Arguably two of the top programs ever seen in college football history collide in week 3 of the 2008-09 NCAA College Football Season as the Ohio State Buckeyes visit the USC Trojans.
Ohio State Buckeyes are on a roll starting the season with a 2-0 (win-loss) slate, beating Ohio 26-14 and Youngstown State 43-0, respectively. They come to Trojan’s territory gunning for their third straight win and prove that their win against Ohio was not a fluke.
The only area of concern for the visiting Buckeyes is the status of tailback Chris “Beanie” Wells who was sidelined with an injured foot in their last game. On the season-opener Wells ran for 115 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries in a season-opening 43-0 win over Youngstown State before getting hurt, and he was ninth in the nation last season with 1,609 rushing yards.
Buckeyes coach Jim Tressel said Tuesday he expects Wells will be able to play. The junior told Tressel on Monday that he’s “ready to carry 45 times on Saturday.” “The only way we can be successful on the road at Southern Cal is be at our best, I mean, there’s no way that we can do it if we’re not at our best,” Buckeyes coach Jim Tressel said. “So I think all of us in the whole locker room recognized after the (Ohio) game that we weren’t at our best.”
For the home team, USC will be led by quarterback Mark Sanchez, who is hoping to get USC back into the national title game this 2008-09 NCAA College Football Season after quarterback John David Booty was unable to do so the past two years. The Trojans have played in the last three Rose Bowls, including a loss to Texas for the 2006 national championship after beating Oklahoma for the BCS title the previous year.
Both teams have met in the Rose Bowl seven times and are squaring off for the first time in 18 years in the first game of the 2008-09 NCAA College Football Season between a pair of top-10 teams. USC has won 11 national championships, the Buckeyes have claimed seven. They played for one each of the last two years, but lopsided losses in both games - not to mention last week’s lackluster effort - have left the program with something to prove.
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Ohio State Buckeyes are on a roll starting the season with a 2-0 (win-loss) slate, beating Ohio 26-14 and Youngstown State 43-0, respectively. They come to Trojan’s territory gunning for their third straight win and prove that their win against Ohio was not a fluke.
The only area of concern for the visiting Buckeyes is the status of tailback Chris “Beanie” Wells who was sidelined with an injured foot in their last game. On the season-opener Wells ran for 115 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries in a season-opening 43-0 win over Youngstown State before getting hurt, and he was ninth in the nation last season with 1,609 rushing yards.
Buckeyes coach Jim Tressel said Tuesday he expects Wells will be able to play. The junior told Tressel on Monday that he’s “ready to carry 45 times on Saturday.” “The only way we can be successful on the road at Southern Cal is be at our best, I mean, there’s no way that we can do it if we’re not at our best,” Buckeyes coach Jim Tressel said. “So I think all of us in the whole locker room recognized after the (Ohio) game that we weren’t at our best.”
For the home team, USC will be led by quarterback Mark Sanchez, who is hoping to get USC back into the national title game this 2008-09 NCAA College Football Season after quarterback John David Booty was unable to do so the past two years. The Trojans have played in the last three Rose Bowls, including a loss to Texas for the 2006 national championship after beating Oklahoma for the BCS title the previous year.
Both teams have met in the Rose Bowl seven times and are squaring off for the first time in 18 years in the first game of the 2008-09 NCAA College Football Season between a pair of top-10 teams. USC has won 11 national championships, the Buckeyes have claimed seven. They played for one each of the last two years, but lopsided losses in both games - not to mention last week’s lackluster effort - have left the program with something to prove.
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