Ducks Vs. Bucks in The Rose Bowl

            At 4:30 PM eastern time on January first, 2010, what will certainly be one of the most watched and entertaining football games of the year will be played in the Rose Bowl.  The “Granddaddy of them all” is nearing in on its 100^th birthday and 2010’s game will feature one of the most storied teams in college football history in Jim Tressel’s Ohio State Buckeyes, and a team that offensive mastermind Mike Bellotti turned into a winner and rookie head coach Chip Kelly has kept in prime shape in the Oregon Ducks.  These two teams are about as far apart in terms of playing style as two teams could be but there is no shortage of talent on either side.  Ohio State needs to win this game to show the nation that they can win a big game and Oregon needs to win it to prove they deserve to play in more games like this in the future.  In addition to this both of these teams are incredibly young and a win in this game would almost certainly guarantee a pre-season top three ranking in the 2010 season.

            The premiere matchup in this game will be between the Buckeyes’ defense and the Duck’s dynamic offense.  The Silver bullets ranked 5^th in scoring defense, had 23 interceptions and 10 recovered fumbles (23 forced), 4^th in rushing yards per attempt against, 7^th in passing yards per attempt against, 5^th in total defense, had 30 sacks (25h in the nation), and 1^st in three and outs.  On offense the Ducks were 7^th in scoring, 6^th in rushing offense (4^th in YPC), and only allowed 12 sacks (12^th best in the nation); however they were 92^nd in passing offense.  That being said all of these stats can be thrown out the window because the success that both teams had is in the past and neither of these teams have faced a challenge like the one that will be presented in this game.

            When Oregon has the ball they will predominantly rely on the ground game to move the chains but unlike most of the top rushing attacks in the nation clock control is not their specialty.  The reason for this is because the Ducks have an incredibly dynamic rushing attack that relies heavily on deception and misdirection to create big plays.  The primary ball carriers for Oregon will be junior quarterback Jeremiah Masoli and freshman sensation LaMichael James.  But in addition to these two the Ducks will also get their receivers involved in the running game as pitchmen and will almost certainly give senior running back Legarrette Blount a few carries in short yard situations or whenever they want to rest James.  In order to stop the Ducks the most important thing for the Buckeyes to do is play with discipline.  If defenders blow their assignments Masoli will find his pitchman for a big gain every time and if there is too much focus on stopping the pitch Masoli and James are both strong and fast enough to grind it out up the middle.  Two of the most important players for the Buckeyes are going to be safeties Jermale Hines and Anderson Russell.  These two players will play at safety opposite Kurt Coleman but they will be especially important to the team’s success when they are playing the STAR position (safety/linebacker hybrid position, plays close the line of scrimmage) because whoever is at STAR will be the primary defensive player responsible for recognizing zone-read plays and stopping them close to the line of scrimmage.  One thing that will work in the Buckeyes advantage is their defensive lines ability to generate immense pressure without needing help from blitzing linebackers or defensive backs.  Because of this the Buckeyes will be able to drop more players into coverage and increase their chances of picking off a stray pass or tackle a runner breaking for the edge.

            The battle between the Buckeyes’ offense and the Ducks’ defense certainly isn’t being as focused on as much as the opposite one, but it will obviously be just as important in deciding the outcome of the game.  Ohio State has been incredibly inconsistent of the offensive side of the ball all season and if they want to beat Oregon Terrelle Pryor will almost certainly have to play his best game yet.  On the season the Buckeyes are ranked 48^th in scoring, 19^th in rushing, and allowed 19 sacks (40^th best in the nation, it should be noted that there are a ton of ties in this stat so both Oregon’s and OSU’s rankings are skewed); much like the Ducks they didn’t pass much as they were the 106^th passing attack in the country (another interesting note, both teams didn’t have much in overall passing yardage but they were pretty middle of the pack in YPA indicating that when they do choose to pass they often throw downfield).  Overall Oregon was ranked 50^th in scoring defense, had 13 interceptions and 11 recovered fumbles (20 forced), 25^th in rushing yards per attempt against, 13^th in passing yards per attempt, 33^rd in total defense, and had 32 sacks (20^th in the nation).  Yet again the statistics are interesting to look at but when the players walk onto the field they’re not going to matter.

            The Buckeyes struggled in finding an offensive identity all year but towards the end of the season the offensive line got into a groove and the Buckeyes rushed for over 200 yards in games against Penn State, Iowa, and Michigan.  However the crazy thing about this is not the success they had but the play they relied on, the zone-read.  The much maligned Terrelle Pryor finally began to look comfortable when the offense began to heavily rely on his ability to run and although he still isn’t a polished passer the Buckeyes offense is much more dangerous when he is a threat to run as often as he did towards the end of the season.  The Buckeyes are much more of a power running team than Oregon but their speed should not be underestimated as both Brandon Saine and Terrelle Pryor are just as fast, if not faster, than James and Masoli.  When they pass the ball sophomore DeVier Posey will get most of the looks as he is Pryor’s best offensive weapon and friend on the team.  Posey is phenomenally talented and if he had been playing with a more talented quarterback over the past two years he would be thought of just as highly as the other highly recruited receivers from his high school class (Green, Jones, Floyd).  Posey is the best big play receiver in this game and has burned great defenders deep all year (Donavan Warren twice) but Pryor will have to hit him when he gets open because failing on big play opportunities has been one of the Buckeyes biggest shortcomings this year.  Unlike the Buckeyes the Ducks rely primarily on their linebackers to get after opposing quarterbacks, junior linebacker Kenny Rowe has been especially effective at this as evident by him leading the team with a very impressive 8.5 sacks.  The Buckeyes’ offensive line is both large and athletic so they should be able to handle Oregon’s defensive line, but they have to make sure they pick up their assignments when the linebackers are coming, because if they can get at Pryor it will be another long day in Columbus.

            From a psychological standpoint it would be foolish to say that one team wants to win this game more than the other.  Almost all of the students on both of these teams grew up in the Midwest or the west coast and they have always known the Rose Bowl to be the pinnacle of the college football season.  Everyone player and coach is going to want to end what was a great season for both of these teams with a win.  This game will forever hold a special place in the hearts of all the seniors as for most of them it will be the last serious football game they ever play in, and for the few that will suit up on Sundays it will be the last time they play for the Universities that gave them a chance to play college ball.  However, one advantage that the Buckeyes have over the Bucks in the mental aspect of this game is that every player has played in a BCS game every year they have been on the team, no one on Oregon can say that they have played in one.

Any game featuring teams with as much talent as these two has the potential to be a great one and the fact that the greatest strengths of the two teams will be pitted against each other makes it even better.  Hopefully all of the players will enjoy their stay in Pasadena and play their best on New Year’s Day.  Go Bucks.