Ohio State backed up its playoff claim by dominating Southern Cal in Cotton Bowl

ARLINGTON, TEXAS — Playoff-snubbed Ohio State got a bit defensive even without one of its best defenders in the Cotton Bowl.

Damon Webb returned an interception for a touchdown after recovering a fumble to set up another early score as the No. 5 Buckeyes beat No. 8 Southern California 24-7 on Friday night in a matchup that traditionally has been in the Rose Bowl instead of deep in the heart of Texas.

The Big Ten and Pac-12 champions usually would play New Year's Day in Pasadena, but the Rose Bowl is a College Football Playoff semifinal game this season.

Ohio State (12-2) instead quickly settled in at the NFL stadium where three years ago it won the first national championship in the four-team CFP format. The Buckeyes — with that bad loss at Iowa after an early setback to playoff team Oklahoma — were the first team left out this season.

"The mind-set was obvious. We wanted to go down as one of the great teams at Ohio State, Big Ten champions, obviously a top-five finish," Ohio State coach Urban Meyer said. "This will go down as one of the best teams I've ever coached and one of the best groups of young people I've ever been around."

USC (11-3), the Rose Bowl champion last season, lost for only the third time in its past 23 games. The Trojans had four turnovers that led to 21 Ohio State points in what could have been third-year sophomore quarterback Sam Darnold's final game.

Buckeyes All-America junior cornerback Denzel Ward already has decided to go into the NFL draft and didn't play after practicing with the team this week.

"We kind of shot ourselves in the football in this game," USC coach Clay Helton said. "You're putting a hurt on your defense, and it led to points early in the game, and separation early in the game."

Webb's 23-yard interception return for a TD put Ohio State up 17-0 less than a minute into the second quarter. It was the first pick-six this season for the Buckeyes, and the team-leading fifth interception for Webb.

Ohio State went up 24-0 when Barrett ran 28 yards for another touchdown after the first of Darnold's two fumbles. Darnold was sacked eight times overall.

"That defensive line took a quarterback that we have a tremendous amount of respect for and he didn't set his feet all night," Meyer said. "That's the way we won that game."