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Pregame notes ahead of Cotton Bowl matchup against Missouri

IMG_7408by:Andy Backstrom•12/29/23•

andybackstrom

Jordan Hancock by Matt Parker -- Lettermen Row --
Ohio State cornerback Jordan Hancock will be tasked with defending Missouri star wideout Luther Burden III in the slot during the Cotton Bowl. (Matt Parker/Lettermen Row)

ARLINGTON, Texas — No. 7 Ohio State (11-1, 8-1 Big Ten) is in the Dallas Cowboys’ AT&T Stadium to face No. 9 Missouri (10-2, 6-2 SEC) for the Cotton Bowl Classic Friday night.

Lettermen Row has pregame notes:

Pregame updates:

+ Ohio State QB Devin Brown is making his first career start. Brown took a look at the field with quarterbacks coach Corey Dennis pregame.

+ Ohio State cornerback Lorenzo Styles Jr. — who transferred in from Notre Dame this past offseason — and his younger brother Sonny, a starting Buckeyes safety, warming up side-by-side.

+ Ohio State true freshman quarterback Lincoln Kienholz, backing up Brown in the Cotton Bowl, is wearing eye black. Also has added a visor to his helmet.

+ Ohio State “nickel” cornerback Jordan Hancock has a tough assignment against Missouri slot wideout Luther Burden III, a stud sophomore for the Tigers. Here Hancock is running through coverage drills.

+ Ohio State quarterbacks Devin Brown, Lincoln Kienholz and Tristan Gebbia warming up.

+ Ohio State RB Miyan Williams suffered a season-ending injury midway through the year. He also declared for the NFL Draft already. But Williams is still with the Buckeyes supporting his teammates.

+ Ohio State appears to making a change on the offensive line. Sixth-year Matthew Jones, normally at right guard, took first-team reps at center, where Carson Hinzman had started the whole regular season. Enokk Vimahi filled in at Jones’ old right guard spot.

Injury note: LB Tommy Eichenberg is OUT

The fifth-year defensive stalwart, MIKE linebacker and “quarterback of the defense” suffered an arm injury at Rutgers in Week 10 and missed the following two games against Michigan State and Minnesota. He returned for the regular season finale at Michigan yet wore a brace on his left arm and recorded his second-lowest Pro Football Focus defensive grade (48.1) of the season, missing two tackles and allowing a season-high 55 receiving yards on three receptions.

That’s not a good representation of Eichenberg’s season nor his Ohio State career. In fact, despite his two-game absence and his struggles at Michigan, he became the first Buckeyes player to win the Butkus-Fitzgerald Linebacker of the Year, an annual award debuted in 2011 that honors the best Big Ten linebacker. Eichenberg clocked out of the regular season with 80 total tackles, including 40 solo tackles, a sack and a forced fumble. He’s already accepted an invitation to the Reese’s Senior Bowl.

Opt Out: WR Marvin Harrison Jr. won’t play in Cotton Bowl

As expected, Ohio State superstar wideout Marvin Harrison Jr. is opting out of the Cotton Bowl. He’s widely projected to go in the top three of the 2024 NFL Draft, although he’s yet to declare for draft.

In 2023, Harrison became the first Ohio State player to stack 1,000-yard receiving seasons. He also surpassed David Boston for the most career 100-yard receiving games (15) in program history.

Harrison found the end zone in all but two regular season games this year. He finished the 12-game slate by scoring touchdowns in eight straight outings. That stretch featured three consecutive multi-score performances (Week 9 at Wisconsin, Week 10 at Rutgers and Week 11 versus Michigan State). That’s when Ohio State’s Heisman campaign for Harrison began. Harrison — a Heisman finalist — made an even greater impact on the Buckeyes in 2023 than he did in 2022, despite being double teamed or bracketed most of the year.

Stats to track…

  • Quarterback Devin Brown, who backed up former-starter Kyle McCord, has appeared in five games this season. He’s completed 12-of-22 passes for 197 yards and two touchdowns to go along with one interception. Brown has also rushed for 35 yards and a touchdown, but he’s fumbled once, too.
  • With Marvin Harrison Jr. sitting the Cotton Bowl out, Emeka Egbuka is in the spotlight. The Buckeyes’ standout slot receiver missed three games this season, except he’s still third on the team with 452 receiving yards. He’s reeled in 35 passes and four touchdowns.
  • Ohio State defensive end Jack Sawyer has combined for 12 total tackles, including 4.5 for a loss and two sacks, over Ohio State’s last two games.
  • Missouri quarterback Brady Cook has thrown for 3,189 yards while posting a 20:6 touchdown-to-interception ratio. Cook has added 253 yards and eight scores on the ground.
  • Tigers running back Cody Schrader leads the country with 124.9 rushing yards per game. The former Division II star and Missouri walk-on has piled up 1,489 rushing yards and 13 rushing touchdowns this season.
  • Missouri’s defense is opportunistic. The Tigers are tied for 15th nationally with 2.92 sacks per game and are 27th with 6.5 tackles for loss per game. Missouri is tied for first in the SEC with 18 takeaways.

Ohio State vs. Missouri: Game time, details

The Buckeyes lead the all-time series 10-1-1 and has won the last two meetings, both coming in wins over the Tigers in the 1997 and 1998 seasons, a home and road win over Missouri.

This is just the third time Ohio State will compete in the Cotton Bowl classic. The Buckeyes are 2-0 all-time in the Cotton Bowl; they beat Texas A&M 28-12 on New Year’s Day 1987 and then won that bowl game with a 24-7 triumph over USC in the 2017 edition of the game.

Missouri, meanwhile, is playing in the Cotton Bowl for the fourth time. The Tigers are 2-1 all-time in the Cotton Bowl. They lost the 1946 edition of the game to Texas and beat Arkansas in 2008 and Oklahoma State in the 2014 edition of the game.

  • Time: 8 p.m. E.T.
  • TV Channel: ESPN
  • Date: Friday, Dec. 29
  • Location: AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas
  • Weather: The game will be played indoors. It will be around 70 degrees in the stadium.
  • The line: Ohio State is a 3.5-point favorite, per FanDuel.
  • Over/under: 48.5 points
  • The Buckeyes are 7-4-1 against the spread this season. The Buckeyes failed to cover a 3.5-point spread in their loss to Michigan.
  • Ohio State is 0-1 against teams from the SEC under Ryan Day
  • The Buckeyes have went over the total just three times in their 12 games this season
  • Ohio State is 2-3 in bowl games under Ryan Day. All three losses have come in the College Football Playoff
  • Missouri is 8-4 against the spread this year
  • Games involving Missouri has gone over the projected total in eight of the Tigers’ 12 games this season

Bold predictions for Buckeyes vs. Missouri

The Lettermen Row staff thinks Ohio State will bounce back against Missouri. But the crew went deeper than its score picks to make bold predictions about what will happen in the Cotton Bowl.

READ: Bold Predictions for Buckeyes in top-10 matchup in Cotton Bowl

Stick with Lettermen Row for wall-to-wall game-day coverage

Lettermen Row will be on site for comprehensive coverage of Ohio State-Missouri in Arlington, Texas, as the Buckeyes take on the Tigers in a top-10, New Year’s Six showdown Friday night. Follow along on X, Instagram and YouTube for experienced coverage.

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