Don’t let that title fool you; both Washington and Ohio State will be hungry to get a Rose Bowl trophy on Tuesday afternoon in Pasadena, but there’s another element at play here.
Before we get to that — let’s look over some quick keys to the game for Washington in order to get a win.
We all know that Washington will be playing, arguably, one of the top five teams in the country as far as talent is concerned. Talent-wise, the Buckeyes could match up with Alabama or Clemson.
But they’re not super-human.
In their last six games of the season Ohio State’s defense allowed an average of 33.33 points per game from their opponents. The Buckeyes were completely demolished against Purdue by 29 points. There are definite chinks in the armor, despite their one-loss season.
Number One
For Washington to win, it’s (literally) all on the line.
Against Alabama in 2016 and Penn State in 2017, the Huskies had trouble blocking up front due to several factors — so they have to play their best game on Tuesday to even have a shot at winning this game.
Last year in the Cotton Bowl we saw USC go up against the Buckeyes as their defense sacked and harrassed Sam Darnold all night — creating multiple problems for the USC offense.
And this was USC and Sam Darnold.
So the first key to this game is to be able to block against a very good defensive line. Of course, Nick Bosa won’t be playing.
Number Two
Washington must be able to use their biggest offensive strength; the running game. If Ohio State stops this, it could be a long day for Jake Browning. But if the Huskies have the same amount of luck many teams had against the Buckeyes this year with their run game, it will help open up the passing game.
Number Three
Hunter Bryant is a mismatch for any team that plays Washington. He has great hands, is very physical, and gets open.
They need to make him a go-to guy as often as possible; at least 12 to 15 times. He seldom (if ever) misses and is money if he gets the ball in his hands for yards-after-catch. This is one facet to the Husky passing game that teams have not had any answer for.
Number Four
Defense, defense, defense. The Huskies have to get pressure on Dwayne Haskins.
Ohio State has a big, physical offensive line to contend with, so it would be ideal to get sacks, of course, but if not — they still need to get Haskins off his mark and affect him.
Watch for the match-up between Greg Gaines and Ohio State center, Michael Jordan. Gaines has the advantage on this guy because Jordan is 6-7, 310 and Gaines is 6-2, 316. With that leverage he should be able to get under Jordan’s pads. Make no mistake, Jordan is a big-time center,but he will have trouble with leverage against Gaines.
Number Five
The secondary will face the best quarterback Washington has played all year; better than Herbert, better than Minshew. Haskins is big, strong, fast, and has a big arm.
Washington needs to get a pick or two. They must get into Haskin’s head.
But remember, this is also the best secondary Ohio State has faced all year as well.
The Bigger Intangible
Going back to the beginning of this article, let’s look at one of the looming factors of this game for the Buckeyes on a mental level.
Ohio State will come out like gangbusters to “win one for the Urban”; it’s his last game as their head coach. This is a must-win because they want to send their coach off on a victorious note.
If Washington can stay with Ohio State or stay on Ohio State going into the last quarter then the pressure will be extremely palpable for the Buckeyes.
They desperately don’t want to lose this game – they don’t want to be “those guys” or “that team” that lost Urban’s Meyer’s last game as the head coach. They would have to live that one down for a long time.
So the longer this game goes on the more that pressure is on the Buckeyes.
Watch for them to get chippy and throw a lot of body shots at the Huskies. Of course, this is a good thing for the Huskies. Anytime a team has that much pressure on them and they find themselves in a dog-fight down the stretch, frustration can set in and mistakes are made.
You cannot underestimate this.
This is a good match-up between a stout Husky defense, an elite Husky secondary, a prolific Buckeye passing offense, and a Buckeye defense who has had issues defending the run all season.
Both teams have had a month off to prepare and get into tip-top shape.
There was a lot of talk on the message board this past week about the 1977 Husky team who won the ’78 Rose Bowl against all odds against Michigan. There are some similarities, if you think about it.
The Huskies were a four-loss team, but the loss to UCLA was vacated due to UCLA’s forfietures for ineligible players, and the #13 Huskies wound up getting to the Rose Bowl as a three-loss team to play the #4 Michigan Wolverines — who were highly favored.
It hadn’t been 18 years since the last Rose Bowl appearance for the ’77 Huskies, but on January 1st, 1978 it had been 14 years.
Washington won that day — and Michigan fans and players look stunned.
Could history repeat itself? Anything is possible — this will be two great teams slugging it out and it will likely be a close game, regardless of who wins.
