Here are five things to know about the game:
1. Ohio State will have a new starting quarterback.
Kyle McCord left town shortly after throwing two interceptions in a crushing loss to Michigan last month, leaving the coveted position of Ohio State QB1 to Devin Brown.
The redshirt freshman from Arizona believes he is ready for his opportunity.
“College football is wild. You cannot predict anything, that’s for sure,” Brown told reporters in Dallas this week. “I’m just super excited, and I can’t wait.”
He threw 22 passes during the regular season, but his development was stunted by a hand injury in the spring and an ankle injury in October.
He hopes getting to run the team in practice throughout December will pay off.
“Sometimes when you’re not getting all the reps and trying to go in there and impress because you only have a certain amount of plays and you’re stressing about that, having a month of no stress, knowing I can go out and play free and try to build with all these guys individually,” Brown said. “I think I’ve just stepped up my game and it’s gotten a lot better.”
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2. The game could be a showcase of Ohio State’s receiver depth.
Two years ago, Emeka Egbuka and Marvin Harrison Jr. offered a preview of what was to come the past two seasons in the Rose Bowl against Oregon.
Harrison, who won the Biletnikoff Award as the top receiver in the nation this season, might not suit up against the Tigers, but that would only open up more snaps for youngsters like Carnell Tate and Brandon Inniss.
“What we do with those opportunities ultimately dictates the way our career is going to go. That’s just the great thing about sports,” receiver coach and offensive coordinator Brian Hartline said. “So with a couple guys, they might be in different roles. A couple of guys will have different opportunities. I hope a lot of guys get to play. That’s my hope.”
3. The revamped Ohio State secondary hasn’t faced a challenge like this.
The Buckeyes allowed the fewest passing yards per game in the nation in the regular season, but major challenges were few and far between in the Big Ten.
In the Cotton Bowl, they will be charged with slowing down 3,000-yard passer Brady Cook and especially sophomore receiver Luther Burden III, who has 1,197 receiving yards and earned second-team All-America honors.
“Yeah, overall it’s challenging because they do spread the field,” defensive coordinator Jim Knowles said. “I think they create openings for their receivers and mismatches. There’s a lot of motions. There’s a lot of shifts. So they do a great job of getting those guys free. I think that’s really a big thing. They’re really good, but their offense is structured to get them free through movements and shifts.”
4. Missouri also has a great running back.
Cody Schrader, a 5-foot-9, 215-pound senior from St. Louis, leads the nation in rushing (1,499 yards) and all-purpose yards (140.8 per game).
A former Division II player, he earned consensus All-America honors and the Burlsworth Trophy as the top player in the country who began his career as a walk-on.
While Ohio State shut down a good Penn State running game, Notre Dame, Rutgers and Michigan all had sustained success on the ground against the Buckeyes despite having less of a passing threat to occupy their attention.
“It makes things really difficult,” Knowles said. “I mean, great runner — downhill, hits the hole fast, can make you pay. So you better be sure in that first, and then how much can you double the receiver and those kinds of chances that you can take.
“You really got to be judicious with that because you don’t want to open yourself up for the easy runs because he’s a great back, and he’ll take advantage of it.”
5. The Buckeyes believe they are dialed in.
Teams that began the year with national championship aspirations sometimes fail to show up for games like this.
That has become more literally true in recent seasons with the trend of NFL draft candidates frequently opting out of the games, meaning many teams bring only partial rosters to bowls.
Most of Ohio State’s potential opt-outs are in line to play, though, and senior receiver Xavier Johnson Jr. said the Buckeyes have no lack of motivation.
“I’ve heard there’s kind of a stereotype that Ohio State are kind of some divas in a way, and I think that when you see the way we approach the game, when you see the way we play the game, how we play for each other, that that narrative isn’t necessarily true,” Johnson said.
“So I think that when it comes to this game specifically, you’re going to see a whole bunch of hungry young men, hungry brothers, who are coming out trying to put a stamp on the 2023 season. And we have poured so much into it, sacrificed so much, and it’s only right that we go out there and give it our best, give it our all to finish off this season.”
FRIDAY’S GAME
Ohio State vs. Missouri, 8 p.m., ESPN, 1410
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