Ohio State’s resolve, toughness to be tested in Rose Bowl

“I think our guys have responded,” the third-year Ohio State assistant said. “You push our guys up against a wall, and they’re competitive. They know what they have to do, and I think we’ve had a good couple of weeks of practice going into the holiday. Had a good one yesterday. Looking forward to a physical, fast, competitive day today.”

Michigan ran for a season-high 297 yards against the Buckeyes on Nov. 27, a game that ended Ohio State’s four-year run as Big Ten champions and all-but eliminated them from contention for a third straight College Football Playoff appearance.

That sent them to Pasadena, where they will face a Utes team that — much like the Wolverines — is a hard-nosed, run-first outfit.

Is that a good thing?

“Absolutely,” Barnes said of immediately getting another shot at stopping that kind of offensive attack. “Again, we feel like we were backed against the wall coming out of that last one, so now we have a chance to regroup and practice hard. I think we’re more motivated than ever, and we’ll need to be because it’s a very, very good football team. Very talented, extremely well-coached, and — again — very physical. We’ll have a great challenge.”

Linebacker Steele Chambers agreed he sees similarities on tape between Utah and Michigan.

“They just come at you downhill, so we’ve just got to be prepared for that,” Chambers said.

“I feel like it’s just good to end the season on a good note, really getting that bad taste out of your mouth after a game like that.”

Leading that downhill charge is Tavion Thomas, a junior from Dunbar High School whose emergence in the middle of the season helped Utah finish strong and win the Pac 12.

He has thrived in Utah’s mostly zone running scheme, which becomes even tougher to stop when they put an extra tight end or two in the game.

“I just feel like to put in more bodies in front, we get a better push and for me,” Thomas said. “I can see everything.

“I like having them extra bodies, extra tight ends on the field because it’s grown men on grown men at the end of the day. That’s how I like it.”

Here are four more storylines for Ohio State’s 16th Rose Bowl appearance:

1. It is a homecoming for C.J. Stroud.

Ohio State’s redshirt freshman quarterback is having one of the best seasons statistically in school history, and the Inland Empire, Calif., native gets to finish it in front of more friends and family than have been able to see him play so far this season.

“I honestly thought we were going to make the playoffs, but at the end of the day I never would have thought that I would come back home to play, which is an awesome feeling,” Stroud said. “It just feels regular to me. I don’t have to worry about the cold anymore. It’s kind of cold out here.

“I definitely think it’s a blessing to have my people who couldn’t come out to Ohio come out and see me play that I really wanted to come, so it’s just a blessing for me to be able to play back home in front of some fans out here that never got to come see an Ohio State game and in front of my family.”

2. Ohio State’s receiving corps and the Utah secondary will both be somewhat short-handed.

Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson have opted not to play in the Rose Bowl, although Olave has practiced with the team in California.

The Buckeyes still have 1,000-yard receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba along with a handful talented youngsters looking forward to their first major playing time, so Stroud should not be short on potential targets.

“We’ll be fine,” Stroud said. “My mindset hasn’t changed. I’m still trying to go out there and compete and have fun, so I don’t really think anything changes.

“I think they’ve been anxious all year to play. This is their opportunity to go out there and prove what they can do. I’m definitely excited for them to go out there and have some fun and just show the world what they can do.

On the flip side, one of Utah’s most talented players is cornerback Clark Phillips III — a former Ohio State recruit — but injuries have left huge questions about who will join him the secondary on Saturday.

“We’ve experimented with a bunch of guys,” Utah defensive coordinator Morgan Scalley said. “Obviously, you’ve got great athletes that’s have come to our university, and some of them have played both sides of the ball. We’ve experimented with a number of guys, and you’ll see on game day.”

3. While the Buckeyes’ ability to stop Thomas has gotten most of the attention, Ohio State’s rushing attack has an opportunity to make a difference.

The Utes have the No. 1 run defense in the Pac 12, but they gave up over 200 yards in three different games. They are 57th in the nation in defensive line yards, an advanced metric from Football Outsiders that measures how efficiently the front seven handles the run, while Ohio State is sixth in offensive line yards.

The Utes have been below average in short-yardage defense, ranking 78th in power success rate, but they are 11th in stuff rate, which measures how often they stop runs for no gain or a loss.

Utah is seventh in the nation in tackles for loss with 97.

4. This could be a program-defining with for Utah.

The only other time Ohio State and Utah faced off, the 64-6 final score left little doubt they were not on the same level.

Much has changed since 1986, though.

Utah scored a pair of big-time bowl upsets in the first decade of the 2000s and joined the Pac 12 in 2011. The climb continued this season with the Utes’ first Pac 12 title, and beating Ohio State would provide another major pelt on the wall.

“We got to the Pac-12 Championship Game three of the last four years, finally got over that hump this year and was able to break into the Rose Bowl,” coach Kyle Whittingham said. “It’s just been a process. It’s been a steady process. There was no one moment in time that made the tables turn. We just kept at it, a great tribute and credit to our assistant coaches who are on the front lines of recruiting, identifying the talent and bringing the right guys to the table.”

SATURDAY’S ROSE BOWL

Ohio State vs. Utah, 5 p.m., ESPN, 1410