Despite all the debate outside the program as to whether or not the Rose Bowl is a "big game" given the circumstances of the season, Ohio State's players and coaches are saying all the right things as they get set to tangle with Utah on Saturday in Pasadena.
A chief reason one could reasonably argue the Rose Bowl doesn't mean a ton is Ohio State's rush defense getting handled in both regular season losses. As a result, regardless of the game's meaning, most fans are indeed interested to see if the defense will respond and slow down a Utah run game ranked No.