year. The good thing is that the intangibles are there, and it’s just a matter of turning him into a more polished product. If he decides to go pro, he’ll have a big climb but he won’t be blamed either.
2. Ohio State’s defense proved it was playoff worthy
While it’s easy to look at the performance of Darnold and the failures of USC as a whole, this game belonged to the Ohio State defense. While J.T. Barrett had himself a night he won’t forget because of a career record, this game was won by the defense.
From forcing the Burnett fumble to Webb returning an interception for a touchdown, they set up a majority of the scores for the Buckeyes. If they weren’t put in a bad spot after a muffed punt, the Cotton Bowl would have likely become a shutout.
The defensive line won up front, and the best example was that on a sack of Darnold, where four guys and ultimately a fifth got in for the hit. Tyquan Lewis made sure the USC offensive line heard it as well.
The award-winning defensive lineman really let it be known the job that he and the rest of a talented front were performing. In the end, this was a battle that was going to be won in the trenches, and the Buckeyes looked like a team that wanted their spot in the playoff.
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1. Bowl season has put Pac-12’s worst fears on a national display
The Pac-12 as a whole has a lot of soul-searching to do right now. With yet another loss, they are having one of the worst bowl seasons of any conference. Utah is the only program to pick up a victory at the moment, and Washington is their last stand for a second.
While the other programs losing might not be a big deal, their champion getting clubbed under a national spotlight is a terrible look for the conference. After finally making it back to the playoff with Washington last season, it feels the conference as a whole has taken a major step back this year.
They just feel a tier below the SEC, ACC and Big Ten. Considering the Big 12 is in the playoff, they can be thrown in the group as well. Needless to say, the conference can’t be happy with where things are trending.
The Pac-12 currently doesn’t have a television contract with DirecTV in an ongoing dispute that has seemingly spanned ages. Their football doesn’t feel like a real threat, and again they will be leaving bowl season without much to show for it. The conference of champions has become the conference of pretenders.