Friday's bowl watch: Ohio State back in Rose Bowl and more links
The Leishman Trophy is presented to the winner of the Rose Bowl. Oregon will face Ohio State in the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day. (Photo: Associated Press)
While enjoying the sun and diversions of southern California, the Ohio State quarterback sometimes sported black-framed eyeglasses that don't contain prescription lenses.
Yes, Pryor can see very clearly what must happen Friday for Ohio State (10-2) to end its three-game bowl skid against the high-flying Oregon Ducks in the Rose Bowl.
"We're going to have to score points, maybe a lot of points," Pryor said. "When you play a team that scores like Oregon, you've got to be ready to keep up. There could be a lot of points on that scoreboard."
Jeremiah Masoli is counting on it. The Oregon quarterback is the ringmaster of a spread offense that racked up more than 37 points and 424 yards per game this season while the No. 7 Ducks (10-2) ended USC's 7-year run atop the Pac-10. Oregon is in the Rose Bowl for the first time since 1995.
"To finally get back to the Rose Bowl satisfied a lot of wishes by a lot of people," Masoli said. "We had that as our goal from the first week of this year. Now that we're finally here, we want to prove to ourselves that we can keep it going, take that one last step."
The contrast of eighth-ranked Ohio State's traditional scarlet and gray against Oregon's latest ethereal uniform creation is just one intriguing aspect of the 96th Rose Bowl — a matchup of strikingly dissimilar programs in Pasadena. The Buckeyes haven't been here since 1997.
Ohio State has thrived throughout the past decade under coach Jim Tressel, winning a national title and playing for two others with a regimented, smart approach. The Buckeyes' style, like their coach, tends to be conservative and predictable.
Although Oregon has a similarly solid foundation, it's best known for its novelties and a willingness to take risks, whether with a wide-open, spread-option offense or rookie coach Chip Kelly, who was an offensive coordinator at I-AA New Hampshire just three years ago.
"I want our players to savor the moment," Kelly said Thursday. "They've earned this opportunity, and I don't want to have them so focused so they're not even allowed to enjoy this. ... Our players, if you watch us play, we have fun. Our staff has fun, and this is what it's all about."
Comments
Sean T.
Sat, Jan 2, 2010 : 7:02 a.m.
I love the spread so much now after it took down the "Slow" Big Ten. Wow, the Suckeyes looked horrible against Oregon! Maybe it's that uptempo spread making the Big ten look bad. T.Pryor sure learned his lesson playing for that ole' Tressel because there's no way he can learn to be a quality QB with his Bowl performance. NOT!!!!!!!!!! As much as I hate to say it, Hats off to the Buckeyes for their bowl win.
OSUbeBetter
Fri, Jan 1, 2010 : 11:40 p.m.
Hope you dont choke on all that Crow Portage. You still all in for the little guys? hows the crime dog doing these days, still with the headaches?
chosen1
Fri, Jan 1, 2010 : 9:55 p.m.
oops, I guess tater was wrong AGAIN..
NoBowl4Blue
Fri, Jan 1, 2010 : 8:47 p.m.
I think it's obvious Pryor made the right choice. That was an impressive team that played Oregon and a great performance from him.
PortageLkBlu
Fri, Jan 1, 2010 : 4:53 p.m.
Okay, this is going to be an example of what I've been talking about. Now your going to see what a good spread can do to the, "Best of the Big Ten". One reporters words that saw Oregon after a practice was,"Those kids, meaning Oregon players sure don't compare in size to Big Ten player but they sure are fast. Now we all know that RR is getting somewhat smaller but faster players kind of like Oregon has and we know RR is not coping Oregon becuase RR for a good part was building on the spread back when Oregon was running a Pro style so no excuses boys and girls let's see what the great ohio state can do with a spread that has had the time to build their program. The key here is that Oregon has had time to build their program around the spread and the fans have been patient