Pac-12 Football 

Stephen Vilardo’s 2022 Rose Bowl Game Notes

, 4 min read
Utah is poised to reap the fruits of their best season as a member of the Pac-12. | Jeff Speer/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Posted on December 31, 2021


  By Stephen Vilardo, SuperWest Sports
Utah is appearing in their first Rose Bowl while Ohio State is playing in the Grand Daddy of Them All for the 16th time.

Pac-12Ohio State’s eight Rose Bowl wins all-time are tied with Stanford, Washington, and Michigan for the second-most ever, trailing the 20 wins for USC.

The Ducks and Wolverines combined for 566 rushing yards against OSU, the Buckeyes allowed a total of 856 yards on the ground in their 10 other games.

The common denominator in those two losses was the Buckeyes’ inability to stop the run. Utah certainly has a potent running game and have been unstoppable on the ground over their last seven games.

The Ducks and Wolverines combined for 566 rushing yards against OSU allowed a total of 856 yards on the ground in their 10 other games. So, if the Utes can continue to find success on the ground, then they will be in decent shape to get a win.

My game notes for both teams appear below.

Rose Bowl

Utah Utes vs Ohio State Buckeyes

Rose Bowl Stadium | Pasadena, California
Sat, Jan 1, 2:00 p.m. PT | ESPN: Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit, Tiffany Blackmon & Holly Rowe
Series Record: Ohio State leads 1-0

Utah Utes (10-3) Game Notes

Utah Bowl Record: 17-6

• Utah is 2-0 all-time in New Year’s Six bowls.

• Utah allowed just .92 sacks per game, the fifth-fewest in the nation.

• The Utes rushed for 197.3 yards per game against ranked opponents this season.

• Utah has 315 offensive first downs this season, which ranks 14th nationally.

• The Utes averaged 216.1 rushing yards per game, 13th nationally, while holding opponents to just 120.1 the 20th-best mark.

• Utah allowed 3.85 TFL per game this season, seventh-fewest in the nation.

• The Utes allowed just 44 plays from scrimmage to cover 20+ yards, 15th fewest in the country.

• Utah got 3.23 sacks per game this season, the 10th-most in the nation.

• The Utes have converted 49.04% of their third downs, the eighth-highest rate in the country.

• Utah has averaged 251.0 rushing yards per game in their last seven games.

• Britain Covey is one of three players this season to return multiple punts for a touchdown.

• Tavion Thomas has run for 20 TDs this season, the third-most in the nation.

• Cameron Rising has thrown for over 60% in eight games this season, including in six of the last eight.

• Dalton Kincaid’s 1,688 career receiving yards in Division I football ranks sixth among active FBS tight ends while Brant Kuithe ranks seventh with 1,593.

• Brant Kuithe and Dalton Kincaid have combined to score 13 of Utah’s 21 receiving touchdowns (61.9%) this season

• The last time any Pac-12 team had multiple tight ends with at least six receiving touchdowns was Stanford in 2011.

• Devin Lloyd’s 1.69 TFL per game are the third-most in the nation.

• Clark Phillips is averaging 1.00 passes defended per game, tied for 27th-most in the nation.

Ohio State Buckeyes (10-2) Game Notes

Ohio State Bowl Record: 25-27

• Ohio State is the only team to play in a New Year’s Six game in all eight years of the CFP era.

• This is Ohio State’s 53rd postseason bowl game all-time, the most among Big Ten teams. The Buckeyes’ 25 bowl victories rank third in the Big Ten and are tied for 12th nationally

• Utah represents Ohio State’s eighth different Rose Bowl opponent; OSU is 8-7 in the Rose Bowl.

• The Buckeyes have won their last three trips to the Rose Bowl.

• In two losses this season, Ohio State has allowed 283.0 rushing yards per game. In their ten wins the Buckeyes allowed just 85.6 per game on the ground.

• Ohio State allowed 3.92 TFL per game this season, tenth in the nation.

• The Buckeyes have converted 53.1 percent of their third downs, the third-best mark in the nation.

• OSU is 121st in the nation with an opponent Red Zone TD rate of 72.97%.

• Ohio State’s turnover margin of +.83 per game is tied for the 10th-best in in country.

• The Bucks had 15 plays this season cover at least 50 yards from scrimmage, the third-most in the nation.

• Ohio State leads the nation in total offense (551.4 yards/game) and scoring offense (45.5 points/game).

• Ohio State has won 11 consecutive games following a loss.

• The last two-game losing streak for Ohio State came at the end of the 2013 season with losses to Michigan State in the Big Ten title game and Clemson in the Orange Bowl.

• Miyan Williams averaged 7.1 yards per carry this season.

• TreVeon Henderson scored at least one touchdown in 10 of 12 games this season, and he has broken the Ohio State freshman TDs record with 19 total touchdowns, seventh-most in the nation.

• CJ Stroud’s 38 passing TDs are the fifth-most in the country.

Follow Stephen on Twitter @StephenVilardo and his organization @SERCenter.

Visit his website at sercstats.com.



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