California at Ohio State
* Date, Time: Sat., Sept. 15, noon (Eastern)
* Location: Ohio Stadium
* TV: ABC (national telecast; announcers: Sean McDonough, Chris Spielman and Quint Kessenich)
* 2012 Records: Ohio State, 2-0 overall; California, 1-1 overall.
* 2011 Records: Ohio State, 6-7 overall, 3-5 Big Ten (fourth in Leaders Division); California, 7-6 overall, 4-5 Pac-12 (fourth in North Division).
* 2012 Rankings: Ohio State, 12th in Associated Press poll; California, unranked.
* Coaches: Ohio State, Urban Meyer (first year at OSU, 2-0; 11th year overall, 106-23; vs. Cal, 1-0); California, Jeff Tedford (11th year at Cal, 80-49; vs. OSU, first meeting).
* Series History: Ohio State leads the all-time series with California 5-1. The schools have not met for 40 years, dating to an OSU win at Cal (35-18). The teams met twice at the Rose Bowl with Cal winning in 1921 (28-0) and OSU winning in 1950 (17-14). OSU is 2-0 vs. Cal at Ohio Stadium with wins in 1954 (21-13) and 1971 (35-3).
The schools will complete a two-year home-and-home contract with OSU visiting newly renovated Memorial Stadium in Berkeley on Sept. 14, 2013.
* California Schedule: Sept. 1, Nevada, L 31-24; Sept. 8, Southern Utah, W 50-31; Sept. 15, at Ohio State; Sept. 22, at USC; Sept. 29, Arizona State; Oct. 6, UCLA; Oct. 13, at Washington State; Oct. 20, Stanford; Oct. 27, at Utah; Nov. 2, Washington; Nov. 10, Oregon; Nov. 17, at Oregon State.
* California Key Players (2012 Stats): QB Zach Maynard (34 of 53 passing, 474 yards, 3 TDs, 1 INTs), RB Isi Sofele (24 carries, 126 yards, 1 TD), RB C.J. Johnson (19 carries, 112 yards, 1 TD), WR Chris Harper (12 catches, 151 yards, 1 TD), WR Keenan Allen (11 catches, 136 yards, 1 TD), WR Bryce Treggs (6 catches, 100 yards, 1 TD), LB Robert Mullins (20 tackles, 2 TFLs), DB Josh Hill (20 tackles), CB Marc Anthony (8 tackles, 3 TFLs, 1 INT), LB J.P. Hurrell (8 tackles, 3 sacks).
* California Fast Facts: Location: Berkeley, Calif.; Enrollment, 36,142; Conference: Pac-12 Conference; Nickname, Golden Bears; Colors, Blue and Gold; Stadium, Memorial Stadium (surface, Matrix Turf; capacity, 63,198).
* Ohio State Schedule: Sept. 1, Miami (Ohio), W 56-10; Sept. 8, Central Florida, W 31-16; Sept. 15, California; Sept. 22, UAB; Sept. 29, at Michigan State; Oct. 6, Nebraska; Oct. 13, at Indiana; Oct. 20, Purdue; Oct. 27, at Penn State; Nov. 3, Illinois; Nov. 17, at Wisconsin; Nov. 24, Michigan.
* Ohio State Key Players (2012 Stats): QB Braxton Miller (32 of 48 passing, 362 yards, 3 TDs, 1 INTs; 44 carries, 302 yards, 4 TDs), RB Carlos Hyde (24 carries, 109 yards, 2 TDs), RB Brionte Dunn (12 carries, 60 yards, 1 TD), TE Jake Stoneburner (4 catches, 48 yards, 1 TD), WR Philly Brown (13 catches, 135 yards, 1 TD), WR Devin Smith (8 catches, 88 yards, 1 TD), DB Christian Bryant (12 tackles), LB Etienne Sabino (10 tackles), LB Ryan Shazier (14 tackles), DE John Simon (8 tackles), CB Bradley Roby (10 tackles), CB Travis Howard (3 INTs).
Depth Charts
Ohio State Offense
LT 74 Jack Mewhort 6-6, 312, Jr.
76 Darryl Baldwin 6-5, 300, So.
LG 78 Andrew Norwell 6-6, 310, Jr.
73 Antonio Underwood 6-2, 306, So.
C 71 Corey Linsley 6-3, 295, Jr.
50 Jacoby Boren 6-2, 287, Fr.
RG 79 Marcus Hall 6-5, 315, Jr.
57 Chase Farris 6-4, 290, R-Fr.
RT 77 Reid Fragel 6-8, 310, Sr.
68 Taylor Decker 6-7, 313, Fr.
TE 81 Nick Vannett 6-6, 255, R-Fr.
OR 86 Jeff Heuerman 6-5, 250, So.
WR (H) 11 Jake Stoneburner 6-5, 245, Sr.
80 Chris Fields 6-0, 197, Jr.
QB 5 Braxton Miller 6-2, 220, So.
13 Kenny Guiton 6-3, 210, Jr.
RB 25 Bri’onte Dunn 6-1, 210, Fr.
2 Rod Smith, 6-3, 228, So.
FB 44 Zach Boren 6-1, 245, Sr.
49 Adam Homan 6-3, 245, Sr.
WR (X) 15 Devin Smith 6-1, 200, So.
83 Michael Thomas 6-2, 198, Fr.
WR (Z) 10 Corey Brown 6-0, 187, Jr.
16 Evan Spencer 6-2, 205, So.
K 24 Drew Basil 6-1, 210, Jr.
39 Kyle Clinton 6-1, 215 So.
Ohio State Defense
LEO 54 John Simon 6-2, 263, Sr.
88 Steve Miller 6-3, 255, So.
OR 8 Noah Spence 6-3, 240, Fr.
DT 52 Johnathan Hankins 6-3, 322, Jr.
92 Adolphus Washington 6-3, 289, Fr.
OR 90 Tommy Schutt 6-2, 295, Fr.
NT 53 Garrett Goebel 6-4, 290, Sr.
51 Joel Hale 6-4, 295, So.
72 Chris Carter 6-4, 340, R-Fr.
DE 50 J.T. Moore 6-3, 260, So.
43 Nathan Williams, 6-3, 249, Sr.
63 Michael Bennett 6-3, 285, So.
OLB 10 Ryan Shazier 6-2, 230, So.
36 Conner Crowell 6-1, 235, R-Fr.
25 David Perkins 6-2, 220, Fr.
MLB 14 Curtis Grant 6-3, 235, So.
5 Camren Williams 6-1, 225, Fr.
OLB 6 Etienne Sabino 6-3, 237, Sr.
15 Joshua Perry 6-4, 238, Fr.
CB 1 Bradley Roby 5-11, 190, So.
12 Doran Grant 5-11, 188, So.
SAF 2 Christian Bryant 5-10, 192, Jr.
19 Orhian Johnson 6-3, 210, Sr.
SAF 4 C.J. Barnett 6-1, 202, Jr.
3 Corey Brown 6-1, 198, Jr.
CB 7 Travis Howard 6-1, 200, Sr.
9 Adam Griffi n 5-8, 180, So.
P 17 Ben Buchanan 5-11, 192, Sr.
24 Drew Basil 6-1, 210, Jr.
LS 41 Bryce Haynes 6-4, 220, R-Fr.
56 George Makridis 6-2, 230, Jr.
California Offense
WR 21 Keenan Allen, 6-3, 210, Jr.
6 Chris Harper, 6-0, 170, Fr.
LT 77 Tyler Rigsbee, 6-5, 290, Sr.
78 Freddie Tagaloa, 6-8, 340, Fr.
LG 73 Jordan Rigsbee, 6-4, 306, Fr.
71 Alejandro Crosthwaite, 6-4, 300, So.
C 57 Brian Schwenke, 6-4, 300, Sr.
58 Chris Adcock, 6-3, 300, So.
RG 58 Chris Adcock, 6-3, 300, So.
72 Matt Williams, 6-6, 300, Jr.
RT 79 Bill Tyndall, 6-4, 285, Jr.
70 Geoffrey Gibson, 6-3, 315, So.
TE 11 Richard Rodgers, 6-4, 265, So.
87 Spencer Hagan, 6-5, 235, Jr.
WR 1 Bryce Treggs, 5-11, 175, Fr.
10 Darius Powe, 6-3, 212, Fr.
QB 15 Zach Maynard, 6-2, 185, Sr.
16 Allan Bridgford, 6-3, 220, Jr.
FB 48 Eric Stevens, 6-0, 242, Sr.
23 Dasarte Yarnway, 6-0, 220, Jr.
TB 20 Isi Sofele, 5-8, 200, Sr.
or 9 C.J. Anderson, 5-11, 210, Sr.
K 13 Vincenzo D’Amato, 6-1, 200, Jr.
California Defense
DE 50 Aaron Tipoti, 6-2, 280, Sr.
41 Todd Barr, 6-3, 275, Fr.
NG 96 Kendrick Payne, 6-2, 283, Sr.
55 Viliami Moala, 6-2, 335, So.
DE 91 Deandre Coleman, 6-5, 309, Jr.
56 Keni Kaufusi, 6-1, 280, Jr.
OLB 40 Chris McCain, 6-6, 225, So.
43 Dan Camporeale, 6-3, 247, Jr.
ILB 37 Robert Mullins, 6-0, 225, Sr.
11 Nick Forbes, 6-1, 236, So.
ILB 34 J.P. Hurrell, 5-11, 230, Sr.
7 Jalen Jefferson, 6-2, 225, Fr.
OLB 17 Brennan Scarlett, 6-4, 255, So.
22 Nathan Broussard, 6-3, 246, Fr.
CB 2 Marc Anthony, 6-0, 200, Sr.
15 Adrian Lee, 5-11, 200, So.
S 23 Josh Hill, 5-10, 203, Sr.
5 Michael Lowe, 5-11, 210, So.
S 6 Alex Logan, 6-2, 200, Jr.
31 Tyré Ellison, 6-3, 200, Sr.
CB 1 Steve Williams, 5-10, 185, Jr.
3 Kameron Jackson, 5-9, 185, So.
P 16 Cole Leininger, 6-1, 200, Fr.
Also Notable
* Ohio State is 56-26-3 all-time against teams currently in the Pac-12. OSU is 7-3 in its last 10 games against Pac-12 teams dating to the 1997 season. The losses were at UCLA in 2001 and a home-and-home with USC in 2008-09.
USC (9-13-1) and Stanford (2-3) are the only Pac-12 teams Ohio State doesn’t own at least a .500 record against.
* Meyer is 1-0 all-time against California as a head coach. His 2003 Utah team defeated Cal 31-24 in Salt Lake City. Meyer’s teams are also 36-4 all-time in the month of September.
* OSU has won 62 straight regular season nonconference home games against unranked teams. That string dates to a 1982 loss to Florida State.
* Ohio State will recognize the 70th anniversary of its 1942 national championship team. Four members of that team, coached by Paul Brown, will be recognized. They are Paul Matus, Cameron Naples, Paul “Robin” Priday and Don Steinberg.
* This Saturday is also OSU Athletic Hall of Fame Day. The 2012 class includes Louise Bond-Williams (fencing), Pete Cusick (football), Jessica Davenport (basketball), George Downes (wrestling), Joseph Gailus (football), Ray Griffi n (football), Rex Holman (wrestling), Bob Knight (basketball; lifetime achievement), Keturah Lofton (track and field), Dick Schafrath (football), Jim Stone (women’s
volleyball coach) and Mike Vrabel (football).
* During the Jeff Tedford era, Cal has played six road games in other time zones that have started
before noon Pacific Time and the Golden Bears have a 5-1 record in those contests. Cal had won four straight early morning starts under Tedford with victories at Michigan State (2002), Illinois (2003), Air Force (2004) and Colorado State (2007) before falling at Maryland in 2008. The most recent early-morning game was in 2009 when the Bears won at Minnesota, 35-21.
* Cal has played 33 nationally ranked teams during the Tedford era and posted a 13-20 record in those contests.
Breaking It Down
* When Ohio State Has The Ball: It will be interesting to see what happens with the Ohio State offense this week. In the opener against Miami (Ohio), the Buckeyes got over their first-quarter hiccup and showed decent balance. Last week, everything – and we do mean everything – revolved around QB Braxton Miller, especially after RB Carlos Hyde went down with his knee injury.
The desperately need to diversify the offense. It looks good that RB Jordan Hall, out the first two weeks with a foot injury, could return and participate in some form. Urban Meyer is dying to get Hall going. Brionte Dunn and Rod Smith are also in the plans to replace Hyde at tailback.
Meyer talked about how Cal employs a “Bear” defense, where the Bears stack the line of scrimmage and predominatly play man coverage on the outside. That would seem to say they will dare Miller to try and beat them deep. Can Devin Smith and Philly Brown make the Bears pay if they go this route? Cal is one of the nation’s leaders in tackles-for-loss, averaging 10 per game so far.
But each of their opponents, Nevada and I-AA Southern Utah, have put up 31 points on California. This could be a case where the Buckeyes have to chip away and eventually break a few big ones on the Bears. From the Cal defense, keep an eye on end Aaron Tipoti, MLB J.P. Hurrell and CB Marc Anthony.
* When California Has The Ball: Ohio State has struggled getting to the opposing quarterback with just three sacks in two games. That isn’t a good sign as Cal’s Zach Maynard has the athletic ability to move around in the pocket, roll out and generally avoid the heat. Meyer has been clamoring for more pressure. We’ll see what the Buckeyes can do to get after the left-handed Maynard.
Cal has a nice tandem at running back with the shifty Isi Sofele and hard running C.J. Anderson. They are also pass catching threats out of the backfield. Cal has averaged a respectable 200 yards rushing through two games, while the Buckeyes are only giving up 51 yards per game on the ground so far.
The key match-up to watch will be on the perimeter as Cal’s Keenan Allen, who is Maynard’s half-brother, will go up against OSU corner Bradley Roby. Allen caught 98 passes last season and is off to another good start. Meyer has said Allen may be the best receiver the Buckeyes will see this year.
The OSU front seven needs to play big here. Opposing passers have had too much time to operate so far this year.
* How It Will Go: Cal, to be very frank, is kind of a Jekyll-and-Hyde opponent. If Maynard is on and the Cal defense is playing reasonably well, the Bears are probably capable of playing with anybody. The Bears went to Stanford last year and took Andrew Luck’s Cardinal to the wire before losing 31-28. They followed that up with a 47-38 win at Arizona State before falling to Texas 21-10 in the Holiday Bowl.
Nevada’s unique pistol offense was too much to handle in the season opener as the Bears lost at home 31-24. I’m not sure how much can be gleaned from last week’s win over I-AA Southern Utah, other than Cal led 20-17 after three quarters before exploding for 30 points in what became a 50-31 win.
The Buckeyes have an advantage, one would think, with the noon start. It’s weird why ABC would take Penn State-Navy at 3:30 p.m. and put this game involving a West Coast team on at noon. But OSU has to be the beneficiary of that decision. The Buckeyes need to parlay that advantage by jumping on the Bears early. They are 1-for-2 on quick starts so far this year. The longer they let Cal linger, the more dangerous Maynard, Allen and the rest could be.
But I do believe the Buckeyes will get out fast and attack the Cal defense. Protecting Miller will be a big key. The offensive line has allowed four sacks in two games and the Buckeyes have done well on the ground as well.
Miller’s fingerprints will be all over this win. You just have to hope and figure – if you’re an OSU fan – that it will take something like 12 to 15 runs and 18 to 20 completed passes by him to do it.
I’ve got it Ohio State 38-17
* For The Record: I am 2-0 straight-up and 1-1 against-the-spread with Ohio State. (The Buckeyes are 16-1/2 point favorite over the Bears.)
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