Arkansas Sports 360 - ArkansasSports360.com

1/4/2011 at 11:00am

There are stories galore surrounding the first matchup between Ohio State and Arkansas as they meet tonight at the Superdome in New Orleans.  From the Buckeyes' hunger for a bowl win against an SEC team to the SEC's supposed speed advantage and the highly anticpated duel between quarterbacks Terrelle Pryor and Ryan Mallett.  The story lines are abundant.

With the BCS name comes BCS attention and the build-up for this potential shootout is strong nationally.  Here's a look at some of the coverage leading up to the game.

Rob Oller, The Columbus Dispatch

Jim Tressel's job at Ohio State is not in jeopardy, but a loss to Arkansas today hurts the coach's legacy more than a win helps it, if only because of the turmoil that has surrounded the program the past two weeks. Tressel, and his team, need a win to help wipe the stain of a bowl season marked with controversy.

There is some weight to the belief that, because of the willingness to defer the suspensions of six Buckeyes until next season and allow those players to take part in the Sugar Bowl, Ohio State loses the perception game even if it defeats the Razorbacks. But the Buckeyes should be willing to take that chance, because the alternative is that a loss will be forever linked to suspensions, tattoos and the sale of gold pants.

Scouts Inc. Sugar Bowl Preview

Mallett has the arm and the weapons to rack up yards through the air, but the Buckeyes will get enough pressure on the junior quarterback and force him into some game-changing mistakes. The Razorbacks are not physical enough in their run game to exploit Ohio State's lack of size up front. Pryor will make some mistakes of his own but his dual-threat ability will lead to some big plays and the Buckeyes' run game will excel.

Mark Schlabach, ESPN

Mallett hasn't faced many defenses better than Ohio State. The Buckeyes ranked No. 2 nationally in total defense (250.6 yards per game), No. 3 in scoring defense (13.3 points) and No. 6 in pass defense (156.3 yards) at the end of the regular season. OSU allowed 200 passing yards in only two games -- victories over Miami and Eastern Michigan.

The Times-Picayune Media Predictions

6 out of 8 media members asked to predict the game select Ohio State

Chris Low, SEC Blogger for ESPN

One of the first things the Hogs did this season was make sure they got more speed on the field defensively, and moving Anthony Leon from safety to linebacker helped them do that. Arkansas is good up front and will play several different players. Linebacker Jerry Franklin has quietly had an excellent season. The Hogs were much better at not giving up the big plays this season, which will be key in this game. They want to make the Buckeyes drive the ball and not give up anything easy. If they can hold Ohio State below 28 points, I think Arkansas wins this game. The Hogs don’t mind playing in shootout-type games. In fact, that’s their comfort level. And let’s face it. There’s nothing comfortable about facing an SEC team in a bowl game for Ohio State. The drought grows to 10 games and counting.

Ron Higgins, Memphis Commercial Appeal

From Bourbon Street to Esplanade, as kickoff for tonight's 77th annual Sugar Bowl between No. 8 Arkansas and No. 6 Ohio State has drawn closer, the party-hearty French Quarter has magically become a rowdy sea of Razorback red.

It hasn't gone unnoticed by Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino, who broadcast his weekly call-in show Sunday night from Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville Café, a joint so packed nobody could find their lost shaker of salt. Also, Razorback players bold enough to venture into the giddy crowds fully grasp what playing in a BCS bowl game for the first time means to the program.

The Wall Street Journal

This was supposed to be the Big Ten's year. The year Michigan began to turn the corner, Iowa cemented itself as a top-10 power and Ohio State returned to national glory. Instead, the nation's oldest major collegiate conference has been hit with a plague for the ages.

As the Big Ten's final bowl team, Ohio State, takes on Arkansas in Tuesday's Sugar Bowl, the conference is a pathetic 2-5 in the bowl season. In one hellacious stroke of misery on New Year's Day, its teams lost all five of their bowl games by an average margin of 20.4 points. Two coaches have already been fired and another may be sacked as early as this week.

AOL Fanhouse

Ohio State junior quarterback Terrelle Pryor, who in three years as a starter has led the Buckeyes to three Big Ten championships, a 30-4 record and three victories over hated rival Michigan, was supposed to be bigger than Cam Newton.

By now, Pryor should have had the Heisman Trophy tucked securely under his right arm and a national championship ring on his left hand, but instead he's spent most of the last two weeks leading up to Tuesday night's Allstate Sugar Bowl against No. 8 Arkansas stiff-arming critics miffed by a combination of Ohio State's unfulfilled, perhaps unrealistic, team goals and his personal indiscretions.

ESPN.com

Arkansas is participating in its first-ever BCS game. But normalcy seems to be the prevailing theme for the Razorbacks.

While Allstate Sugar Bowl opponent Ohio State dealt with the swirls of controversy regarding the suspensions of five players and its decision to let them play in the bowl, Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino must have just smiled. His team has stayed out of the headlines and has arguably received less media attention than any BCS team so far this postseason.

That's just fine with Petrino. Let the Buckeyes hog the spotlight in this one. His Hogs can just go to work. Petrino is trying to keep as much of a regular-season routine as possible, including moving the team into a new hotel on Monday night to simulate its Friday night in-season experience.

Tagged: The Ohio State Buckeyes, Terrelle Pryor, ESPN.com, Ryan Mallett, Bobby Petrino, Arkansas Razorbacks, AOL Fanhouse, Allstate Sugar Bowl