Ohio State confident in facing USC's offense

DALLAS - The Iowa offense caught the Ohio State defense off guard. That's just about the only explanation that can be had for a 55-24 loss in Iowa City.

Ahead of the Cotton Bowl Classic against USC, the Buckeyes are not making the same mistake twice.

After hours of watching film and dissecting all the intricacies of the Trojans, the Ohio State defense exuded confidence when asked what they expected from the USC offense. Defensive end Nick Bosa, never the one to shy away from being as blunt as possible, said defensive coordinator Greg Schiano has his unit tuned up and ready to go prior to Friday's game.

However, he did add the team will not be mailing it in.

"I think we know what we're going to get with USC, but we're still going to have to play pretty well," Bosa said.

Against Iowa, Ohio State was torched for 487 yards and gave up a rather eye-popping 5.4 yards per carry. To put that in perspective, the team allowed just 3.0 yards per carry on average throughout the year, even with that anomaly.

Ohio State coach Urban Meyer is a strong advocate for his team learning from past experiences, making it easy to believe the Buckeyes will be playing much tighter than when the team traveled way out west the last time.

Linebacker Jerome Baker, like every other defensive player asked on Wednesday, pinpointed the biggest x-factor the USC offense will bring.

"Fast. Definitely fast. Fast and athletic," he said. "See, a guy like me, I can run. But, when you're watching their receivers, their running back, even their o-line, they can move. They're really fast, so that's the main thing for me. Just to see a fast team."

Defending speed has not been the biggest issue for the Buckeyes' defense this season. Instead, the biggest shortcomings have occurred when defenders fail to stay patient in their gaps and look to make a play, rather than doing their assignment.

Speed can cause those problems to reoccur, since a running back darting by quickly could make an Ohio State defender look to move out wide and slow him down rather than collapsing the pocket. But that does not seem to be a concern for a team that has went on a string of solid defensive performances.

On top of that, Bosa said missing out on the playoffs made the team want a victory in the last game of the season even more, considering the number of players who will be suiting up for the last time.

"For the seniors, it's their last one, so every game is a huge game playing here," Bosa said. "And then, obviously playing USC, it's been a rivalry over the past. We're just having fun right now, but when game time comes, we're going to be ready."

Ohio State might struggle to slow Ronald Jones and Sam Darnold at times, but a team playing individual rather than team football is not to be expected.

Like every great football team, the Buckeyes learned their lesson.