Continuing our quest to have more writers than readers, we've brought Sam, most recently of We Will Always Have Tempe (40 tip), into the crew. He's going to deliver rock-solid content and in exchange, he'll get exposure to our 19 readers. It's a match made in heaven and one we think you'll greatly enjoy.
As one of the primary contenders in the 2010 title race, the Buckeyes face a diverse set of potential challengers should they navigate the regular season undefeated. To wit, Boise State, Virginia Tech and TCU join perennial title favorites Oklahoma, Texas and Alabama in one of the more wide-open title races in recent memory. BCS cynicism tells us that Boise State and TCU are unlikely to make the title game as genuine BCS-busters, while significant personnel losses hold back the likes of Alabama and Oregon from achieving sure-fire hype-behemoth status.
In all likelihood, the Buckeyes would be entering the season as heavy favorites for the title were it not for the program's recent struggles in the postseason. While most Buckeye fans think the team got over the hump in the Rose Bowl thumping of Oregon's "unstoppable" offensive attack, outsiders remain skeptical. Can you blame them? No matter how absurd it seems to crown a team as decimated by the draft and graduation on defense as the runaway favorite, the Tide do have slightly better recent big-game credentials than the Buckeyes. Over the next few weeks, I will be giving a refresher on some of the other teams in the 2010 national title race. This is not a "screw the regular season, give me Glendale" post; Ohio State could play these teams in any number of scenarios, from Alabama in the title game to Oklahoma in the Alamo Bowl (.... we'll hope it doesn't come to that).
There are seven or eight teams with a realistic shot at the national championship. One of them - though admittedly a longshot - is a very familiar face. Despite the dismissal of field general Jeremiah Masoli, the Oregon Ducks still dance on the edge of variouspreseason top ten lists, thought they have fallen quite a bit from the heady days of January. While I'm sure few of you are quaking in your boots at the prospect of playing the Ducks again, the possibility is there.
Outside of the loss of Masoli, Oregon returns much of the talent that made it a title favorite even after the Rose Bowl, including Heisman candidate LaMichael James, whirling dervish Kenjon Barner, and sack artist Kenny Rowe, who did his fair share of damage in the Rose Bowl, much like any half-way competent speed rusher against the Buckeyes:
They're no longer the sexy pick to play Bama or Ohio State in the title game, but Oregon remains a rather talented team that might simply make a title bid because it's playing in the Pac-10. Southern Cal is in chaos, both Arizona schools scream "also-ran", and their best competition might be Oregon State and Jacquizz Rogers. Or perhaps even Washington.
Offense
I imagine most of you remain intimately familiar with the supposed GREATEST OFFENSE EVER FIELDED , so I'll keep this brief. LaMichael James is back. He's fast and might actually be a pixie. Jeff Maehl is still the best wideout, but someone else will have to step up to replace departed TE Ed Dickson. Along the line, all five starters return on a unit that already paved the way for the Pac-10's best offense in 2009. Simply put, the pieces remain mostly in place to put up absolutely ridiculous statistics again in 2010, except for, of course, at quarterback. Nate Costa and Darron Thomas are competing for the job, with Costa being the relatively-leadfooted one and Thomas being the one built for this offense. If they simply try to replicate Masoli's impact on the game, Thomas would be the next closest thing.
Defense
Not that this will ever be their strong suit, but the Ducks return most everyone of import on the defense as well. Kenny Rowe, as you saw above, is a monster. He's undersized but strong enough to tool on most offensive tackles. He's a linebacker in the NFL, but a major nuisance to most opposing OL in college. Spencer Paysinger and John Boyette, last year's leading tacklers, pace a back seven that has to get better for Oregon to have a shot at an undefeated season.
How do they match up with the Buckeyes?
About as well as they did in Pasadena, really. People seemed to forget in the afterglow that that was a close, competitive game, with no stereotype - Oregon's speed, Ohio State's lack thereof, Oregon's "terrible" defense - left standing in its wake. While it's easy to look at Masoli's stat line and laugh, the Ducks will be a year better at almost every other position. Fortunately, Cameron Heyward would still be around, and Ohio State's defensive line might just get faster with the addition of Johnny Simon. And unless the new Duck signal-caller can push the ball downfield in a way Masoli couldn't, the results of the game wouldn't be all that different.
Date
Opponent
September 4th
New Mexico
September 11th
@ Tennessee
September 18th
Portland State
September 25th
@ Arizona State
October 2nd
Stanford
October 9th
@ Washington State
October 21th
UCLA
October 30th
@ USC
November 6th
Washington
November 13th
@ Cal
November 26th
Arizona
December 4th
@ Oregon State
The Schedule
For those keeping track, that's six (!) away games for the Ducks in 2010. Granted, they aren't exactly at particularly intimidating road environments - as Rece Davis might say, you don't just walk into RESER STADIUM expecting a win - but that's still an awfully high number of road games for a title-contending team. And in case you need a reminder: both of Oregon's regular season losses in 2009 came on the road - one was in Boise, and the other was in the dreaded confines of Stanford Stadium in Palo Alto. Reasonably, I can see anywhere from 8-4 to 11-1 on this schedule. 12-0, however, is a bit much to ask out of a first year starter at quarterback.
Can "The Rematch" happen?
Of course. A slip-up along the way for Ohio State practically guarantees another Rose Bowl trip, and while the Pac-10 is wide open, the only thing even approximating a genuinely elite team in the Pac-10 is Oregon. A championship isn't all that unreasonable, tumultuous offseason notwithstanding.
Why am I excited?
Perhaps because re-establishing the Big Ten as a premier national league goes hand-in-hand with winning Rose Bowls, and Ohio State could win its second straight if it happens to play the Ducks again?
Why am I not enthused?
Because, well, been there, done that, and it doesn't seem to have done much to heal Ohio State's national reputation. It's a band-aid, sure, but if Ohio State's playing Oregon to close out the season, it's for two likely reasons: Oregon overachieved like whoa and wound up in Glendale, or Ohio State underachieved and gets to play Oregon as a consolation prize. Win that game, and you'll feel an unmistakble sense of deja vu and unfulfillment when the afterglow wears off. Lose it, and 2011 gets even more interesting in Columbus.
So I was going to make some comment about Costa having more experience with the offense and him playing before and Chip Kelly making it more pass first, etc. Then I looked up his stat line from the one game he started last year.
9/17 for 82 yards. 1 TD 1 INT. They beat UCLA 24-10 with kickoff return and INT return TDs. He also had 6 rushes for -18 yards. Maybe they're in more trouble than I thought. But the running game shouldn't have much, if any, drop off so they're still dangerous.
I think it's also a stretch to say Alabama has more recent big game success. Yea sure they won this past year. Don't forget the season before that they lost the only 2 big games they played...one of which was to Utah. So 1-1 in recent BCS games and 1-1 in recent SEC championships.
Great post, but LaMike James is still banned from campus for sexual assualt and they lost a few wideouts as well. After their offseason and pkayers kicked off, I'd be suprised if they win more than 7 games; too much drama.
Or that their national championship win was against a team that lost one of its all-time best players to a fluke injury on the first series. But hey, reputation doesn't care about details, only results, and recent ones at that.
I think Oregon loses 2 or 3 - one to USC and one to Stanford or Washington. Will they show up to the Rose Bowl? I'd say it's a toss up between USC and Oregon so far. Not that I follow the Pac-10 closely (or at all), but I just can't see another 8-4 season for Southern Cal, even with Kiffin.
With SC out of the bowl picture, I'd say Stanford should be the favorite in the P10. Not that oregon won't be tough without Masoli, but USC will be fired up to play and not only crush Oregon, but the rest of the Pac10.
However, stanford has to travel to Eugene, and with 5 weeks under their belts the QB competition should be settled.
This is actually a very balanced Pac10 this year. Washington, ASU, UA, and UCLA will be much improved. And with trips to Tennessee and Corvallis, I cant see Oregon escaping with less than 2 losses.
There's an outside chance that USC can get a delay on that postseason ban, and play in a bowl game this year. It's unlikely, but it's more likely than any of the other sanctions getting repealed and/or delayed.
You could not be more uninformed. James was accosted at his home by a crazy exgirlfriend. The only physical contact he made with her was to prevent her from forcing entry into his house and then to retrieve the his car keys which she had stolen from him (and was attempting to steal his car). He pleaded guilty to Harrassment and is suspended for the season opener against New Mexico. There was never any suggestion of sexual assault. He maintained his grades during the time he was banned from campus, and that ban was lifted months ago.
6 home games is pretty common in the Pac10: SEC vs Pac10 for home games in 2010 is typical. Maybe someone else can post the Big Ten home games. 6? 7?
Essentially the SEC replaces a 9th conference game (which Pac10 has) with a weak non-conference home opponent which helps their BCS eligibility as each SEC team has an additional win as a result.
Auburn 8
Florida 8
Alabama 7
Arkansas 7
Kentucky 7
LSU 7
Miss St 7
Ole Miss 7
S. Carolina 7
Tennessee 7
Vanderbilt 7
Georgia 6
Arizona 7
Cal 7
ASU 6
Oregon 6
OSU 6
Stanford 6
UCLA 6
USC 6
UW 6
WSU 6
Lets review the Rose Bowl: Pryor plays the game of his life. There is solid evidence that tOSU had Oregon's offensive and defensive calls figured out. Oregon only played worse against Boise State last year. If there was a rematch, Oregon wins. Period!
u guys r so full of yourselves on 3 Jul 2010 - 2:24pm#
Wow buckeyechief, you might want to get your facts straight before spouting off. First, LaMike IS NOT banned from campus, and has been working out with the football team and competing on the track team. Second: he eas NEVER charged with sexual assault, nor even accused of it. It was a simple case of scorned ex-gf went nuts on him and instead of calling the cops he tried to deal with her himself. Read the court transcripts, it paints a completely different picture from what the media did. Finally, I didn't see anywhere above where you might have thrown in the rumor of osu stealing signals as has been reported in several places. Not saying they did, BUT, it sure did seem odd that osu seemed to know where exactly each play was going before the ball had been snapped. Hmmm. Enough of a coincidence that Chip has gone to using cryptic pictures on signs instead of hand signals for this next season.
Please stop with the 'stealing signals' excuse. It makes us sound like whiners. That was a close game that came down to a fumble in the end zone in the fourth quarter. A game that Masoli was not passing well, which seemed to happen every few games.
Ohio State had a very good d that rattled him enough, they could anticipate where he was going to go.
The stealing signals 'story' was not widely reported. It was mentioned as a possibility on a blog during a slow news week and some other blogs ran with it.
That was a good game Buckeye fans. I think you will see a much improved Duck d this year. Last year they implemented a whole new strategy, which was very effective, but we had a lot of new people in there due to injuries and such.
The offense will be just fine. The one game Costa started last year was a 'get us through til the next game when Masoli will be back' strategy. They were not wanting to put much pressure on Costa knee (three surgeries). It was a very conservative game.
Good luck Bucks. We may just see you in Glendale. I, for one, would not be disappointed with that rematch or in the Rosebowl if it comes down to it. Just don't expect the same team.
buckeye chief Your whole post is totaly wrong. He is not banned and he never was charged wih sexual assult!! So please try to keep up!! Write about ant farms,or how to watch grass grow!! You know nothing about Duck football!!
Shut up michigan man! Go back to your own website with your sorry ass team! Yeah, nice job RR is doing! Awesome Defense too!
Oregon did not play bad. tOSU shut them out, and it would have been worse had our kick team not given them the short field.
Brian Libby....
tOSU was lucky in the RB. How do you figure?! What calls did we get lucky with?
If blount hadn't fumbled? Ok fumbles are a pare of the game dickhead, get OVER IT! Using that logic had Tate Fivecier not turned the ball over 5times michigan would have beat tOSU. Fuck you!
Both of you need to go back to whatever amateur website you came from and go fuck yourselves!
I'm just sayin', it's a bit arrogant to say that the rose bowl was a 'thumping'. I mean, OSU was only an Oregon-fumble-in-open-space-for-no-damn-reason away from losing the game. You can go watch it again, and I'm just sayin', remember, but if any one of the things that didn't go Oregon's way (everything) DID go Oregon's way, bam, different result.
Not to say that we didn't earn a win, but, Oregon gave up enough (enough "coin flips" went against them) for us to earn that win... to overcome that offense's hyper-volatility. Not the other way around.
Anyways, great analysis- but just for the sake of humility, (and to repress what appears to be a stereotype about arrogant OSU fans) go ahead and call it what it is next time, a solid, hard earned win which couldn't do without a splash of luck's favor. Hardly a 'thumping'.
You Oregon fans were just used to hapless or injured Pac-10 defenses all season long. Boise State's defense handled the Ducks' attack the same way Ohio State did. Does that mean Boise State was stealing signals in the first game? All of the Oregon fans that I met at the Rose Bowl seemed to have collectively forgotten that game ever happened.
Right, I guess it was luck that Ohio State held the ball for 41 minutes to Oregon's 18. I guess it was luck that Oregon missed that field goal at the end of the game to pull it to less than 2 scores. I guess it was luck that Pryor threw for 266 yards, when all Pac-10 QB's threw for as many all season long.
Yeah, I guess if you want to look at both team's last championship game they have more success, but other than that, what big games has Alabama been stunning in? I'm not counting conference game or conference championship since SEC fans never count big wins againts top 10 in conference foes for Ohio State.
obviously they'll have to find another answer as Gerhardt is gone. I just don't know if they can replace the guy who literally carried the team on his shoulders last year.
There are a lot of IF's you can point to in any game. If Oregon scored more points than Ohio State they would've won, they didn't and that's all the matters.
About as well as they did in Pasadena, really. People seemed to forget in the afterglow that that was a close, competitive game, with no stereotype – Oregon’s speed, Ohio State’s lack thereof, Oregon’s “terrible” defense – left standing in its wake.
I've not heard this great bunch of people saying it was an ass whooping, and there's no guarrenttee that if Oregon scores that Ohio State doesn't still win the game. Bottom line is EVERYONE was going against OSU in that game. I believe writers on this very site picked them to lose the game. It's really bad when homers are picking against the team. So for Ohio State to win like the did, and not allow many points agains the greatest offense ever to play college football(if you listened to ESPN and all the talking heads) yeah it was a pretty special day. The game was closer than the score might have indicated, but winning the game by 1 point would've been quite an upset to the rest of America. I kept hearing how Oregon was going to put up 28-35 points guarrenteed and the Ohio State offense wouldn't be able to score enough points to keep up.
Turnovers happen all the time in games, you can point to any turnover in any game and say, "If that didn't happen....." Well they do happen and that's how many many games are won and lost.
If, If, If.... when your only argument is "IF" your pretty lame bro. We are all happy to have some construcive banter back and forth but try and come up with something better than that. The fumble DID happen. IF the buckeyes could have figured out how to cover a kick, Oregon might not have sniffed the 50 yard line.
Woulda, coulda, shoulda,.....And if we don't rough the punter we beat Florida, and if we. blah blah blah. The game was played, the BUCKEYES won. There are many occasions where if this happened or that happened during any game the outcome would have been different, fumbles happen, INT's happen, etc.. Get over the Rose Bowl already Duck fans, look to the future!
I beginning to understand why Michigan hates Ohio State fans so much. You guys are devoid of fact and just constantly flame. Especially more so now that you actually won something. I'll let you know that the Oregon coaching staff insinuated the Bucks had their signals. Which is why they completely changed their whole signal system. Watch the game....you'll find out the Bucks knew exactly what was coming when it was coming.
Pryor didn't play the game of his life on accident. People forget that in general Tressel's teams improve between the end of the year and the bowl game. In know the Florida and LSU game made people forget that, but seriously his teams, and certain players improve a lot after the final game of the year and before the bowl game.
Pryor proved he was mature enough for that kind of game plan in the time between the Michigan game and rose bowl. Once that happened a game plan was developed to use his great talents and you saw what happened. It wasn't just dumb luck that Pryor played good that day.
Complaining about stolen signals is the 21st century coaching complaint equivalent of "my dog ate my homework". You were outclassed on the field. Deal with it.
Actually won something? You think that was the first game they've "actually won" I'll take 8 BCS appearances and 5 wins in those appearences. I don't believe there are too many other teams who can claim that rate of success.
Oregon and its fans can't look any worse than they do when they pull out this stealing signals crap. Your offense wasn't ready for a Big Ten defense. Going through the cupcake defenses of the Pac 10 in no way prepared you for real football. Move on bro. You look more and more pitiful everytime you bring this up.
The staff never said Ohio State took their signals. They just said it in an interview after the Rose Bowl. When you watch the game and watch your D....You'll find that it's true.
Well I guess it is appropriate for Oregon fans to tell us about winning something. Prior to the Rose Bowl loss last year they looked most impressive in the Holiday Bowl and Sun Bowl. The year of the Florida Debacle, they were putting up a great showing in the Holiday Bowl. Who can forget the 30 point loss to BYU in the Vegas Bowl?
So, since 2005, what has Oregon won that give you the right to criticize Ohio State for supposedly not winning anything?
How many points did USC put up that game though? Anyone who watched the game knows it was OSU's offense that lost that game. I guess you would actually have to watch a game and check facts to understand that though.
Yeah, but we are not talking about USC or Purdue are we. We are tal;king about Oregon who would not have sniffed our side of the field if we could have covered a kick. It seems to me that Oregon and it's fans were not used to being in the college limelight and got a little cocky and overconfident. After they were beaten down by the team that everybody in the national media picked to get blown out, they are using this "signal stealing" story as some kind of defense mechanism. Just accept defeat and move on.
Bush league to whine about something like that, and if Oregon wasn't sophisticated enough to not tip their signals, that's their own problem. At the end of the day you have to execute. If your offense was as good as everyone said it was, they should've been able to line up and execute. Better teams can do that. I always had a coach who said I'll tell them exactly what we're running. It won't matter because they won't stop us.
So what bowl games have they not been able to win? Since Tressel took over I believe the Buckeyes are 6-4 in bowls. Including a 4-3 mark in BCS games under Tressel. One was a National Championship. I'd rather win my conference and win more than half the bowls then finish 2-5 and get embarrassed in the Las Vegas bowl.
Theres a reason why Oregon changed how they signal plays. Don't wanna sound like a whiner but damn. And look....a decent post and then more Suckeye flaming.
Obviously they had the setbacks in back to back years in the Championship game and lost to Texas, but you are totally ignoring 4 BCS wins with tressel.
As a Duck this topic of stolen signals is new to me and I'm typically all over all news, etc. If this indeed did occur then shame on our coaches for letting it happen and semi kudos to the Buckeyes for figuring it out. I guess those couple extra weeks in Dec. might have been more beneficial than anyone thought - hmmmm.
As for the game itself, Masoli and the passing game were non-existent. That and the Blount fumble were huge keys. Finally, though our D did a very commendable job shutting down tOSU's ground attack, they had no answer for Pryor's individual heroics. We Ducks should be able to relate since Masoli often did the same to our opponents what TP did to us. Sometimes you scheme very well and a great individual athlete simply beats you with his legs & arm. Hopefully we get another shot at you guys soon.
Goodbye Suckeyes. Got better things to do than sit here and debate college football all day. Snowboarding? Sounds good to me. Don't get shot in east Cleveland. Have a good day.
Yes, and I guess since we beat Oregon, we can take those losses to Purdue and USC back now. Obviously we are better than those 2 teams since we beat Oregon.
Alabama went into super-conserative mode once McCoy went down. The game would have had a much different feel if McCoy would have been in. Alabama played not to lose, which is all they needed to do with McCoy out. How their gameplan changes is anyones guess.
I'm sorry, it was for menacing, strangulation, and assualt. Boy was I wrong! You fucktards are all right, I'm full of my self because your sorry f'ing program made it to the Rose Bowl in how many years, played a decent game, lost and fell completely apart.
Your QB got tossed from school, one WR suspended, and another tossed for making racist statements; James was banned from campus until he pled guilty for assualt.
Your program makes Miami of the late 80's/ early 90's look like choir boys. My main thought was that these guys screwed you over as fans, and robbed you of a legit shot at an MNC; so in short, you are right, I know nothing about Ducks football and would rather watch paint dry.
I hope the Beavers kick your ass this year.
ummm chief..you talk about stay classy,,yet your first response was fuctards?? and our sorry f ing program? what a hypocrite.
Almost every b'eye fan I've met has been classy....you're an idiot and give lowlife trailer trash a bad name. Some where a village is thrilled because their idiot left on a the short bus...I'll let them know where you are.
...Does someone have to be you to be a moron? or be a moron to be you?
Remember there was no backup for Costa in the UCLA game without burning Thomas' redshirt. It was very conservative calling to protect a valuable resource. Did we rely on defence to help out - yes. Did they - yes. I think our defence will also be a strength this year, especially in the first part of the season while the offence gets back in sync with a new QB.
The Ducks were beat, but they were not beat down. tOSU won by 9pts. Not much of a smashing there. The problem with the Ducks in the Rose Bowl was not the D. It was the offense. Our deffense played fine except for giving up key plays to Pryor on the ground. If you watched the past two swasons with Masoli at QB you can see how eratic he can be at times. He made a lot of wrong reads in that game and it cost the Ducks. Not saying they would have won if he played better. That is why I am glad to see someone else get a shhot at QB. Maybe get some more balanced and steady play from the QB. For example that Blount fumble Duck fans are talking about. That was because of Masoli and not Blount. He turned the ball over a lot on hand off and QB run plays.
The one thing I don't understand is alot of talk before the game was whether the Buckeye defense could keep up with the Oregon offense, both speed wise and creativity wise ( I forget the stat everyone threw out on how many drives ended in a TD under 2 mins). Anyway, if Oregon was so quick about putting out effective plays, wouldn't that render the stealing signs useless?
If there were any stealing of signs (I think it's unlikely and a cop out), Oregon's reputation failed either creatively or speedwise, if you choose to believe it. Can't have it both ways (saying you're too fast, but the other team is stealing signs), if you want to hail your coach as a genius.
the only thing you possibly know about Cleveland comes from a funny parody you tube video, made in jest by a Clevelander himself. not saying Cleveland is perfect, but be original guy.
also, suggesting that OSU only stopped Oregon because they had their signals is hilarious. first of all you guys murdered us with the fly sweep all game, where was our inside information on those plays? Oregon is able to dictate the pace of the game with positive plays on first down, which they were only able to do with less than 50% frequency vs us. their offense destroyed when Cam Heyward and Co. blew up a first down run in the backfield, forcing Oregon into 2nd and too long to run again. watch the game, Ohio State destroyed Oregon in the trenches, regardless of where the play was going, or even if Ohio State knew, Oregon's blockers were still losing the blocking battle more often than not. point is...even if OSU knew the play was going to the A gap or whatever, they still would have had to shed the block and make the play, and they did, most of the time. Oregon didn't have the offensive line to consistently match up with our deeper, more versatile defensive line. face it.
Yeah, Eric, and everyone here is starting to understand why Washington, Oregon State, and pretty much the entire Pac-10 hates Oregon fans. It's not because their team is dominant, it's because their fans suffer from the biggest Napolean complex in college athletics.
You can't just lose and move on. You feel like you didn't really lose any of those games in 2010, and that you should be handed a crystal ball just for showing up. 0-8 against Ohio State. Zero Rose Bowl wins. Get the F5 off our threads.
I wonder if it had anything to do with the Suckeyes stealing the offensive playcalls??? I would LOVE a rematch. Masoli's biggest weakness was he struggled throwing downfield, Costa and Thomas don't have that problem.
By 'took their signals' do you mean, spent hours in the film-room analyzing tape? Look, I get that in conferences where the defensive side of the ball is not emphasized, a team may be able to get away with simplistic offensive schemes that no one can figure out--but not in the Big Ten, That’s what happened--plain and simple. No one needed to 'steal' anything. What else is your staff going to say when the game is over? "Gee guys, I guess out there in the Midwest the defense has more purpose that just giving the offense a 10 minute break every now and then."
We didn’t steal your signals. We watched the tape and figured your gimmick azz offensive scheme out AND had the personnel and ability to expose it.
lovely explanation. i was going to chime in yesterday and say that oregon was able to move the ball well. osu's defensive scheme wasn't perfect, but it was pretty good. and the signal theory is absurd (last i checked there was such a thing called audiblling), and i suppose ohio state knew the signal for legarret blount's fumble, too?
Big man to call someone out for spelling on a comment board dedicated to football. "Anonymous", huh? Coward, more like it. I'm sure Ohio State is 100% full of high class people, right? No Buckeye would EVER do something that would embarrass their fellow fans. Like mis-spell some words?.....Don't act like you're better than anybody.
Now......go back to trashtalking on random comment boards and enjoy your useless existence.
It's pretty easy to figure out...this was their one shot at fame. The Ohio State University was seen as wannabies by the national media for their performances in big games during a three year stretch. Couple by the fact that The Ohio State University plays in the lumbering, ancient Big Ten and Oregon had last year's version of the Greatest Offense Ever, I'm sure Duck fans were anticipating a win in their first Rose Bowl since the Viet Nam era.
So when, on a national stage, their unstopable offense was made to look slow and predictable by The Ohio State University defense and when Pryor, who was being moved over to wide receiver by fans of The Ohio State University after playing Purdue, looked like a pro-level quarterback, the Duck fans had to find reasons why their team was made to look so poorly.
The Ohio State University players were stealing our signals. Blount's fumble was the single play that cost them the Rose Bowl. The team picked out the wrong color combination from their extensive wardrobe collection. The list goes on and on.
The Ohio State University simply had much better players on both sides of the line of scrimage and their coaches came up with a better game plan, and that is the answer that Ducks everywhere simply cannot bare to accept.
Pot calling the kettle black? Didn't tOSU a few years back break a ncaa record for players getting in trouble with the law? All schools have players get into trouble. When you have over a hundred kids on a team some of them are going to do the wrong thing. It does not make the program as a whole bad. Or else tOSU would be one of the worst programs in history if that were the case. Wish people could just keep it real and talk football. Some people on these sights I don't think even watch the games or know about football.
I have no clue where you're getting your information, but I'd stay away from it because it is far from the truth.
Whenever a Buckeye is dismissed or suspended it is because of grades and/or booster non sense (Troy Smith). The last trouble I can remember for law reasons for a buckeye that was currently at Ohio State was Dougie Worthington for a DUI, I believe. That one was before the 2008 season.
The other law related trouble I can remember either came before the player stepped foot on campus (Jamaal Berry) or after he was done at Ohio State (Alex Boone, Santonio Holmes).
To say we "broke a record", would diminish the great work that Oregon's players have done.
I did make a mistake; it wasn't sexual assualt. My point was you guys had a good team and certain players screwed you over as a fanbase by getting kicked out. With Massoli and co. you had the talent to make a run, but imho they took that from ya'll.
Anyways, Andrew Wheating is a beast, any chance of him playing Wideout?
Best analysis of Ducks to-date, even though I cringe knowing it comes from Buckeye backer.
Yeah, it's tough the Ducks lost their QB, but everyone else on offense is back so I hope they're just as potent, if not more explosive like 2007 and 2008. We'll see but they could be better.
tOSU should be a great team and Pryor may even make a run at the Heisman
or win it if they go undefeated but a magical season must happen. Good luck to all the OSU fans. I hope O is there at the end to play them weather it's in the NC game(crazy thought but it is possible with magic of their own)or the Rose Bowl for redemption and anything else that may come with a victory.
I will say this however, if any other team had every starter back on the OL from a Rose Bowl team, that team gets, and deserves respect. Oregon may not have Alumni on The Fiesta Bowl committee(remember 2005!!), no in state competition like OSU (not tOSU for anyone confused), nor the tradition and glory, but we do have this. Oregon beat the Buckeyes in basketball for their only NC title and the Ducks are also "The Team That Let The Air Out Of The Big House!!!" 39-7 back in 2007 (see above). Yes, Oregon did that, not tOSU with umpteen more chances. Oregon did it! It's not all we're doing either!
Nice site . Lots of passion from all. Was at the last Rose Bowl. OSU won; period. Pryor had a career game. Xlnt decision making, Xlnt passing game. Masoli's game non-existent that day.
The only quibble I have, generally, with this site is the apparent lack of awareness regarding SoCal geography. Unless there has been the performance of a monumental engineering feat, I believe that the structure that is the Rose Bowl still resides in Pasadena's Brookside Park; next to the golf course. Glendale is @ 5 miles to the west of this location. Sorry, I just couldn't resist this slight needle.
He was talking about next years national championship game. Its going to be played in Glendale. Looks like you're the one with lack of awareness in geography.
I'm fairly up on Ducks news and I haven't heard this stealing signals junk. Just how do you steal signals on the triple option? TRIPLE!! Not 3 yards and a could of dust. Not the Lombardi sweep. TRIPLE!!. This is what you hear from the dude that lost a bet. Must have cost him plenty to still be moaning.
If I could have your attention. The play is a handoff [or fake handoff followed by a handoff(or fake handoff)followed by a pass/run option), pass, or run option. Very simple, but very hard to figure out. Maybe someone could steal the alignment, but not the play. Buckeyes did a good job last year to slow it down and Pryor had a lot to do with that by eating up time and keeping O off the field. May happen again (a lot of you think what was will always be), but probably won't. I've never watched the same game twice. Buckeyes could win again but it won't happen the same way.
Anyways, I doubt Chip's real worried about this and if he is, were not gonna know about it until he wants us to and that might not be until late 3rd quarter, under the lights in Glendale, and he's ready to make a statement.
You do understand it's a bogus statement right? This is very disappointing from a Buckeye site. Buckeyes know football but apparently A LOT of you dont.
And just how many Duck posts on are this sight? 10 or maybe 12 before me? 120 by Buckeyes over someones fantasy drivel and you guys come up with this junk. Are your fans always like this?
I think he is aaying that
1. Buckeyes won fair and square.
2. Just because the game last year played out the way it did doesn't mean it would play out the same way if the teams meet again in a bowl game.
3. There are a lot of Buckeye fans on this Buckeye site, so take it easy on the few Ducks that want to come here and talk smack.
4. Have a nice day.
I agree Chad. The BEST Michigan fans can do is marvel over their "new and improved" Big Shit House. go to freep.com for a few laughs. I guess they "expanded" all the seats 1/4" each, for all of the fatasses.
I was just saying that no legit Oregon fan thinks Buckeyes stole signs during the Rose Bowl and the comment poster the said it is obviously a bonehead.
But what I found disappointing enough to reply on a Buckeye site was:
1. For being FOOTBALL FANS, Buckeye comments seem to be completely unaware that you can't steal signs from the triple option.
2. The amount of fans on the site that didn't know this is surprising.
3. Where is the respect to the author of the article? I find ignorant comments to be to disrespectful.
I can sum this up in 5 words and 2 exclamation points. Dude! Not going to happen!
I couldn't stop laughing enough to make it past the part where you said the Ducks were a possible contender. The fact that we didn't score 50 on you in the bowl gives me the second guessing on whether our team can do it this year. You take away your QB and some other starters, and still try to find reasons why you're a contender. Ummm excuse me for a moment, BWahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.
Comments
Welcome to the big show Sam. Great writeup.
So I was going to make some comment about Costa having more experience with the offense and him playing before and Chip Kelly making it more pass first, etc. Then I looked up his stat line from the one game he started last year.
9/17 for 82 yards. 1 TD 1 INT. They beat UCLA 24-10 with kickoff return and INT return TDs. He also had 6 rushes for -18 yards. Maybe they're in more trouble than I thought. But the running game shouldn't have much, if any, drop off so they're still dangerous.
I think it's also a stretch to say Alabama has more recent big game success. Yea sure they won this past year. Don't forget the season before that they lost the only 2 big games they played...one of which was to Utah. So 1-1 in recent BCS games and 1-1 in recent SEC championships.
Great post, but LaMike James is still banned from campus for sexual assualt and they lost a few wideouts as well. After their offseason and pkayers kicked off, I'd be suprised if they win more than 7 games; too much drama.
go ducks
Or that their national championship win was against a team that lost one of its all-time best players to a fluke injury on the first series. But hey, reputation doesn't care about details, only results, and recent ones at that.
Welcome to the fold, Sam!
I think Oregon loses 2 or 3 - one to USC and one to Stanford or Washington. Will they show up to the Rose Bowl? I'd say it's a toss up between USC and Oregon so far. Not that I follow the Pac-10 closely (or at all), but I just can't see another 8-4 season for Southern Cal, even with Kiffin.
And Texas almost won with a freshman quarterback with no big game experience.
Can you imagine what Texas could've done if they had McCoy.
But injuries are a part of the game and I hold nothing against Alabama. They won fair and square.
USC will not be eligible for any bowl this year or next year. The only thing they can do is play the spoiler.
With SC out of the bowl picture, I'd say Stanford should be the favorite in the P10. Not that oregon won't be tough without Masoli, but USC will be fired up to play and not only crush Oregon, but the rest of the Pac10.
However, stanford has to travel to Eugene, and with 5 weeks under their belts the QB competition should be settled.
This is actually a very balanced Pac10 this year. Washington, ASU, UA, and UCLA will be much improved. And with trips to Tennessee and Corvallis, I cant see Oregon escaping with less than 2 losses.
Good write up Sam, always enjoy locking horns with you, even though you usually win, lol!
reader 10 checking in
Well I feel stupid. Totally forgot about the ban.
Glad to see you here Sam. Good write up.
Welcome back to the Interwebs, Sam! Good to have your insight again.
Man, 11W is becoming like the Lakers... if they added LeBron.
(used for illustrative purposes, no rumors intentionally mongered)
Is that 19 member count verified or just a rough estimate?
There's an outside chance that USC can get a delay on that postseason ban, and play in a bowl game this year. It's unlikely, but it's more likely than any of the other sanctions getting repealed and/or delayed.
You could not be more uninformed. James was accosted at his home by a crazy exgirlfriend. The only physical contact he made with her was to prevent her from forcing entry into his house and then to retrieve the his car keys which she had stolen from him (and was attempting to steal his car). He pleaded guilty to Harrassment and is suspended for the season opener against New Mexico. There was never any suggestion of sexual assault. He maintained his grades during the time he was banned from campus, and that ban was lifted months ago.
6 home games is pretty common in the Pac10: SEC vs Pac10 for home games in 2010 is typical. Maybe someone else can post the Big Ten home games. 6? 7?
Essentially the SEC replaces a 9th conference game (which Pac10 has) with a weak non-conference home opponent which helps their BCS eligibility as each SEC team has an additional win as a result.
Auburn 8
Florida 8
Alabama 7
Arkansas 7
Kentucky 7
LSU 7
Miss St 7
Ole Miss 7
S. Carolina 7
Tennessee 7
Vanderbilt 7
Georgia 6
Arizona 7
Cal 7
ASU 6
Oregon 6
OSU 6
Stanford 6
UCLA 6
USC 6
UW 6
WSU 6
Lets review the Rose Bowl: Pryor plays the game of his life. There is solid evidence that tOSU had Oregon's offensive and defensive calls figured out. Oregon only played worse against Boise State last year. If there was a rematch, Oregon wins. Period!
Wow buckeyechief, you might want to get your facts straight before spouting off. First, LaMike IS NOT banned from campus, and has been working out with the football team and competing on the track team. Second: he eas NEVER charged with sexual assault, nor even accused of it. It was a simple case of scorned ex-gf went nuts on him and instead of calling the cops he tried to deal with her himself. Read the court transcripts, it paints a completely different picture from what the media did. Finally, I didn't see anywhere above where you might have thrown in the rumor of osu stealing signals as has been reported in several places. Not saying they did, BUT, it sure did seem odd that osu seemed to know where exactly each play was going before the ball had been snapped. Hmmm. Enough of a coincidence that Chip has gone to using cryptic pictures on signs instead of hand signals for this next season.
Ohio State was lucky in the Rose Bowl. If Blount hadn't fumbled in the 2nd half Oregon would have won.
Fellow Oregon fans,
Please stop with the 'stealing signals' excuse. It makes us sound like whiners. That was a close game that came down to a fumble in the end zone in the fourth quarter. A game that Masoli was not passing well, which seemed to happen every few games.
Ohio State had a very good d that rattled him enough, they could anticipate where he was going to go.
The stealing signals 'story' was not widely reported. It was mentioned as a possibility on a blog during a slow news week and some other blogs ran with it.
That was a good game Buckeye fans. I think you will see a much improved Duck d this year. Last year they implemented a whole new strategy, which was very effective, but we had a lot of new people in there due to injuries and such.
The offense will be just fine. The one game Costa started last year was a 'get us through til the next game when Masoli will be back' strategy. They were not wanting to put much pressure on Costa knee (three surgeries). It was a very conservative game.
Good luck Bucks. We may just see you in Glendale. I, for one, would not be disappointed with that rematch or in the Rosebowl if it comes down to it. Just don't expect the same team.
Go Ducks!
It's certainly going to get harder for us ;)
"the Tide do have slightly better recent big-game credentials than the Buckeyes."
...we both have one BCS title, although theirs is more recent. But so was that ridiculous loss to Utah the year before in the BCS.
So, not sure they technically have more big game credentials.
Cry Me River
Cry me a River*
buckeye chief Your whole post is totaly wrong. He is not banned and he never was charged wih sexual assult!! So please try to keep up!! Write about ant farms,or how to watch grass grow!! You know nothing about Duck football!!
Shut up michigan man! Go back to your own website with your sorry ass team! Yeah, nice job RR is doing! Awesome Defense too!
Oregon did not play bad. tOSU shut them out, and it would have been worse had our kick team not given them the short field.
Brian Libby....
tOSU was lucky in the RB. How do you figure?! What calls did we get lucky with?
If blount hadn't fumbled? Ok fumbles are a pare of the game dickhead, get OVER IT! Using that logic had Tate Fivecier not turned the ball over 5times michigan would have beat tOSU. Fuck you!
Both of you need to go back to whatever amateur website you came from and go fuck yourselves!
I'm just sayin', it's a bit arrogant to say that the rose bowl was a 'thumping'. I mean, OSU was only an Oregon-fumble-in-open-space-for-no-damn-reason away from losing the game. You can go watch it again, and I'm just sayin', remember, but if any one of the things that didn't go Oregon's way (everything) DID go Oregon's way, bam, different result.
Not to say that we didn't earn a win, but, Oregon gave up enough (enough "coin flips" went against them) for us to earn that win... to overcome that offense's hyper-volatility. Not the other way around.
Anyways, great analysis- but just for the sake of humility, (and to repress what appears to be a stereotype about arrogant OSU fans) go ahead and call it what it is next time, a solid, hard earned win which couldn't do without a splash of luck's favor. Hardly a 'thumping'.
GO BUCKS!
You Oregon fans were just used to hapless or injured Pac-10 defenses all season long. Boise State's defense handled the Ducks' attack the same way Ohio State did. Does that mean Boise State was stealing signals in the first game? All of the Oregon fans that I met at the Rose Bowl seemed to have collectively forgotten that game ever happened.
Get over it.
Right, I guess it was luck that Ohio State held the ball for 41 minutes to Oregon's 18. I guess it was luck that Oregon missed that field goal at the end of the game to pull it to less than 2 scores. I guess it was luck that Pryor threw for 266 yards, when all Pac-10 QB's threw for as many all season long.
Oregon's lucky they didn't lose by more points.
How many rematches do you think it would take for Michigan to win against the Buckeyes last year?
Or the year before that?
Yeah, I guess if you want to look at both team's last championship game they have more success, but other than that, what big games has Alabama been stunning in? I'm not counting conference game or conference championship since SEC fans never count big wins againts top 10 in conference foes for Ohio State.
Will Stanford be that good? I have to see them put up some offense other than Gerhardt. He was the sole reason the won several games last year.
obviously they'll have to find another answer as Gerhardt is gone. I just don't know if they can replace the guy who literally carried the team on his shoulders last year.
Or...the year before that. And that, and on and on.
+1
There are a lot of IF's you can point to in any game. If Oregon scored more points than Ohio State they would've won, they didn't and that's all the matters.
Ohio State will be far more dominant than it was last year.
Says the fan of a team that didn't go to a bowl last year... or the year before...
*ahem*
About as well as they did in Pasadena, really. People seemed to forget in the afterglow that that was a close, competitive game, with no stereotype – Oregon’s speed, Ohio State’s lack thereof, Oregon’s “terrible” defense – left standing in its wake.
I've not heard this great bunch of people saying it was an ass whooping, and there's no guarrenttee that if Oregon scores that Ohio State doesn't still win the game. Bottom line is EVERYONE was going against OSU in that game. I believe writers on this very site picked them to lose the game. It's really bad when homers are picking against the team. So for Ohio State to win like the did, and not allow many points agains the greatest offense ever to play college football(if you listened to ESPN and all the talking heads) yeah it was a pretty special day. The game was closer than the score might have indicated, but winning the game by 1 point would've been quite an upset to the rest of America. I kept hearing how Oregon was going to put up 28-35 points guarrenteed and the Ohio State offense wouldn't be able to score enough points to keep up.
Turnovers happen all the time in games, you can point to any turnover in any game and say, "If that didn't happen....." Well they do happen and that's how many many games are won and lost.
If, If, If.... when your only argument is "IF" your pretty lame bro. We are all happy to have some construcive banter back and forth but try and come up with something better than that. The fumble DID happen. IF the buckeyes could have figured out how to cover a kick, Oregon might not have sniffed the 50 yard line.
Woulda, coulda, shoulda,.....And if we don't rough the punter we beat Florida, and if we. blah blah blah. The game was played, the BUCKEYES won. There are many occasions where if this happened or that happened during any game the outcome would have been different, fumbles happen, INT's happen, etc.. Get over the Rose Bowl already Duck fans, look to the future!
GO BUCKS!
I beginning to understand why Michigan hates Ohio State fans so much. You guys are devoid of fact and just constantly flame. Especially more so now that you actually won something. I'll let you know that the Oregon coaching staff insinuated the Bucks had their signals. Which is why they completely changed their whole signal system. Watch the game....you'll find out the Bucks knew exactly what was coming when it was coming.
Pryor didn't play the game of his life on accident. People forget that in general Tressel's teams improve between the end of the year and the bowl game. In know the Florida and LSU game made people forget that, but seriously his teams, and certain players improve a lot after the final game of the year and before the bowl game.
Pryor proved he was mature enough for that kind of game plan in the time between the Michigan game and rose bowl. Once that happened a game plan was developed to use his great talents and you saw what happened. It wasn't just dumb luck that Pryor played good that day.
just like it's not dumb like that taint fivercier plays like dick.
Complaining about stolen signals is the 21st century coaching complaint equivalent of "my dog ate my homework". You were outclassed on the field. Deal with it.
We know that LaMichael James can run, he outran all those Sig Eps he robbed!
Actually won something? You think that was the first game they've "actually won" I'll take 8 BCS appearances and 5 wins in those appearences. I don't believe there are too many other teams who can claim that rate of success.
but I have a Labrador Retriever, they eat everything...
it's because we OSU fans are spoiled. I'll have something on that in a few weeks.
Negative. Watch the game. No D is that perfect.....I feel sorry for you if you think so.
And Bill Bellicheck taped their practices for us too.
No D in the Pac-10 is that perfect.
FIXED
ha, nice catch
I guess buy that logic Ohio State's D stole about 12 team's signals last year.
Well hey...at least you're proving my point perfectly
Oregon and its fans can't look any worse than they do when they pull out this stealing signals crap. Your offense wasn't ready for a Big Ten defense. Going through the cupcake defenses of the Pac 10 in no way prepared you for real football. Move on bro. You look more and more pitiful everytime you bring this up.
Look forward to it
That stat line is downright Zwickian
The staff never said Ohio State took their signals. They just said it in an interview after the Rose Bowl. When you watch the game and watch your D....You'll find that it's true.
Yeah....USC and Purdue really killed it.
Ah..yes..
Well I guess it is appropriate for Oregon fans to tell us about winning something. Prior to the Rose Bowl loss last year they looked most impressive in the Holiday Bowl and Sun Bowl. The year of the Florida Debacle, they were putting up a great showing in the Holiday Bowl. Who can forget the 30 point loss to BYU in the Vegas Bowl?
So, since 2005, what has Oregon won that give you the right to criticize Ohio State for supposedly not winning anything?
How many points did USC put up that game though? Anyone who watched the game knows it was OSU's offense that lost that game. I guess you would actually have to watch a game and check facts to understand that though.
Yeah, but we are not talking about USC or Purdue are we. We are tal;king about Oregon who would not have sniffed our side of the field if we could have covered a kick. It seems to me that Oregon and it's fans were not used to being in the college limelight and got a little cocky and overconfident. After they were beaten down by the team that everybody in the national media picked to get blown out, they are using this "signal stealing" story as some kind of defense mechanism. Just accept defeat and move on.
I'll take is as a weak conference. USC in a down year showed the Pac is far better than the Big 10.
I think you meant to ask someone else that?
you need longer arms, because you're reachin...
Bush league to whine about something like that, and if Oregon wasn't sophisticated enough to not tip their signals, that's their own problem. At the end of the day you have to execute. If your offense was as good as everyone said it was, they should've been able to line up and execute. Better teams can do that. I always had a coach who said I'll tell them exactly what we're running. It won't matter because they won't stop us.
Yeah responded to the wrong comment sorry
Utah will win the "storied" pac10 in 3 years. Outisde of USC in the past decade the pac is whack.
I took it as such, no worries.
Because winning your conference every year and then not being able to win a bowl game says something.
Stanford.
Yet Oregon couldn't show the same thing. I guess you all weren't as good as USC either.
What did Oregon do last year?! And that was the first time they've won the conference since when?
Unless you use the transitive property. But that would mean that we beat oregon twice I think.
So what bowl games have they not been able to win? Since Tressel took over I believe the Buckeyes are 6-4 in bowls. Including a 4-3 mark in BCS games under Tressel. One was a National Championship. I'd rather win my conference and win more than half the bowls then finish 2-5 and get embarrassed in the Las Vegas bowl.
Theres a reason why Oregon changed how they signal plays. Don't wanna sound like a whiner but damn. And look....a decent post and then more Suckeye flaming.
Obviously they had the setbacks in back to back years in the Championship game and lost to Texas, but you are totally ignoring 4 BCS wins with tressel.
As a Duck this topic of stolen signals is new to me and I'm typically all over all news, etc. If this indeed did occur then shame on our coaches for letting it happen and semi kudos to the Buckeyes for figuring it out. I guess those couple extra weeks in Dec. might have been more beneficial than anyone thought - hmmmm.
As for the game itself, Masoli and the passing game were non-existent. That and the Blount fumble were huge keys. Finally, though our D did a very commendable job shutting down tOSU's ground attack, they had no answer for Pryor's individual heroics. We Ducks should be able to relate since Masoli often did the same to our opponents what TP did to us. Sometimes you scheme very well and a great individual athlete simply beats you with his legs & arm. Hopefully we get another shot at you guys soon.
just go back to your granola, kind bud and teva sandals.
we appreciate your sanity.
i actually root for the ducks in pac10 play as i am behind enemy lines in trojenz country.
Goodbye Suckeyes. Got better things to do than sit here and debate college football all day. Snowboarding? Sounds good to me. Don't get shot in east Cleveland. Have a good day.
i bet this guy can't wait to find out 9/11 was an inside job. and he's all over the 2nd shooter on the grassy knoll.
troll toll
Yes, and I guess since we beat Oregon, we can take those losses to Purdue and USC back now. Obviously we are better than those 2 teams since we beat Oregon.
Brian and I are good at math. Now we set off to fix the economy by throwing toilet water on it.
Alabama went into super-conserative mode once McCoy went down. The game would have had a much different feel if McCoy would have been in. Alabama played not to lose, which is all they needed to do with McCoy out. How their gameplan changes is anyones guess.
I'm sorry, it was for menacing, strangulation, and assualt. Boy was I wrong! You fucktards are all right, I'm full of my self because your sorry f'ing program made it to the Rose Bowl in how many years, played a decent game, lost and fell completely apart.
Your QB got tossed from school, one WR suspended, and another tossed for making racist statements; James was banned from campus until he pled guilty for assualt.
Your program makes Miami of the late 80's/ early 90's look like choir boys. My main thought was that these guys screwed you over as fans, and robbed you of a legit shot at an MNC; so in short, you are right, I know nothing about Ducks football and would rather watch paint dry.
I hope the Beavers kick your ass this year.
Stay classy,
Chief
ummm chief..you talk about stay classy,,yet your first response was fuctards?? and our sorry f ing program? what a hypocrite.
Almost every b'eye fan I've met has been classy....you're an idiot and give lowlife trailer trash a bad name. Some where a village is thrilled because their idiot left on a the short bus...I'll let them know where you are.
...Does someone have to be you to be a moron? or be a moron to be you?
They play UCLA twice?
Good catch. Fixed now.
You're 100% right. I'm sorry I forgot the Dennis Dixon era; and being lowlife trailer trash is great; don't knock it till you try it.
BAN HAMMER TEAM, ASSEMBLE!
Remember there was no backup for Costa in the UCLA game without burning Thomas' redshirt. It was very conservative calling to protect a valuable resource. Did we rely on defence to help out - yes. Did they - yes. I think our defence will also be a strength this year, especially in the first part of the season while the offence gets back in sync with a new QB.
The Ducks were beat, but they were not beat down. tOSU won by 9pts. Not much of a smashing there. The problem with the Ducks in the Rose Bowl was not the D. It was the offense. Our deffense played fine except for giving up key plays to Pryor on the ground. If you watched the past two swasons with Masoli at QB you can see how eratic he can be at times. He made a lot of wrong reads in that game and it cost the Ducks. Not saying they would have won if he played better. That is why I am glad to see someone else get a shhot at QB. Maybe get some more balanced and steady play from the QB. For example that Blount fumble Duck fans are talking about. That was because of Masoli and not Blount. He turned the ball over a lot on hand off and QB run plays.
The one thing I don't understand is alot of talk before the game was whether the Buckeye defense could keep up with the Oregon offense, both speed wise and creativity wise ( I forget the stat everyone threw out on how many drives ended in a TD under 2 mins). Anyway, if Oregon was so quick about putting out effective plays, wouldn't that render the stealing signs useless?
If there were any stealing of signs (I think it's unlikely and a cop out), Oregon's reputation failed either creatively or speedwise, if you choose to believe it. Can't have it both ways (saying you're too fast, but the other team is stealing signs), if you want to hail your coach as a genius.
11th warrior checking in
Oregon would kick our butts in cross country.
hahah wow.
the only thing you possibly know about Cleveland comes from a funny parody you tube video, made in jest by a Clevelander himself. not saying Cleveland is perfect, but be original guy.
also, suggesting that OSU only stopped Oregon because they had their signals is hilarious. first of all you guys murdered us with the fly sweep all game, where was our inside information on those plays? Oregon is able to dictate the pace of the game with positive plays on first down, which they were only able to do with less than 50% frequency vs us. their offense destroyed when Cam Heyward and Co. blew up a first down run in the backfield, forcing Oregon into 2nd and too long to run again. watch the game, Ohio State destroyed Oregon in the trenches, regardless of where the play was going, or even if Ohio State knew, Oregon's blockers were still losing the blocking battle more often than not. point is...even if OSU knew the play was going to the A gap or whatever, they still would have had to shed the block and make the play, and they did, most of the time. Oregon didn't have the offensive line to consistently match up with our deeper, more versatile defensive line. face it.
Trolling about a game 6 months ago? Really?
I hope none of us ever do the same and troll on Purdue or USC's blogs..
It's "defense" and "offense." Quality education in Oregon, I see.
ROTFLMAO
Yeah, Eric, and everyone here is starting to understand why Washington, Oregon State, and pretty much the entire Pac-10 hates Oregon fans. It's not because their team is dominant, it's because their fans suffer from the biggest Napolean complex in college athletics.
You can't just lose and move on. You feel like you didn't really lose any of those games in 2010, and that you should be handed a crystal ball just for showing up. 0-8 against Ohio State. Zero Rose Bowl wins. Get the F5 off our threads.
Hi Sam.
I wonder if it had anything to do with the Suckeyes stealing the offensive playcalls??? I would LOVE a rematch. Masoli's biggest weakness was he struggled throwing downfield, Costa and Thomas don't have that problem.
By 'took their signals' do you mean, spent hours in the film-room analyzing tape? Look, I get that in conferences where the defensive side of the ball is not emphasized, a team may be able to get away with simplistic offensive schemes that no one can figure out--but not in the Big Ten, That’s what happened--plain and simple. No one needed to 'steal' anything. What else is your staff going to say when the game is over? "Gee guys, I guess out there in the Midwest the defense has more purpose that just giving the offense a 10 minute break every now and then."
We didn’t steal your signals. We watched the tape and figured your gimmick azz offensive scheme out AND had the personnel and ability to expose it.
CORRECTION: Pasadena not Glendale; The Rose Bowl is in Pasadena.
If Blount did not fumble and the Duck D had a few less missed tackles on Pryor, Ohio St would have LOST!
Oregon is an up and coming program - Ohio St is old, sad, tiring, and boring.
If the British made a few less mistakes and France didn't help out, America would have LOST the Revolutionary War!
If Lee Harvey Oswald were never born, JFK would still be ALIVE!
Would have, could have, should have. You Oregon fans on here put a few classy Oregon fans I know to shame.
He's talking about the National Championship Game next year. It's played in Glendale, AZ.
But its pipe dreams for your team, so you're right, Pasadena for you.
oregon is up and coming in the area of theft.
Why are Duck fans still so butt-hurt about this game??? It' not like they won't get back to a Rose Bowl in another 30some years.
lovely explanation. i was going to chime in yesterday and say that oregon was able to move the ball well. osu's defensive scheme wasn't perfect, but it was pretty good. and the signal theory is absurd (last i checked there was such a thing called audiblling), and i suppose ohio state knew the signal for legarret blount's fumble, too?
Big man to call someone out for spelling on a comment board dedicated to football. "Anonymous", huh? Coward, more like it. I'm sure Ohio State is 100% full of high class people, right? No Buckeye would EVER do something that would embarrass their fellow fans. Like mis-spell some words?.....Don't act like you're better than anybody.
Now......go back to trashtalking on random comment boards and enjoy your useless existence.
It's pretty easy to figure out...this was their one shot at fame. The Ohio State University was seen as wannabies by the national media for their performances in big games during a three year stretch. Couple by the fact that The Ohio State University plays in the lumbering, ancient Big Ten and Oregon had last year's version of the Greatest Offense Ever, I'm sure Duck fans were anticipating a win in their first Rose Bowl since the Viet Nam era.
So when, on a national stage, their unstopable offense was made to look slow and predictable by The Ohio State University defense and when Pryor, who was being moved over to wide receiver by fans of The Ohio State University after playing Purdue, looked like a pro-level quarterback, the Duck fans had to find reasons why their team was made to look so poorly.
The Ohio State University players were stealing our signals. Blount's fumble was the single play that cost them the Rose Bowl. The team picked out the wrong color combination from their extensive wardrobe collection. The list goes on and on.
The Ohio State University simply had much better players on both sides of the line of scrimage and their coaches came up with a better game plan, and that is the answer that Ducks everywhere simply cannot bare to accept.
Pot calling the kettle black? Didn't tOSU a few years back break a ncaa record for players getting in trouble with the law? All schools have players get into trouble. When you have over a hundred kids on a team some of them are going to do the wrong thing. It does not make the program as a whole bad. Or else tOSU would be one of the worst programs in history if that were the case. Wish people could just keep it real and talk football. Some people on these sights I don't think even watch the games or know about football.
I have no clue where you're getting your information, but I'd stay away from it because it is far from the truth.
Whenever a Buckeye is dismissed or suspended it is because of grades and/or booster non sense (Troy Smith). The last trouble I can remember for law reasons for a buckeye that was currently at Ohio State was Dougie Worthington for a DUI, I believe. That one was before the 2008 season.
The other law related trouble I can remember either came before the player stepped foot on campus (Jamaal Berry) or after he was done at Ohio State (Alex Boone, Santonio Holmes).
To say we "broke a record", would diminish the great work that Oregon's players have done.
Jeremy,
I did make a mistake; it wasn't sexual assualt. My point was you guys had a good team and certain players screwed you over as a fanbase by getting kicked out. With Massoli and co. you had the talent to make a run, but imho they took that from ya'll.
Anyways, Andrew Wheating is a beast, any chance of him playing Wideout?
If up and coming means Holiday Bowls and Las Vegas bowls, I'll take old and tired and the 5-3 BCS bowl game record that comes with it.
It is an undeniable fact (and not just mere speculation) that Oregon stole Ohio State's kickoff return team's signs.
Now THAT I can get behind
Best analysis of Ducks to-date, even though I cringe knowing it comes from Buckeye backer.
Yeah, it's tough the Ducks lost their QB, but everyone else on offense is back so I hope they're just as potent, if not more explosive like 2007 and 2008. We'll see but they could be better.
tOSU should be a great team and Pryor may even make a run at the Heisman
or win it if they go undefeated but a magical season must happen. Good luck to all the OSU fans. I hope O is there at the end to play them weather it's in the NC game(crazy thought but it is possible with magic of their own)or the Rose Bowl for redemption and anything else that may come with a victory.
I will say this however, if any other team had every starter back on the OL from a Rose Bowl team, that team gets, and deserves respect. Oregon may not have Alumni on The Fiesta Bowl committee(remember 2005!!), no in state competition like OSU (not tOSU for anyone confused), nor the tradition and glory, but we do have this. Oregon beat the Buckeyes in basketball for their only NC title and the Ducks are also "The Team That Let The Air Out Of The Big House!!!" 39-7 back in 2007 (see above). Yes, Oregon did that, not tOSU with umpteen more chances. Oregon did it! It's not all we're doing either!
Nice site . Lots of passion from all. Was at the last Rose Bowl. OSU won; period. Pryor had a career game. Xlnt decision making, Xlnt passing game. Masoli's game non-existent that day.
The only quibble I have, generally, with this site is the apparent lack of awareness regarding SoCal geography. Unless there has been the performance of a monumental engineering feat, I believe that the structure that is the Rose Bowl still resides in Pasadena's Brookside Park; next to the golf course. Glendale is @ 5 miles to the west of this location. Sorry, I just couldn't resist this slight needle.
He was talking about next years national championship game. Its going to be played in Glendale. Looks like you're the one with lack of awareness in geography.
Make that @450 miles to the SE.....and forget the last half of my previous entry.
I'm fairly up on Ducks news and I haven't heard this stealing signals junk. Just how do you steal signals on the triple option? TRIPLE!! Not 3 yards and a could of dust. Not the Lombardi sweep. TRIPLE!!. This is what you hear from the dude that lost a bet. Must have cost him plenty to still be moaning.
If I could have your attention. The play is a handoff [or fake handoff followed by a handoff(or fake handoff)followed by a pass/run option), pass, or run option. Very simple, but very hard to figure out. Maybe someone could steal the alignment, but not the play. Buckeyes did a good job last year to slow it down and Pryor had a lot to do with that by eating up time and keeping O off the field. May happen again (a lot of you think what was will always be), but probably won't. I've never watched the same game twice. Buckeyes could win again but it won't happen the same way.
Anyways, I doubt Chip's real worried about this and if he is, were not gonna know about it until he wants us to and that might not be until late 3rd quarter, under the lights in Glendale, and he's ready to make a statement.
You do understand it's a bogus statement right? This is very disappointing from a Buckeye site. Buckeyes know football but apparently A LOT of you dont.
And just how many Duck posts on are this sight? 10 or maybe 12 before me? 120 by Buckeyes over someones fantasy drivel and you guys come up with this junk. Are your fans always like this?
I tried reading your post 3 times and I never got what point you were trying to prove.
I think he is aaying that
1. Buckeyes won fair and square.
2. Just because the game last year played out the way it did doesn't mean it would play out the same way if the teams meet again in a bowl game.
3. There are a lot of Buckeye fans on this Buckeye site, so take it easy on the few Ducks that want to come here and talk smack.
4. Have a nice day.
ZING! ROFL!
I agree Chad. The BEST Michigan fans can do is marvel over their "new and improved" Big Shit House. go to freep.com for a few laughs. I guess they "expanded" all the seats 1/4" each, for all of the fatasses.
LOL!
Thanks PAINTERLAD, for clarifying what THE KAISER PRINCE was trying to say.
#4 sounds like a reach to me..
Love seeing the Gravatar. Pretty gangster.
Awesome post! Still laughing.
I was just saying that no legit Oregon fan thinks Buckeyes stole signs during the Rose Bowl and the comment poster the said it is obviously a bonehead.
But what I found disappointing enough to reply on a Buckeye site was:
1. For being FOOTBALL FANS, Buckeye comments seem to be completely unaware that you can't steal signs from the triple option.
2. The amount of fans on the site that didn't know this is surprising.
3. Where is the respect to the author of the article? I find ignorant comments to be to disrespectful.
I can sum this up in 5 words and 2 exclamation points. Dude! Not going to happen!
I couldn't stop laughing enough to make it past the part where you said the Ducks were a possible contender. The fact that we didn't score 50 on you in the bowl gives me the second guessing on whether our team can do it this year. You take away your QB and some other starters, and still try to find reasons why you're a contender. Ummm excuse me for a moment, BWahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.