Ohio State and Oregon are one day away from their much-anticipated rematch in the Rose Bowl.
Back in October, the Ducks and Buckeyes played a thriller in Eugene, with Oregon edging out a 32-31 victory. The win helped propel Dan Lanning’s program to an undefeated regular season and Big Ten championship in its first year in the conference. There will be more at stake in Pasadena tomorrow, with a berth in the College Football Playoff semifinals on the line.
Ahead of the game, both head coaches spoke with the media on Tuesday, with Ohio State’s Ryan Day perhaps dropping a good omen for his team and a bad one for Oregon when he claimed the Buckeyes are as “strong and fresh” as they have been all season.
Of course, this is a healthy dose of coach speak, but Ohio State did look dominant in its win over Tennessee in the first round of the College Football Playoff and then had 10 days to recuperate following that victory.
Oregon, meanwhile, is even more well-rested, having not played since beating Penn State in the Big Ten title game on Dec. 7. Whether that will leave the Ducks rusty or fully ready to go remains to be seen.
One Ohio State player who sounds raring to take the field is freshman sensation Jeremiah Smith, who is the Buckeyes’ leading receiver.
Smith issued a bold heads up to Oregon on Monday when he warned against playing him 1-on-1 on the outside.
“I’m just laughing in my head. Why are y’all really playing man-on-man against us, or against me, I should say?” Smith said on Monday, via ESPN’s Chris Low. “And when we see man [coverage] against any of our receivers, we’re going to take a shot down the field. So I’m just letting everybody know right now that if you play man Wednesday, we’re taking a shot.”
We’re roughly 29 hours away from kickoff. The College Football Playoff quarterfinal at the Rose Bowl between Ohio State and Oregon will get underway at 5 p.m. ET tomorrow on ESPN.
It should be a dandy.
Related: Paul Finebaum Predicts Winner Of Oregon vs. Ohio State Rose Bowl