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The Rose Bowl

THOUGHTS ON HOW THEY GOT HERE

Zach Bigalke: The award for most tumultuous season has to go to the Ducks, who started the year as a darkhorse national contender and subsequently came out for the season opener flat in Boise . LeGarrette Blount???s swing at the jaw of Broncos defensive lineman Byron Hout set the tone for a media frenzy that descended upon Eugene . But Chip Kelly, in his first year as the head coach after Mike Bellotti left the sidelines for the athletic director???s desk, kept a level head and guided this team through the Pac-10 gauntlet to win Oregon???s first outright conference title since 2001. Big wins over California , USC, Arizona and Oregon State were accented with non-conference victories over Purdue and Utah . Only the Boise State game and a November 7 loss to Stanford marred the Ducks??? record this year.

For Ohio State , their games against their two common opponents with the Ducks fared much worse. Oregon went 2-0 against USC and Purdue; Ohio State went 0-2. The USC loss, a tough-to-bear 18-15 home defeat as the Trojans took the lead with 1:05 left in the game, was understandable; the Purdue game, a 26-18 road defeat to a 5-7 Boilermakers team, was inexplicable. The Buckeyes, though, rallied to finish the year with five straight victories to win the Big Ten title outright over Iowa and Penn State . A shutdown defense has masked a less-than-prolific offense despite the presence of highly-touted QB Terrelle Pryor.



Matt Strobl: Ohio State ???s path to the Rose Bowl was sort of typical. With the exception of a bad loss to Purdue, they beat the teams they were supposed to beat and lost in their marquee matchup. Sound familiar? It???s become an unfortunate blueprint in Columbus . I do give them credit for toppling both Penn State and Iowa , but frankly those two were not as good as advertised. OSU wins on the strength of its defense while its offense struggles to keep pace despite a boatload of potential.



Oregon , on the other hand, is all about realized potential. After the embarrassment in Boise , the team pulled itself together and played increasingly well as the season went on. The Ducks overcame a suspect defense, the loss of their starting tailback, and the transition to a new coach to be the best team in the Pac-10. The emergence of LaMichael James has been very impressive, and QB Jeremiah Masoli has developed into a true talent. The defense has more than held its own, with a few exceptions.


Read the rest at
http://www.informativesports.com/NCAA_F/09Bowls/Rose_Bowl .htm

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