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The series is interesting. USC holds a 13-10-1 advantage in 24 games. That includes a slew of close games. In those 24 previous games:

• USC holds a 5-2-1 advantage in 8 games at home.
• The teams split 8 games in Columbus. 
• The teams split 8 bowl games with USC holding a 4-3 advantage in Rose Bowls and Ohio State winning a Cotton Bowl. 

The winner won the NC a number of times including at least one Rose Bowl in which #1 played #2 for the NC in a proto NG Game.

Ohio State held a 9-6-1 advantage up through the 1973 season then lost 7 straight over 36 years from the 1974 through 2009 seasons. Ohio state won the last meeting.

Chronologically:

• USC swept a H&H in 1937/38.
• tOSU swept a H&H right before and after the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor in 1941/42.
• tOSU won a 4-game HH&HH in 1946-1949 by a 2-1-1 count (1-0-1 in Columbus, split in SoCal).
• tOSU won the first Rose Bowl game between the two and thus the NC in the 1954 season. 
• The teams split a H&H in 1959/60 with the home team winning both games. 
• The teams split a H&H in 1963/64 with the home team winning both games. 
• Ohio State won the NC by winning a #1v#2 game in the Rose Bowl on January 1, 1969.
• USC won the NC by winning a #1v#3 game in the Rose Bowl on January 1, 1973.
• Ohio State won the 1974 Rose Bowl. 
• USC won the 1975 Rose Bowl. 
• USC won the 1980 Rose Bowl. 
• USC won the 1985 Rose Bowl. 
• USC swept a H&H in 1989/90.
• USC swept a H&H in 2008/09.
• tOSU won the 2017 season Cotton Bowl. 

My guess is OSU shows its stuff here and wins going away, but of course ....

This is one of those games where I have zero idea of what it looks like. Zero.  

This is one of those games where I have zero idea of what it looks like. Zero. 

Much more fun that way

This is one of those games where I have zero idea of what it looks like. Zero. 

This is where I'm at.  I just have no idea and basically nothing would surprise me.  I can see an ugly (for tOSU) possibility where USC rallies around their situation, comes out playing like they are on fire, and Ohio State's brand new starting QB (either one) gets mauled and it leads to a big USC win.  

I can also see this playing out:

My guess is OSU shows its stuff here and wins going away,

I think that morale on the USC sideline could be tenuous.  The players know the situation.  USC is effectively eliminated from the CFP with a loss here and at that point there are significant questions about Lincoln Riley's status.  If Ohio State gets an early lead I could see USC just folding and this turning into a complete runaway.  

Ohio State's CFP hopes could be decided here.  The Buckeyes would obviously be comfortably in right now but they are down a Heisman candidate starting QB and every remaining game is against a team that could plausibly beat them.  

Giving up 21 unanswered points to lose the Texas game back in week-2 looms large right now.  If the Buckeyes had won that they'd be 7-0 and a near-consensus #1 and they'd only need to go 3-2 in this final stretch.  With that loss they are 6-1 and #2 and they probably need to go 4-1 down the stretch so there isn't much margin for error.  If they lose at USC then basically every game from here out is a playoff game.  Ironically, the one game they probably could afford to lose would be the B1GCG (assuming they get there) because I think they'd be pretty easily in at 10-3 with a B1GCG loss but likely out at 9-3 with no CG appearance.  

This is one of those games where I have zero idea of what it looks like. Zero. 

+1

I don't know what to expect from the QB, so I don't know what to expect period.  

Ohio State 31, USC 27