NEW ORLEANS — It’s been 38 days since No. 8 Arkansas and No. 6 Ohio State last played.
The teams have had ample time to break down game film of each other and chart the opposition’s tendencies in preparation for the Sugar Bowl.
That doesn’t always pay off, though.
“I think that’s always a concern you have defensively is you have a little bit longer in a bowl game so you get a little bit more locked into what tendencies might be and all those things,” Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said. “You got to make sure that information doesn’t hurt you because all of a sudden, the key breakers can be devastating and you know, Bobby (Petrino’s) teams have always done that.”
The Buckeyes will face a Razorbacks’ offense ranked No. 8 in the nation in total offense. Ohio State can’t get discouraged when the Hogs score.
“We have to make sure that in the course of the game that we don’t get disappointed that, hey, they’re not doing exactly what we’ve prepared to do because it’s not within the rules that they have to,” Tressel said. “They’re allowed to run whatever plays they want and line up in whatever formations they want and do what they think will work best against us. Our job is to react to that and execute.
“The neat thing about every defense is it’s engineered for success. Every offense is, too, so it will come down to who can block and who can tackle, throw, catch, protect and all those things.”
Tweaking the playbook heading into a bowl game is normal.
“When you have this much time to prepare, we’re going to see something that we haven’t prepared for,” Petrino said. “They’ll probably see something they haven’t prepared for. That’s just how the bowl games go.”
Tressel had to adjust to Petrino’s brother, Paul, Illinois’ offensive coordinator this season. The Buckeyes led just 17-13 late in the fourth quarter, winning 24-13.
“I thought (Petrino’s) brother did good job of that against us with Illinois this year,” Tressel said. “Came out especially early and did a couple of key breaker things and it was challenging.”
The team that wins Tuesday will be able to read and stop the opposition’s keys.
They will have to adjust to the key breakers, too.