From: OhioStateBuckeyes.com — Saturday will be USC’s first visit to the Horseshoe since 1990. The Trojans are 1-0 entering Saturday’s game after defeating San Jose State 56-3 last weekend at the Coliseum.

USC has made seven consecutive BCS bowl appearances, including four straight Rose Bowls and the 2004 national championship in the Orange Bowl.

The Trojans are led on offense by true freshman Matt Barkley, who threw for 233 yards on 15-of-19 passing with one touchdown. Junior tailback Joe McKnight ran for 145 yards on 14 carries and scored twice. On defense, the Trojans are led by senior and two-time All-American safety Taylor Mays, a leading candidate for the Thorpe Award.

Head coach Pete Carroll is 89-15 in his ninth season with a 57-10 record in Pac-10 play. His Trojans have won at least a share of seven straight Pac-10 titles. He is 6-1 in BCS bowls with three consecutive Rose Bowl victories.

DID YOU KNOW?
Brian Rolle’s interception return of Navy’s attempted two-point pass after touchdown Sept. 5 was the first such play for the Buckeyes since the 1991 season. That year, Ohio State’s Steve Tovar had a 96-yard interception return of a Drew Bledsoe extra-point pass attempt in a 33-19 home win over Washington State. Also in 1991, Buckeye Greg Smith blocked an Iowa extra-point kick attempt and Jason Simmons returned it 85 yards; Ohio State lost that game to Iowa 16-9.

Television: ESPN will broadcast the game with Brent Musberger, Kirk Herbstreit and Lisa Salters. ESPN-3D will also broadcast the game with Mark Jones, Bob Davie and Ed Cunningham.

Radio: WBNS (FM 97.1 The Fan) is the flagship station for the 73-station Ohio State radio network. The Jim Tressel pregame show airs 30 minutes prior to kickoff. Paul Keels will call the play-by-play with former Buckeye Jim Lachey in the booth and Marty Bannister on the sidelines. The game can also be heard on Sirius satellite radio Channel 121 and on Touchdown Radio with Gino Torretta, Frank Frangie and Roxie Bernstein.

FIRST AND 10
• Ohio State and USC have played in a combined 13 BCS bowl games since 2002 under coaches Jim Tressel and Pete Carroll
• USC coach Pete Carroll was a member of the Ohio State coaching staff in 1979
• Ohio State has won at least 10 games in each of the last four years, played in the national championship game twice and two other BCS bowls
• Coach Jim Tressel is 84-19 after eight years at Ohio State; 219-76-2 after 23 years overall
• Ohio State is the Big Ten preseason favorite, followed by Penn State and Michigan State
• ESPN’s College GameDay will originate from an Ohio State game for the 24th time since 1996
• The Big Ten went 10-1 in opening weekend games
• Ohio State has won four Big Ten titles in a row
• Crowds of more than 100,000 have seen the last 49 games at Ohio Stadium
• Forty former Buckeyes are on 2009 NFL opening-day rosters

SERIES RECORD
Southern California leads the all-time series with the Buckeyes by a 12-9-1 count. The first meeting between the two schools was a 13-12 USC home victory in 1937. The latest meeting at Ohio Stadium came in 1990, a 35-26 USC victory in Columbus. Ohio State’s last win was a 42-21 victory in the Rose Bowl following the 1973 season.

The winner has averaged 25.3 points per game during the series, with the losing team averaging 8.6, making the average margin of victory 16.7 points. Seven of the previous 22 meetings have been shutouts. Six games have been decided by a touchdown or less. The home team has won nine of the 15 regular season matchups.

Ohio State is 50-24-2 overall against the Pac-10; the Buckeyes have faced every conference school at least twice in football. In regular season games, Ohio State is 44-17-2 against the Pac-10.

The USC Series:

1937	at USC 13, Ohio State 12
1938	USC 14, at Ohio State 7
1941	Ohio State 33, at USC 0
1942	at Ohio State 28, USC 12
1946	Ohio State 21, at USC 0
1947	USC 32, at Ohio State 0
1948	at Ohio State 20, USC 0
1949	Ohio State 13, at USC 13
1954	Ohio State 20, USC 7*
1959	at USC 17, Ohio State 0
1960	at Ohio State 20, USC 0
1963	at USC 32, Ohio State 3
1964	at Ohio State 17, USC 0
1968	Ohio State 27, USC 16*
1972	USC 42, Ohio State 17*
1973	Ohio State 42, USC 21*
1974	USC 18, Ohio State 17*
1979	USC 17, Ohio State 16*
1984	USC 20, Ohio State 17*
1989	at USC 42, Ohio State 3
1990	USC 35, at Ohio State 26
2008	at USC 35, Ohio State 3

*Rose Bowl

OPENING DAY NUMBERS
After the 31-27 victory over Navy before an Ohio Stadium opening day record 105,092 fans, the Buckeyes have an all-time opening day record of 104-12-4 and have won their last 31 home openers. OSU’s last opening day loss at home was to Penn State in 1978. The Buckeyes’ last opening day loss away from Columbus was to Miami in the 1999 Kickoff Classic.

All-time, the Buckeyes are 108-8-4 in home openers since 1890. Prior to the Navy game, the largest opening day crowd at Ohio Stadium was 105,078 in the 2003 opener vs. Washington.

Ohio State has not lost a home opener since Sept. 16, 1978 to be exact. No. 6 Ohio State suffered a 19-0 loss to No. 5 Penn State in Woody Hayes’ final season as head coach.

OHIO STATE CAPTAINS
Seniors Kurt Coleman, Austin Spitler and Doug Worthington were elected as 2009 captains of the Ohio State football team. An offensive game captain will be selected each week. Jim Cordle served as captain against Navy.

The last time Ohio State had only defensive players as permanent captains was in 2002, when Mike Doss and Donnie Nickey were captains of the national championship squad.

BUCKEYES WIN 77 PERCENT OF OHIO STADIUM GAMES
The Buckeyes boast an all-time record of 386-106-20 (.773) in Ohio Stadium since that facility opened in 1922.

The attendance of 105,092 against Navy was an opening day record for Ohio Stadium. Ohio State has hosted 49 consecutive crowds of 100,000 or larger at Ohio Stadium; three of last year’s crowds ranked among the top 10 all-time. Ohio State’s all-time record in Columbus is 529-153-35 in 717 games.

FOR STARTERS
When the Ohio State-Southern Cal game kicks off, the Buckeyes will have a total of 29 players with at least one game of starting experience.
Tops among those are: Anderson Russell (31); Jim Cordle (26); Kurt Coleman (25); Doug Worthington (23); Cameron Heyward (21); Bryant Browning, Chimdi Chekwa (14); Jake Ballard (12); Mike Brewster, Thaddeus Gibson, Terrelle Pryor (11); Lawrence Wilson (8); Todd Denlinger, Jermale Hines, Ross Homan (7); Dexter Larimore, Rob Rose, Ray Small (4); Dan Herron, Dane Sanzenbacher (3); Tyler Moeller (2); Aaron Gant, Brandon Saine (1).

Getting their first Ohio State start against Navy were six players: Andre Amos, Justin Boren, Zach Boren, Andrew Miller, DeVier Posey, Reid Fragel and Brian Rolle.
The Boren brothers, products of Pickerington, Ohio, are the first siblings to start in the same game for the Buckeyes since John (LB) and Mike (NG) Sullivan from Mentor, Ohio, started nine games together during the 1988 season.

IN NIGHT GAMES
Ohio State is 6-2 at home (26-13 away from home) in night games (games starting 5 p.m. or later local time) since 1959 and 32-15 in night games all-time. Under Coach Jim Tressel, the Buckeyes are 14-9 in night games and 7-3 in Big Ten night games away from Ohio Stadium. Tressel’s teams are 2-2 at home in night games.

AGAINST RANKED TEAMS
Ohio State is 127-103-12 all-time when facing a ranked opponent, and 39-41-7 on the road against ranked teams. Under Coach Jim Tressel, the Buckeyes are 33-12 overall and 12-6 on the road against ranked teams.

IN NON-CONFERENCE GAMES
Under Jim Tressel, the Buckeyes are 24-1 at Ohio Stadium versus non-conference teams, the only loss coming 25-22 to No. 2 Texas in 2005. The Buckeyes are 28-3 overall in regular season non-conference games since 2001.

IN SEPTEMBER
The Buckeyes boast an all-time record of 147-22-5 in September games and a record of 121-10-4 in September home games.

OHIO STATE W/L RECORDS
Seasons: 120th
All-Time Record: 809-307-53
Big Ten: 450-189-28
Ohio Stadium: 386-106-20
Bowl Games: 18-22

FIRST IMPRESSIONS
Six Ohio State true freshmen made their first collegiate appearance in the opener against Navy: DB C.J. Barnett, FB Zach Boren, WR Duron Carter, FB Adam Homan, LB Storm Klein and DT John Simon.

OHIO STATE REPRESENTED AT JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
Buckeye freshmen Storm Klein (LB, Newark, Ohio) and Jack Mewhort (OL, Toledo, Ohio) spent three weeks this summer as part of USA Football’s Junior National Team in the inaugural IFAF Junior World Championships held in Canton, Ohio. Team USA won the gold medal with wins over France (78-0), Mexico (55-0) and Canada (41-3) in the championship game. Klein (who was also a team captain) and Mewhort were both named to the all-tournament team.

PRESEASON BIG TEN AWARDS
The Buckeyes were picked as the 2009 preseason favorite among media covering the Big Ten. Sophomore quarterback Terrelle Pryor was tabbed as the preseason player of the year on offense.

PAIR OF BUCKEYES WIN BIG TEN TITLE ON THE TRACK
Junior defensive back Chimdi Chekwa and sophomore wide receiver Lamaar Thomas were a part of Ohio State’s Big Ten champion 4x100m relay team at the 2009 Big Ten Track and Field Championships in May. Thomas ran the third leg and Chekwa the fourth to take first place in 40.63 seconds. The win helped the Buckeyes to a second-place team finish overall, their highest since 2001.

THE GRADUATES
Six members of the 2009 Buckeye squad have already earned their bachelor’s degrees: Andrew Moses (political science), Aaron Pettrey (social and behavioral sciences), Anderson Russell (communication), Austin Spitler (communication), Marcus Williams (health sciences), Lawrence Wilson (communication). Nine more members of the team are expected to graduate following the autumn quarter.

HONOR ROLL
In 2008, 27 Ohio State football players were named to the Big Ten’s all-academic team; the Buckeyes have led the conference over the past seven years. Additionally, 46 Ohio State football players qualified for the annual OSU Scholar-Athlete Dinner in May, which requires a grade-point average of 3.00 or better for the past academic year.

BIG TEN WELL REPRESENTED IN PRESEASON TOP 25 COACHES POLL
The Big Ten conference was well represented in the preseason USA Today Coaches’ Poll with nine of the 11 programs receiving at least one vote and two schools ranked among the Top 10. The Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC were the only conferences to feature multiple Top 10 teams.

Ohio State entered the 2009 campaign ranked sixth, with Penn State close behind at No. 8. Iowa was the Big Ten’s third Top 25 team, ranking 21st overall.

Six other Big Ten schools also received at least one vote in the preseason USA Today Coaches’ Poll, including Michigan State, Illinois, Wisconsin, Northwestern, Michigan and Minnesota.

CHRIS SPIELMAN TO ENTER HALL
Two-time Ohio State All-American linebacker Chris Spielman, the 28th Buckeye inducted into the National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame, was recognized at halftime of the Navy game. The four-year letterwinner (1984-87) and the winner of the1987 Lombardi Award will be inducted at a ceremony in South Bend, Ind. in the summer of 2010.

Spielman, hailing from Massillon Washington High School, ranks third all-time in tackles (546) at Ohio State and first in solo stops (283). Perhaps the most notable performance by Spielman was his 29-tackle day against Michigan in 1986.

Tenacious and hard-hitting on the field, the linebacker is just as strong away from the field, as is his wife, Stefanie. In 1998, the couple learned that Stefanie had breast cancer. Despite the physical and emotional strain of dealing with such a disease, and the unthinkable worries, the couple has been tireless advocates for cancer research and they have helped to raise millions to fight the disease.

After his playing days in Columbus, Spielman was drafted in the second round by Detroit in 1988 and went on to play for the Lions and Buffalo Bills before finishing up his career with the Cleveland Browns. The 12-year NFL veteran and four-time Pro Bowler then made the move to the broadcast booth where he is a college football analyst for ESPN and co-hosts The Big Show on WBNS radio in Columbus. He and Stefanie are the parents of four children.

NOT SINCE 1922-24
Ohio State ranks second among all NCAA Div. I programs with 84 consecutive seasons since last posting back-to-back losing records. The Buckeyes have not been under .500 for two or more consecutive seasons since 1922-24, which trails only Tennessee; the Vols have not had back-to-back losing seasons since 1909-11, a span of 97 consecutive seasons.

School	Years	Last
Tennessee	97	1909-11
Ohio State	84	1922-24
Southern Miss	74	1933-34
Arizona State	61	1946-47
Alabama	51	1854-57

HORSESHOE RECEIVES SCOREBOARD, SIGNAGE UPGRADES
“The Horseshoe” will present fans with new signage displays and scoreboards in the north endzone and on the east and west fascias of the stadium’s C-Deck.

For the first time in the stadium’s history, the scoreboard in the north endzone offers fans a video screen. At 17-feet-by-44-feet, the LED board offers fans replays and other game-day features typically only seen on the video board in the south endzone.

The ribbon boards on the east and west side have been replaced and expanded to reach endzone-to-endzone and feature an improved LED display.

In addition to the new boards, tribute signage for Ohio State’s seven national championship teams (1942, ‘54, ‘57, ‘61, ‘68, ‘70, 2002) is on display near the new scoreboard in the north endzone, accenting the seven currently retired Ohio State jersey numbers of Chic Harley (17), Les Horvath (22), Eddie George (27), Vic Janowicz (31), Howard “Hopalong” Cassady (40), Bill Willis (99) and Archie Griffin (45) also displayed on the north end.

As a result of the expanded ribbon boards, the Woody Hayes tribute signage has moved to the southeast corner of the C-Deck face. All three signage areas are backlit for more prominent display during primetime telecasts.

WHERE THEY GO NEXT
Ohio State visits Cleveland Browns Stadium next Saturday, Sept. 19, for a noon game with host Toledo. That game will be televised by ESPN Plus. Southern Cal visits Washington that day.

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