Game Preview: Ohio State Motivated To End Season On High Note In Rose Bowl Against Utah

The Buckeyes haven’t lost back-to-back games since the 2013 season, which ended with losses to Michigan State and Clemson.

Author:
Andrew Lind
Dec 31, 2021 8:00 AM EST

Ohio State and Utah head into Saturday’s Rose Bowl in two very different places.

The Buckeyes had their Big Ten title and College Football Playoff hopes dashed with a 42-27 loss to Michigan in the regular-season finale on Nov. 27, while the Utes knocked off Oregon for a second time this year to capture their first Pac-12 title one week later.

Ohio State also had several players opt out of the Rose Bowl in the weeks since to avoid injury and prepare for the NFL Draft, including wide receivers Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson, offensive tackle Nicholas Petit-Frere and defensive tackle Haskell Garrett, while Utah didn't have a single player opt out of what is arguably the biggest game in school history.

With that, all signs point to the Utes being the team that's more motivated and more excited to be in this position. But head coach Ryan Day said the Buckeyes are also eager to send the seniors out on a high note and use a victory as a springboard into next season.

“I love those guys and I certainly think this game is important for our team, and I know the guys who are playing in their last game want to finish with a lasting image of a victory in the Rose Bowl,” Day said during his media availability this week. “The younger guys want to get some momentum going into next year.

“That’s what we’ve been focused on right now. Each guy has to make (their own) decision in that role, but I know there’s still a bunch of guys that want to play really well in this game.”

General Info

Date: Jan. 1, 2022
Where: Rose Bowl (Pasadena, Calif)
Expected Weather: 56 degrees, sunny
Kickoff: 5 p.m. ET

Current Betting Numbers

Spread: Ohio State (-4)
O/U Total: 64
Betting: Check out the new SISportsbook!

How to Watch/Listen

Television: ESPN
Streaming: fuboTV (get a 7-day free trial)
Announcers: Chris Fowler (play-by-play), Kirk Herbstreit (analyst), Holly Rowe (sideline reporter) and Tiffany Blackmon (sideline reporter)

Local Radio: Ohio State Sports Network from Learfield IMG College
Flagship: WBNS 97.1 The Fan
Announcers: Paul Keels (play-by-play), Jim Lachey (analyst), Matt Andrews (sideline reporter), Skip Mosic (pregame/halftime/postgame host and producer)

Series History

Ohio State leads Utah, 1-0
* OSU record at home: 1-0

LAST TIME THEY MET
1986: Ohio State 64, Utah 6

Coaching Matchup

* Ryan Day
* At Ohio State: Third Season, Record: 33-4
* Overall: Same

* Kyle Whittingham
* At Utah: 18th Season, Record: 144-69
* Overall: Same

Ohio State Capsule

With Olave and Wilson out, Ohio State is tasked with replacing two of the greatest wide receivers in program history, as the duo combined for a whopping 318 receptions for 4,915 yards and 58 touchdowns during their storied careers.

Still, the Buckeyes should view Saturday’s game as a passing of the torch from elite upperclassmen to talented youngsters who are ready to step into a larger role.

Sophomore Jaxon Smith-Njigba – who actually led the team this fall with 80 catches for 1,259 yards and six touchdowns – will fill the leadership void left by Olave and Wilson, while sophomore Julian Fleming and true freshman Marvin Harrison Jr. will look to fill their shoes on the outside.

“I’m excited for this game,” Smith-Njigba said during his media availability this week. “It will be a little show of what we’ll see next year.”

Fleming, who was the top-rated wide receiver in the class of 2020, started in Wilson’s place in the nine-point win at Nebraska on Nov. 6, while Harrison saw the fourth-most snaps of anyone at the position. There’s also true freshman Emeka Egbuka, who could see snaps in the slot if Ohio State decides to move Smith-Njigba around.

“These guys have been waiting for this opportunity,” Smith-Njigba said. “I know they’re excited to step into that role, and I’m just happy for Chris and Garrett for taking that next step. The wide receiver room, we just want to make them proud and ball our for them, so it’s going to be fun.”

Redshirt freshman quarterback C.J. Stroud agreed with Smith-Njigba’s assessment and doesn’t seem too worried about losing two of his top three targets. After all, Fleming and Harrison are simply stepping into their new roles one game earlier than expected.

“Im super confident,” Stroud said. “You’re going to see an explosive offensive and those guys making plays. Marvin and Julian are going to step up and they’re going to play real hard and they’re going to make plays. It’s nothing new to them. They’ve been doing it since they were kids, so I don’t expect anything different.”

Utah Capsule

Ohio State’s toughness and physicality was questioned coming out of the aforementioned loss to Michigan, when the Buckeyes surrendered 297 yards and six touchdowns on the ground, and it will be tested again this Saturday against Utah.

The Utes are among the best in the country at rushing the football, as they average 5.64 yards per attempt and 216.5 yards per game, thanks in large part former Dayton Dunbar star Tavion Thomas, who is out to show the staff “what they missed out on” when they passed on him for academic reasons during the 2018 recruiting cycle.

“I know Michigan, they were just more physical and stuff like that, and I feel like we could match their physicality with Ohio State,” Thomas said during his media availability on Tuesday. “I feel like it's going to be a good game and I feel like we're going to be able to run the ball.”

Thomas has already played against the Buckeyes once in his college career, as he was on the Cincinnati team that lost 42-0 in 2019. He carried the ball 11 times in that game for 58 yards, but fumbled near the goal line on the Bearcats’ final offensive play.

After spending one season at Independence Community College, Thomas is now part of a three-headed monster at running back, as he, junior T.J. Pledger and redshirt freshman Micah Bernard have combined for 2,210 yards and 28 touchdowns on the season.

Not to mention redshirt sophomore quarterback Cameron Rising, who has thrown for 2,279 yards and 18 touchdowns but is also a threat with his legs with 407 yards and five more scores on the ground. That presents quite the challenge for an Ohio State squad that was dominated in the trenches last time out.

“I feel like this is a good opportunity to show that we’ve made adjustments based on the last game,” redshirt sophomore linebacker Steele Chambers said. “I think it’s a good game to prove ourselves, prove that we’re a tough team, that we’re a physical team and that we can handle that kind of stuff.”

Major Storylines

This is just the second all-time meeting between the two programs, with Ohio State beating Utah, 64-6, in Columbus in 1986.

The Utes are the Buckeyes’ eighth different Rose Bowl opponent, including Arizona State (1-0), Cal (1-1), Oregon (2-0), Stanford (0-1), UCLA (0-1), USC (3-4) and Washington (1-0).

Ohio State is 8-7 in Pasadena and 26-27 all time in bowl games, including the vacated win over Arkansas in the 2011 Sugar Bowl.

The Buckeyes were at .500 in bowl games following last season’s Sugar Bowl victory over Clemson, but fell below the mark with the loss to Alabama in the College Football Playoff National Championship.

Ohio State is tied with Michigan, Stanford and Washington with eight Rose Bowl victories, second all time to USC with 20.

The Buckeyes’ 15 Rose Bowl appearances are the most of any bowl game, with the Fiesta (9), Sugar (6), Citrus (4) and Outback (4) following.

Ohio State is the only school in the country to reach a New Year’s Six bowl (Cotton, Fiesta, Orange, Peach, Rose or Sugar) in all eight seasons since the playoff began.

Former head coach Urban Meyer spent two seasons at Utah, guiding the Utes to a 22-2 record and a win in the 2005 Fiesta Bowl.

Both Day and Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham coached under Meyer, with the former as the Buckeyes’ offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach from 2017-18 and the latter as the Utes’ defensive coordinator and linebackers coach in 2003-04.

Football operations coordinator Brian Voltolini also spent three years at Utah (2003-06).

No current Ohio State players are from Utah, though 2022 quarterback signee Devin Brown played his senior season at Draper Corner Canyon, the same school that produced former offensive lineman Branden Bowen (2015-19).

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