FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., Jan. 3 -- With four of five Heisman Trophy finalists on the field and college football's national championship at stake, the lead-up to Tuesday's Orange Bowl has featured all the hype of a Hollywood blockbuster so star-studded that it can't miss at the box office.
Southern California and Oklahoma haven't shared billing since 1992, but their meeting in the Bowl Championship Series title game has had an air of inevitability about it since the 2004 season dawned, with USC opening at No. 1 and Oklahoma at No. 2. They never relinquished those spots, finishing with 12-0 records, and marched into south Florida last week with distinct, deep-seated motivation for marching off with the victor's crystal football.
Oklahoma quarterback Jason White, the 2003 Heisman Trophy winner, faces USC counterpart Matt Leinart, the 2004 Heisman winner.
(Luis M. Alvarez - AP)
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_____Breakdown_____
Something's Gotta Give: Oklahoma is 16th in the nation in rushing offense (215.1 ypg) and ran for at least 214 yards in eight games. USC is second in the nation in rushing defense (75.3 ypg) and held seven foes to 50 rushing yards or less.
Youth Will Be Served: Adrian Peterson isn't the only freshman who could have an impact tonight. Wide receiver Dwayne Jarrett led USC with 50 catches for 734 yards and 12 touchdowns. At some point, Jarrett likely will find himself being covered by cornerback Marcus Walker, who didn't play until the season's ninth game because the Sooners wanted to redshirt him but quickly emerged as perhaps their best cover man.
The Full Story: The key to the Sooners' offense? Perhaps it will be fullback J.D. Runnels, who will play a key role in protecting quarterback Jason White against marauding linebackers Lofa Tatupu and Matt Grootegoed.
No Worries: Much has been made this week about Oklahoma relying on freshman Garrett Hartley, who has yet to attempt a field goal in a college game, for its place kicking tonight. But Hartley's teammate, linebacker Lance Mitchell, doesn't seem too concerned.
"That guy's loose all day," Mitchell said. "I don't even think he's aware of what's going on."
Trophy Shelved? Is this a bad sign for USC's Matt Leinart? The last three Heisman quarterbacks who played in the BCS championship have lost, including the man Leinart will be facing in tonight's game, Oklahoma quarterback and 2003 Heisman winner Jason White.
-- News Services and Staff Reports
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| USC vs. Oklahoma
• Orange Bowl participants USC and Oklahoma are very similar in terms of talent.
• Oklahoma running back Adrian Peterson has a cheering section at the Texas prison where his father is locked up.
• Wilbon: The BCS debate has distracted from a bumper crop of talent in college football this year.
• The two Heisman winning quarterbacks will likely decide who wins the national championship.
_____Bowl Schedule, Results_____
• From Boise to Mobile, keep up with all 28 bowl games crammed into three weeks of college football.
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ABC executives are giddy over the matchup, a rare stroke of perfection engineered by the puzzling BCS system. Expectations are rampant that this Orange Bowl will be an instant classic, and legions of Trojans and Sooners fans are paying as much as $1,000 to be at Miami's Pro Player Stadium to witness the next installment in a proud football history. Southern Cal boasts 10 national titles; Oklahoma has seven.
"The fact that it's two storied programs coming together at a time when they're really on the rise, you capture all of the people that ever loved Oklahoma football or ever loved USC football," Southern Cal Coach Pete Carroll said Monday. "You cross a lot of generations."
For handicappers, the game is the ultimate puzzler.
The teams are so similar that their showdown may look like a Rorschach print, with the line of scrimmage dividing mirror images.
Both teams start Heisman Trophy-winning quarterbacks with strong arms and uncommon football sense in Southern Cal's Matt Leinart (28 touchdowns, six interceptions) and Oklahoma's Jason White (33 TDs, six interceptions).
Both teams feature explosive running backs in Reggie Bush, USC's multitalented sophomore highlight reel, and Adrian Peterson, Oklahoma's freshman phenom who had 11 100-yard rushing games.
And both rely on smothering defenses (USC is second against the run; Oklahoma is fifth).
The Trojans and Sooners are so similar, in fact, that Carroll never instructed his practice squad to simulate Oklahoma's style and technique during workouts for the game. For the most part, he had his starting offense go against his starting defense and told players during each rotation to just play like normal because so much carried over from Trojan to Sooner ball.
Even after three weeks' preparation, Carroll is at a loss to predict how the game will play out. "I don't have any idea," he said.
White, the 2003 Heisman winner, just shook his head when asked what advice he'd give a betting man. "You'd be taking a gamble betting on either team," he said.
Southern Cal enters the game eager to claim the national title outright after being shut out of the championship last year when the BCS ranked the Trojans third despite their first-place finish in the coaches' and writers' polls. They defeated Michigan, 28-14, in the Rose Bowl for a share of the title.
"We believed we were the best team last year, so we handled our business and did only what we could control," Leinart said. "Deep inside we were kind of a little bummed."
Though pegged No. 1 in the preseason, the Trojans opened 2004 with their share of hurdles. Their offensive line was young, and their top star receiver, Mike Williams, had been ruled ineligible after signing with an agent. The emergence of Bush helped bring balance to the offense. (He gained 2,181 all-purpose yards as a back, receiver and punt returner). He'll start at tailback Tuesday, with LenDale White (high ankle sprain) coming off the bench.
Oklahoma, meantime, is determined to avenge last year's disappointing finish, in which it capped an unbeaten regular season by losing the Big 12 championship and the national title amid criticism that it didn't deserve to play for the title anyway.
This year's Sooners have a new resolve and more weapons. White, who plays on surgically repaired knees, is healthier than he has been in years. He's also carrying less on his shoulders with Peterson averaging 5.9 yards a carry. Both are quick to credit Oklahoma's veteran offensive line, which has allowed just seven sacks.
Southern Cal, however, counters with an equally stout defensive line anchored by senior tackles Shaun Cody and Mike Patterson. And that's where the game will likely be won, Carroll predicts: among the burly linemen up front.
Should they play to a draw, the game may well come down to special teams, where one difference is striking. Oklahoma Coach Bob Stoops is starting a true freshman kicker, Garrett Hartley, who has yet to kick a field goal in a college game.
"I see him kick every day," Stoops said. "And you just trust your technique and your swing and have at it."
