Forget the upcoming NFL combine in March. The senior Grant (an All-Big Ten coaches' selection) can potentially solidify his standing as a viable NFL draft prospect in the Sugar Bowl, presuming Grant draws Cooper -- the first wideout to be a Heisman finalist in 11 years -- for 70 percent of Alabama's offensive snaps.
Cooper's 2014 stats (115 catches, 1,656 yards, 14 TDs) read more like the work of Jerry Rice, Sterling Sharpe, Calvin Johnson or Antonio Brown during a full-scale NFL campaign ... and not some college kid playing for an iconic coach who lives for the power-running game.
But that's where we stand with Cooper, who incredibly notched three outings of 200-plus receiving yards, four efforts of multiple touchdowns and five games of double-digit receptions.
As such, the Buckeyes may invoke a committee approach to keeping Cooper under wraps, justifying their status as an elite-level pass defense (17th nationally).
The sophomore first exploded onto the nation's radar in Ohio State's 50-spot rout of Cincinnati on Sept. 27, amassing 233 total yards and one TD against the Bearcats. But the regional microscope reveals something that's similarly stellar:
Of the Buckeyes' 13 outings, Elliott (1,610 total yards, 12 TDs) accounted for 100 total yards and/or one touchdown 12 times.
The numbers look even stronger for OSU's tent-pole victories over Penn State, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota and Wisconsin: The St. Louis, Mo. native averaged 146 total yards/1.4 TDs.
At some point during the Iron Bowl, ESPN announcers Brent Musburger and Kirk Herbstreit openly wondered if Sims -- after a couple of ugly interceptions -- should be replaced by backup QB Jacob Coker.
And when Alabama trailed by nine during the second half, Musburger even speculated on whether the SEC -- nation's most powerful conference -- would have a representative in the inaugural College Football Playoff semifinals ... assuming Auburn held to a seemingly comfortable lead.
Roughly three minutes later (real time), Sims uncorked a textbook rainbow pass to Amari Cooper, who hauled in the catch and sprinted down the right sidelines for a 75-yard touchdown. Including that exhilarating sequence, Alabama would score 28 of the final 35 points, thus cruising to a win and the SEC West championship.
Not that anyone should be surprised by Sims' skill-set. Yes, he hurled three INTs against Auburn; but of Alabama's other remaining games, the senior QB was a perfect 12 for 12 in tossing zero or one interception.
It's impossible to know if Jones (257 yards passing, three TDs in the Big Ten title game) will flourish against an elite-level defense like Alabama -- which, until the 55-44 win over Auburn in the Iron Bowl, hadn't surrendered more than 23 points in a game.
Why such implausibility?
Well, Jones was under minimal (if any) duress in the 59-0 whitewashing of Wisconsin, essentially feeding off the frenzied momentum of the aforementioned Elliott (two first-half TDs, including an 81-yard scoring run) and a defense that held Heisman finalist Melvin Gordon to just 76 rushing yards.
Plus, in fairness to Wisconsin, there wasn't much of a "book" on Jones -- Ohio State's third-string QB back in the spring (behind Braxton Miller/J.T. Barrett) -- in terms of film prep. The Badgers coaches had limited resources (video/scouting reports) to replicate Jones' unique talents during practice.
23: Citing the Nick Saban era only (2007-14), this number represents Alabama's three-game points average at the Superdome (New Orleans).
0: The number of Alabama/Sugar Bowl victories under Saban. (The 2012 BCS Title Game, the capper to the 2011 campaign, doesn't count as Sugar Bowl history.)
In the FOX Sports South bowl preview from Dec. 15, I had a strong, but inexplicable gut feeling about Ohio State advancing to the College Football Playoff title game -- perhaps still bedazzled by the Buckeyes' uber-dominant performance in the Big Ten championship.
But with an additional week's perspective, it's hard to envision Ohio State -- led by a largely untested quarterback -- beating a hyper-focused Nick Saban in the Sugar Bowl. It's also difficult to imagine Amari Cooper playing a pedestrian role in most likely his last college game.
Remember Sammy Watkins' MVP performance in last season's Orange Bowl -- 16 catches, 227 yards, two TDs? Who's to say Cooper (and by extension, QB Blake Sims) won't enjoy similar success against a Buckeyes defense that's far from perfect?
