Who takes care of the ball better?
Blocking, tackling, punting and kicking — all that good stuff that was just as vital Jan. 1, 1958, the first time these teams met in a Rose Bowl.
Ohio State football coach Ryan Day and his Oregon counterpart, Dan Lanning, both are on the young side for college football head coaches — 45 and 38, respectively — and thought of as innovators in the game.
But they both cited the importance of one aspect of football that might be viewed as old-fashioned or cliche as the game has evolved to embrace more tangible methods for measuring what is happening on the field, including analytics.
That would be momentum.
Which jersey is “Big Mo’” wearing while the action is raging on the field in Pasadena?
“Ultimately it is about execution over emotion,” Lanning said. “That’s something we spend a lot of time talking about, and your ability to get to the next play is the most important play, regardless of the result.
“So there will be momentum swings in this game just like there are in every game, but it’s just that. It’s just momentum. You have to have the ability to either break it or sustain it. And those are things that you try to train throughout the season and throughout practice.”
Day agreed being able to create momentum is important. The Buckeyes did that by scoring the first 21 points against Tennessee then weathering the Volunteers’ response en route to a 42-17 win in a first-round win in Columbus 10 days ago.
“Execution fuels emotion, and knowing there’s going to be a lot of back and forth, just like in the last game,” Day said. “There was a lot of back and forth in that game… so understanding we all have to have poise throughout the game, knowing it’s going to be a four-quarter battle.”
Both coaches also expressed satisfaction with the health of their teams, at least relatively speaking, after 13 games.
With both hoping to play 16 or even 17 games this season, that has been on their minds since the start of winter workouts.
“I feel like, all things considered, we’re as healthy and as strong and as fresh as we’ve been all
season,” Day said. “I think right now we’re battle tested. I think we’ve built depth, and when we put the roster together we knew this was going to be the case, that we had to be strong powerful late in the season and continued to build as the season gone on.
“And although we’ve had injuries in certain positions, I feel like right now we’re playing as fast and as violent as we’ve played all season.”
Lanning had a similar assessment, crediting his sports science staff for helping the Ducks stay healthy and fresh.
“Nobody feels great at this point in the season because of the time of the season you’re in, but our players are putting up some (personal records) in the weight room, are doing some unbelievable things at this point in the season when you talk about going into game 14 for these guys,” Lanning said. “I think that’s huge kudos to our staff and the job that they’ve done making sure they stay fresh.”
About the Author
