Your Rose Bowl Game Presented By Citi Preview
December 31, 2009 - 12:00 pm by McD
Apropos of nothing, here is how I would have matched up the teams in the BCS, instead of the bullsh*t copout games they gave us:
National Championship: Texas vs. Alabama (because I have to)
Orange Bowl: Georgia Tech vs. TCU
Fiesta Bowl: Cincinnati vs. Ohio State
Sugar Bowl: Florida vs. Iowa
Rose Bowl: Oregon vs. Boise State
I still can’t believe Iowa got into the BCS, but they did, so I’m stuck with them. But Georgia Tech/TCU would pit the best rushing team in the country against the best rushing defense in the country. That game would basically be the greatest war anyone’s ever seen. The Oregon/Boise rematch would be amazing given how their first meeting went and how much of a shootout the second one would be. Cincy/Ohio State would be bedlam in Ohio, plus it would force the Buckeyes to finally face a good in-state team. Florida/Iowa would be just a terrible, terrible game, but everyone could focus on Tim Tebow’s final game and watch as Iowa’s defense handled much of Florida’s running attack without flinching, thereby debunking a lot of the “spread” mythmaking going on in Gainesville. Basically, it’s the one throwaway game mixed in with three absolutely fantastic matchups.
Friday, January 1, 2010
4:30 pm ET
(8) Ohio State (10-2) vs. (7) Oregon (10-2) (-4)
Terrelle Pryor needs to be perfect for Ohio State to beat Oregon. Even then, can a guy produced all of 2,500 total yards as a dual-threat quarterback be considered important enough to OSU’s gameplan to have that kind of effect on the game? Dude only put up 1,828 passing yards and 707 rushing yards. Not terrible stats, but any measure, but his effect on the game is probably going to be more about avoiding the negative than creating anything positive.
This game is all about Ohio State’s running game versus Oregon’s defense. If the Buckeyes can’t get it going on the ground, not just with Pryor but with Dan Herron and Brandon Saine, then I don’t care how well the OSU defense plays, that team is toast. Now, with the announcement that Terrelle Pryor is playing with a bad knee, there is no way Jim Tressel centers the gameplan on Pryor. This team is going to play Tresselball for sure, which is a great thing to hear if you’re Oregon.
Why, you ask? Because Oregon can run the ball better than Ohio State. They can control the clock and Jeremiah Masoli can distribute to all the different weapons the Ducks have. Besides that, they can also get the big play and score quickly. If the Buckeye defense breaks down for even a second, it’ll be a quick touchdown for Oregon. I’m not sure that part will happen, but the Oregon speed and weapons advantage isn’t something Ohio State is very good at dealing with.
Makes you wonder, doesn’t it? Is Ohio State’s program slower by choice or does Jim Tressel simply not care because the program wins most of its games? So many other programs care so much about speed and maximizing their weapons, and yet OSU remains steadfastly in the stone age. Or maybe the Bronze Age. Whatever it is, this is a truly mystifying issue with the Buckeyes.
As a fan, I could give two sh*ts about this game. Oregon is a great team, but Ohio State is absolutely unbearable to watch. It’s just painful. Their offense sucks from the scheme to the players. Their defense is good, unless you’re faster than them. Then they’re f*cked. There’s just nothing to like about this matchup unless you’re a fan of one of the schools. Now, if Oregon was given a shot to shoot it out against Cincinnati or rematch with Boise State, you’d watch the hell out of that game, right? The BCS sucks.
Pick: Oregon
3 Responses to “Your Rose Bowl Game Presented By Citi Preview”
Oregon control the clock, lol.
By Fred on Jan 3, 2010
Yeah, didn’t turn out so well for them or me did it?
By McD on Jan 4, 2010