Slammed to the Rose Bowl Turf

(Picture from http://www.img.fannation.com/)

The Ohio State University football team has completely dominated the 4th quarter. Pryor has made play after play after play with his feet, broken tackles, and stiff armed some of Oregons best tacklers to the ground causing Mossbrucker to say "and Pryor slams the hard hitting Lewis to the Rose Bowl Turf". After a leaping catch by tight end Daniel Herron for a first down, everyone in the stadium could see that the Buckeyes were rolling. A few plays later Pryor connected on a beautiful pass to DeVier Posey for a touchdown (who said they should give him the ball more? And whoever wanted Pryor to become a wide receiver after the Purdue game needs to rewatch this perfect touch pass). The score now is 26-17, and the Ducks just missed a 45 yard field goal with five minutes remaining. Hello Tressel ball!

OSU had the ball for the rest of the game, thanks to some big third down runs by Pryor once again. The final score was 26-17, and the Buckeyes are going to be pretty dangerous next season. OSU had the ball for over 41 minutes during this game, a stat that shows how much they dominated from the get go. Pryor and Tressel grew up right in front of our eyes hand in hand. Tressel finally seemed to let Pryor do what he does and his quarterback relished in this situation by taking over the game. He proved he is a complete quarterback, and his junior year should be exciting to watch. This is the 7th Rose Bowl win in Buckeye history. Pryor had 328 total yards and one touchdown, a hell of a way to bring in the New Year for the young quarterback that had the weight of the world on his shoulders from Buckeye Nation.

Oregon/OSU Make Huge Mistakes

(Picture from ESPN.com)

The last two redzone attempts for Ohio State have only ended in two field goals, which needs to change, and it starts with Pryor.  With Oregon's offense, the Buckeyes need to score and score often, because Masoli and the Ducks can break out at any moment.  Oregon took its first lead of the game after Masoli scored on a quarterback keeper early in the third quarter.  The lead was short lived after Ohio State marched down field and kicked another field goal, making the score 19-17 Buckeyes.  Both teams have been bitten by the turnover bug with Oregon's Blount fumbling on a handoff by Masoli, and then accidentally kicking it out of their endzone.  The Buckeye's could have swung all of the momentum to their side with a quick score after the fumble, but Pryor threw into double coverage and Oregon's John Boyett picked the pass off at the 38.  The Duck's did nothing with the turnover, going four and out and punting.

Both of these offenses have come out of the half looking a little sloppy and slow.  Ohio State needs to keep getting the ball to Brandon Saine and DeVier Posey.  Pryor needs to manage the game, and continue to make big plays on second and third down for Ohio State to win.

At Half, Buckeyes On Top

(Picture from ohiostatebuckeyes.com)

The Grand Daddy of them all has lived up to its name so far. The Rose Bowl has been a back and fourth battle with consistent blows from both opponents. At half, the score is Buckeyes 16, Oregon 10. Pryor has completed 15 of 24 passes for 149 yards and one touchdown. Throughout the first half, he has made smart decisions with his arm by not forcing the ball into tight spots. He has also been making plays with his feet, rushing for 31 yards (much of those coming during essential third downs). The key to the first half for Ohio State's offense was a 19 play drive for 67 yards.  This drive took eight minutes off the clock and ended in a field goal. The Buckeye defense has also played better than most people expected as well, by shutting down the high-octane Duck offense.  OSU only gave up 49 yards through the air, and 78 yards on the ground.
Oregon's quarterback Jeremiah Masoli threw his first interception of the game with 1:05 left in the half which resulted in a last second field goal.  This mistake gave the Buckeyes a 6-point lead going into the locker rooms. Runningback Kenjon Barner has rushed for 50 yards on only 3 carries for the Ducks, with most of those yards coming off of a 37 yard burst. LeGarrette Blount saw some action, and scored the only Oregon touchdown of the half when he plowed through the defensive line and lunged for a 3 yard score.

Rose Bowl Preview

(courtesy of gasolinealleyantiques.com)

As the holiday season fast approaches, so too does another magical part of this time of year: bowl season.  With only 15 days left until the first BCS bowl, we will begin counting down the days and giving a preview of each of the BCS games to come.  These previews will take the place of the 'Your Daily J' post for the day, but will hopefully provide some real information, rather than our ignorant opinions.  So, here we go, our BCS preview begins.  As with everything else in this place, be sure to give us your feedback.  As gameday draws closer, you'll be able to show us your thoughts by voting on who you think will win on the side bar.  In the meantime, be sure to leave a comment or shoot us an e-mail.

We kick things off with the first BCS game of the new year.  The Grandaddy of Them All.  The Rose Bowl.  Oregon v. Ohio State.  3:30 CT, January 1st, 2010.  This should be a good one featuring two teams that are near-perfect mirror images of each other.  Ohio State is predicated on tradition, conservatism and fundamentals.  Oregon is the definition of new-age.  Rumor has it the Ducks have upwards of 300 uniforms to choose from when they take the field on Saturdays and nearly as many offensive weapons.  They run the spread with an option-style QB in Jeremiah Masoli and average nearly 38 points per game.  Ohio State and their "Tressel-ball" play smash-mouth defense and run more of a pro-style offense.  The two, at a glance, appear to be a great matchup of very different styles of football and very different football cultures.