Buckeyes, Trojans already at work and play for the 82nd Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic

The Buckeyes go through their first workouts in Texas

   Both the Ohio State Buckeyes and USC Trojans arrived in North Texas on Saturday and immediately got to work. Ohio State and USC held their first practices at local high schools before moving to AT&T Stadium on Monday.
   Before departing for practice, the head coaches of both teams took a moment to reflect on the importance of a game featuring two storied programs. Not to mention that they are the champions of the Big Ten and Pac-12 conferences, who traditionally have met in the Rose Bowl.
   “When you talk about a USC-Ohio State matchup, I think everybody in college football was excited,” USC coach Clay Helton said. “If you’re a college football fan, that’s what you love to see, is to see the best teams play on the brightest stage down here in Dallas at AT&T Stadium. It doesn’t get any better than that.”
   Ohio State coach Urban Meyer had similar sentiments.
   “I can’t imagine two better tradition-rich programs facing each other,” Meyer said. “It will be great for college football. I imagine the fans will really enjoy watching this. And we’re going to do our best to put on a great event for Ohio State and USC, two great conferences, the Big Ten and the Pac-12.”
 

USC players take in the Cowboys-Seahawks game on Sunday.

Ohio State coach Urban Meyer addresses his team.