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There are many cliches that remain true in football. One of the oldest is “the game is won in the trenches.” Who originally said it can be debated, but what can’t be debated is the Rose Bowl matchup between No. 1 Oregon (13-0; 9-0 Big Ten) versus No. 8 Ohio State (11-2; 7-2 Big Ten). It will be a determining factor in the game between Big Ten teams looking to advance to the Cotton Bowl for the College Football Playoff semifinal.
Ohio State needed to make adjustments following their 13-10 loss to unranked Michigan in the regular season finale. Just a week prior, consensus All-American center Seth McLaughlin, who was the 2024 recipient of the Dave Rimington Trophy for the nation’s top center, suffered a torn Achilles tendon in practice prior to Ohio State’s matchup against Indiana.
Ohio State O-Line Tested
Ohio State’s offensive line wasn’t gelled against Michigan, where the Wolverine defense kept Ohio State's dynamic running back duo of Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson to just three yards a carry. Despite being unable to get to quarterback Will Howard, the pressure from the Michigan pass rush forced many errant throws and held Howard to a season-low 57.6% completion percentage.
With Tennessee visiting Ohio Stadium for Ohio State’s first-ever home playoff game and possessing dominant defensive linemen like James Pearce Jr., head coach Ryan Day and staff realized they needed to change their blocking scheme. Following Ohio State’s decisive 42-17 win over Tennessee, Day revealed the offensive line changed to a gap scheme to aid the offense. The results had Howard completing 82.8% of his passes and the Ohio State ground game racking up 156 yards and four touchdowns. Day was asked about the gap scheme during his initial 2025 Rose Bowl press conference.
“We look at every game and try to figure out how we best can maximize our strengths, minimize our deficiencies,” Day said. “We'll continue to look at that and see if that fits for this week, but I certainly thought we got good double teams on the inside guys, and I thought our pullers did a nice job on the defensive ends and the second pullers getting to the next level.”
Day’s gap scheme faces arguably the best defensive line unit in the country in Oregon, where Day now has to account for EDGE Jordan Burch, who missed the first Ohio State game due to injury.
“Just his size and athleticism. God doesn't make a lot of people that look like Jordan Burch,” Oregon head coach Dan Lanning said at the Dec. 23 Rose Bowl press conference. “When people see him, they're surprised to hear he's really 300 pounds because he looks really good at his size, but he plays like a beast on the field, relentless effort and the fact that we have great depth and several guys that can play edge positions for us, it allows us to make sure that when he's on the field he's fresh, and a fresh Jordan Burch is really dangerous.”
Ohio State’s gap scheme will be tested in the interior, where having McLaughin in place to face Oregon defensive tackle Derrick Harmon would be a key factor.
Harmon Delivers for Ducks
Harmon finished second in the Power 5 with an 18.3% pass rush win rate. Harmon led all FBS interior defensive linemen with 52 total pressures and an 84.9 pass rush grade from PFF, third nationally.
The Oregon defense led the Big Ten in sacks (40.0) and fourth in tackles for loss (81.0). Their leader in that department was Burch’s partner on the edge, Matayo Uiagalelei. Uiagalelei led all Big Ten defenders in the regular season with 10.5 sacks, the most by an Oregon defender since DeForest Buckner’s 10.5 in 2015. Uiagalelei’s 12.5 tackles for loss were the most by an Oregon defender since Kayvon Thibodeaux’s 14.0 in 2019.
The trench battle between Oregon's defensive line and Ohio State's offensive line will be highlighted by NFL talent on both sides. Ohio State has allowed only 12 sacks this season, tied for eighth nationally. In their first matchup, the Buckeyes allowed a single sack to Uiagalelei but Oregon was without Burch. Oregon made it work then. Now Ohio State faces the pressure on missing McLaughlin compounded by Burch playing.
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