No. 21 Ohio State (1-0 overall, 0-0 Big Ten Conference)
at No. 14 UCLA (2-0, 0-0
Pacific-10 Conference)
Any game with Keith Jackson serving as the ABC commentator has to be the one to watch.
The last six times UCLA and Ohio State have met both have been ranked in the top 25. The Buckeyes lead the overall series 4-3-1, and this game will be only the second in the Rose Bowl. Neither team has won consecutive games against each other, and last year Ohio State rolled to a 42-20 win. In that game, the Buckeyes racked up 241 yards, rushing and 507 yards of total offense.
In their first game of the season, Ohio State defeated Akron in Columbus 28-14. Head coach Jim Tressel was pleased with the win, but others in the community, like the Columbus Dispatch’s Tim May, called the game a “lackluster win.”
Tressel said he is excited about the opportunity to play a top-ranked team like UCLA on the road.
“It’s a tremendous opportunity for us to go and see how we’ve come along and go out there and play against a very, very good football team in a big game that the whole nation is going to see,” the first-year coach said.
UCLA head coach Bob Toledo is optimistic that his team will not lose the momentum they had before the East Coast disasters.
“I believe that they’ll regroup after this terrible tragedy we had, and they will get back on track and continue to play well,” he said.
If the running game can pick up from where it was before the break, the Bruins and quarterback Cory Paus should be able to score some points against the Buckeye defense. Tailback DeShaun Foster leads the Pac-10 in rushing with 149.5 yards per game and worries the Ohio State players.
“We really do have to step it up,” Ohio State defensive end Tim Cheatwood told the Columbus Dispatch. “If we can hold that end of the line of scrimmage so that he can’t really bounce out or in like he likes, everybody else should scrap, and we should be OK.”
In addition to Foster, UCLA has another force in the backfield. Fullback Matt Stanley is one of Toledo’s favorites and should be a big part of the offensive game plan for the Buckeyes.
“He can run it extremely well,” Toledo said. “He blocks very well, and he is an excellent receiver coming out of the backfield.”
