Buckeyes enjoy days leading up to Rose Bowl

After Sunday’s spirited two-hour practice at the Home Depot Center in Carson, the Ohio State football team took a bus to Beverly Hills for the Lawry’s Beef Bowl. A day before, the Buckeyes visited Disneyland. And tonight they’ll take in a comedy show at the Improv.

It’s all part of the traditional buildup to Friday’s Rose Bowl, where eighth-ranked Ohio State will meet No. 7 Oregon. And while it has nothing to do with football, Ohio State Coach Jim Tressel considers the hoopla a just reward for a long, hard season.

“Most of our guys have never been this far from home. And certainly never had these experiences,” said Tressel, whose team hasn’t appeared in a Rose Bowl game since 1997. “So you want them to have them. That’s part of why they came to Ohio State.

“But we want to have the confidence in them they will also be preparing. And it really helps when you turn the film on and you see a good Oregon team.”

Still, Tressel and his coaches have left little to chance. Long before their Christmas Day flight to Southern California, the staff worked out a detailed schedule for this week in an effort to avoid overbooking their team.

“This is a little bit different bowl situation than the ones we’ve been in,” said Tressel, who is coaching in a BCS game for the fifth consecutive year. “It takes a little bit more time to get to and from all those kinds of things. Part of the schedule is getting enough rest. But also part of the schedule is soaking it all in.”

History lesson

Chip Kelly hasn’t even finished his first season as head coach at Oregon, but he’s already done what only four of his predecessors have been able to accomplish: take the Ducks to the Rose Bowl.

And a win on Friday would be the school’s first here since World War I.

“They understand what the task is,” said Kelly, whose team is making its second appearance in a BCS bowl game. “The task at hand is the next game, which happens to be the last game. We get a chance to finish on a high note and do something that our school hasn’t done since 1917, which is win the Rose Bowl.

“That’s always been the ultimate goal, to go out there and represent your conference in the Rose Bowl and go out there and win it.”

No small hole to fill

With Ohio State’s Ray Small, the Big Ten’s top punt returner, out of the Rose Bowl after being suspended for unspecified reasons, Tressel had wide receivers DeVier Posey, Dane Sanzenbacher and running back Jordan Hall returning punts during Sunday’s practice.

The three combined to return three punts for 22 yards in 12 games this fall.

kevin.baxter@latimes.com