The battle of rotations

DALLAS- Sam Darnold seems to be the center of the USC offense. Many members of the Ohio State defensive unit applauded his ability as a pro-style quarterback, being able to be mobile and make accurate throws outside of the pocket.

Those kind of comments were to be expected leading up to the Buckeyes matchup with the Trojans in the Cotton Bowl. But, much of the attention, from both the USC offense and the Ohio State defense was shifted to running back Ronald Jones II.

“Their running back is blazing,” linebacker Jerome Baker said. “He’s very fast.”

Overshadowed by other runners in the Pac-12, such as Stanford running back and second-place Heisman finisher Bryce Love and Arizona’s standout quarterback Khalil Tate, Jones has been one of the more statistically sound backs in the conference all season. He had the second most total rushing yards in the Pac-12 and was third in the conference averaging 123.8 rushing yards per game. Recording just over six yards per rush, the Trojans tail back was second in the conference with 18 touchdowns.

“You have great running backs,” USC offensive coordinator Tee Martin said. “And then you have backs that are just "different," and I don't know if, number one, I haven't coached one like him. I don't know if in my career I'll have another one like him. But he's real with the things he can do.”

According to defensive lineman Sam Hubbard, Ohio State has faced the typical Big Ten running back this season. For guys like Wisconsin’s Jonathan Taylor and Penn State’s Saquon Barkley, running backs, along with being fast and shifty, are bigger than showcase backs in other conferences. However, he said that, even though Jones is smaller in stature, he called him very fast and elusive as a runner.

Reminding him of former Penn State running back Ki-Jana Carter, Ohio State defensive coordinator Greg Schiano said that Jones has something that he does not see in many running backs.

“He kind of takes a, what you call, like a raised step right before he gets hit and really delivers a blow as opposed to a guy that just continues to run,” Schiano said. “That is something that I don’t know whether it is coached or not. You don’t see a lot of guys who are able to do that. That’s kind of a gift.”

However, Ohio State comes into the Cotton Bowl with a level of rush defense that USC has not seen since its win over Texas. The Buckeyes have allowed opposing backs to average just three yards per carry, with opposing teams recording 108.8 yards rushing per game. When Taylor and Barkley faced Ohio State, each back had trouble, each recording less than 45 yards on the ground, averaging less than three yards per carry.

According to defensive lineman Jalyn Holmes, it is all about the approach that the Ohio State rush defense has against what many consider as elite-level backs.

“We can’t allow him to get in a rhythm,” Holmes said. “We’ve got to irritate him, man and guys like him, Saquon (Barkley), those guys, you have to always irritate because they can always make a big play and it can change a game like that.”

The team, as a whole, does better when Jones is successful. The Trojans have won eight of nine where the McKinney, Texas native has over 100 yards on the ground.

However, the running game does not hinge on the success of Jones alone.

“All four of our backs are healthy,” Martin said. “This is the first time in a long time I've been able to say that all four of them are ready to go.”

Actually, Jones considers himself a rotational back alongside freshman Stephen Carr, Vavae Malepeai and Aca’Cedric Ware. Each of these backs have had a moment to shine in 2017, all having at least one game with at least 60 yards on the ground and three of the four having at least one game of over 100 yards rushing.

Using the term “change of pace” to describe the running back rotation, Jones said that each running back has different skill sets, but has the same goal in mind.

“Having guys healthy and stay fresh throughout the game, as the defense gets tired, we put in a new back to wear them down more,” Jones said.

Wide receiver Deontay Burnett said that each running back has its own unique set of skills. With Jones being the speed back, Burnett describes Carr as the back with the most elusiveness while considering Malepai and Ware as power backs. For all of them, though, he said that they have a knack for finding holes and making explosive runs.

For Darnold, it just makes things a lot easier for him calling the offense.

“For me, it’s awesome to have those guys in the backfield,” Darnold said. “To be able to rotate fresh legs in every other play, its awesome. It’s something that, you know, we haven’t necessarily seen throughout the season, so its going to be really fun to see those guys to put on a show like I know they are capable of. “

However, while the Trojans rotate running backs throughout the game, the Ohio State defensive line will use the strategy it has used all season.

“They rotating running backs, we rotating d-tackles,” Holmes said. “I mean, we are going to have a battle of rotations.”

This is a battle that Hubbard feels that Ohio State has the upper hand in. He said that even with the constant rotation of different and possibly fresh backs, the defensive line’s immediate opponent, the USC offensive line, would get worn down before the Buckeyes would.

Baker had a unique thought. He said the goal of the Ohio State defense On Friday will be to show the Trojans that they will not need the running back rotation at all.

“You can’t rotate if you go three-and-out all the time,” Baker said. “So, as a defense, hearing that, it’s kind of like a challenge. He is saying we can move the ball all day and just rotate guys. You can’t rotate if you go three-and-out, three-and-out, three-and-out.”

However, there is a level of confidence that the USC running back room has. Viewing themselves as the best room in the country, what Baker said, to Jones, it will not be a problem.

“Yeah, that's what Coach [Tee] Martin tells us all the time,” Jones said. “When we're not shooting ourselves in the foot, nobody can stop us.”