Ohio State still has enough options to beat Missouri

Dec. 29—Ohio State and Missouri share some history on the football field going into today’s Cotton Bowl, but it’s mostly ancient history.

OSU and Missouri’s two most recent games against each other were in 1997 and 1998.

In 1998, Ohio State coach Ryan Day was a freshman in college. And Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz wasn’t old enough to get a driver’s license in most states.

Ohio State won both those games by big scores over Missouri teams coached by Van Wert native and former Shawnee High School coach Larry Smith.

OSU was a 31-10 winner at Missouri in 1997 in a game remembered mostly for a huge hit Andy Katzenmoyer put on the Tigers’ quarterback, Corby Jones. In 1998, OSU won 35-14 at home after trailing at halftime.

Ohio State is 10-1-1 against Missouri overall, with nine of those games being played between 1939 and 1949.

Playing in the Cotton Bowl isn’t what Ohio State had in mind when this season began, in the middle of it or when it went into the Michigan game with an 11-0 record.

But a surprising number of OSU players who could have opted out of this game have said they will play in it.

When Kyle McCord, Chip Trayanum and Evan Pryor entered the transfer portal, there was an expectation their transfers would be followed by some of their teammates skipping the Cotton Bowl, as players like Garrett Wilson, Chris Olave, Haskell Garrett and Nicholas Petit-Frere did when OSU played in the Rose Bowl two years ago.

Even Marvin Harrison Jr., who would seem to have every reason not to play, had not revealed if he intends to be in uniform or be active on game day as of Thursday.

No. 7 Ohio State (11-1) probably would have been tested by No. 9 Missouri (10-2) even if both teams had gone into this matchup with their full rosters.

The Tigers’ two losses were by nine points against Georgia and by 10 points to LSU and Heisman Trophy…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/jim-naveau-ohio-state-still-153300637.html

Author : The Lima News, Ohio

Publish date : 2023-12-29 15:33:00

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.