An Early Look at the Rose Bowl

by Jonathan Franz on Dec 4, 2009 10:02 AM PST

Hey Ducks Fans,

Congratulations on a great win! I'm one of the writers over the The Rivalry, Esq., SB Nation's Big Ten Conference Blog. I just put up an early preview of The Rose Bowl Game.

Here are a few choice excerpts:

I stayed late at a local Grandview pub to watch the game, and after three Bells winter white ales, my buddy turned to me and declared: "I like this matchup. It pits strength against strength." He's referring, of course, to Oregon's spectacular run-spread attack against Ohio State's rock solid 3-4 defense. I agreed, with slight reservation. The Buckeye's struggles against the spread offense are well documented. Oregon State, which boasted the best rushing defense in the Pac 10 coming into the Civil War, gave up 288 yards on the ground to the Ducks. (They gave up less to Stanford, and its almost-certain-to-be-a-Heisman-finalist tailback Toby Gerhard).

The fact that Ohio State's defense, a unit that's adept at swallowing Big Ten power rushers, will be forced to de-stack the box, and dispatch into space to track a multifaceted (misdirectional) option attack should be cause for concern in Columbus. Last night, Oregon employed motion Pistol, two-back, and spread sweep sets, along with the bread-and-butter zone read to perfection against the Beavers.

But before you panic, remember, success begins and ends at the line of scrimmage. To compensate for the strength and depth of Ohio State's defensive line, Oregon will have to count numbers in the box, and hope for favorable blocking angles. When they get them, they can move on anyone like a hot knife through butter (see versus USC). When they can't, their attack is as flat as Kansas (see versus Boise State). If Ohio State's DT's can jam the middle and blow Oregon off the line early, they'll be sitting ducks.

The full preview is here.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of SB Nation or the Addicted To Quack Moderators. FanPost opinions are valued expressions of opinion by passionate and knowledgeable Oregon fans.

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My early thoughts? If Oregon can score like they have all season (and that’s a big if against a very good tOSU defense), then they should handle the game easily. The Buckeyes won’t be able to trade scores with the Ducks.

--AddictedToQuack, SBNation's Oregon Ducks blog

by jtlight on Dec 4, 2009 11:29 AM PST reply actions

Oregon needs to establish the pass

Ohio State has one of the defenses in the country. But its run defense is especially stout. In order for the Ducks to have the same kind of success they’ve had all year, they need to establish the pass like they did last night. If they don’t, I think the Buckeyes have a chance to hold them under 30 points for the first time (with Masoli…we only scored 24 against UCLA when Masoli sat out Oct. 10) since the Boise State debacle to open the season. And the Buckeyes will need to in order to win this game.

Addicted To Quack. If you’re not into the whole brevity thing.

by PaulSF on Dec 4, 2009 11:46 AM PST reply actions

Ohio State has one of the defenses in the country.

Of all the defenses in the country, they’re one of them.

It's spelled "T-a-k-i-D-O-N-A-L-D-3-0-0-0"

I support inroywetrust in his support of The VD Special in his support of me supporting Roger Kieschnick in his quest to becoming the best Kieschnick ever to play professional baseball.

by Takimoto on Dec 4, 2009 11:59 AM PST up reply actions 2 recs

That scares the hell out of me.
I’m not a fan of those defenses, and to know that Ohio State has one…

I’m pretty sure it is panic time.

It's spelled "S-H-U-F-E-L-T-L-I-K-E-A-P-E-R-V"

by JShufelt on Dec 4, 2009 12:09 PM PST up reply actions

It's spelled "T-a-k-i-D-O-N-A-L-D-3-0-0-0"

I support inroywetrust in his support of The VD Special in his support of me supporting Roger Kieschnick in his quest to becoming the best Kieschnick ever to play professional baseball.

by Takimoto on Dec 4, 2009 12:16 PM PST up reply actions

He's got one part dead wrong.

But before you panic, remember, success begins and ends at the line of scrimmage.

Panic is essential! They’re not going to panic! WE WIN!

Jacquizz Rodgers never fumbles.

by Bill Musgrave on Dec 4, 2009 2:41 PM PST reply actions

My thoughts,

We have only had touble against teams with EXTREMELY good tailbacks, and EXTREMELY accurate passers making throws far downfield (I’m looking at you Foles, Luck, Canfield!!!). tOSU has neither a very accurate QB, nor a dominant power back (Damn you Gerhart!)…I like our matchup here

Our collective lack of productivity has clearly paid off in the grandest of fashion. We are going to Pasadena. Yes, let that sink in. WE ARE GOING TO PASADENA. To be honest, this has not yet hit me-WE ARE GOING TO PASADENA. Wow.

Juju, We applaud your devotion and pure decency throughout the season.

by CaDuck on Dec 4, 2009 3:35 PM PST reply actions

Stats

Stats don’t always tell the whole story. Oregon’s defense would have WAY better stats if they played in Big 11. They scored 15 whole points on USC at home, 2 of those being a safety. All I’m hearing is “Oregon hasn’t faced a defense like Ohio State’s”. I’d love to see where OSU’s defense ranked, statistically, before the last 3 consecutive BCS bowls they lost. I’d venture to say they were a “top 5” type defense going into all of those games too.

He can run, he can pass, he is sicker than e-coli. Jeremiah always keeps things rolling.

by MarineCorpsDuck on Dec 5, 2009 9:14 AM PST reply actions