Not that Erin Andrews is really telling us anything about either of the two opponents Ohio State may face in the upcoming Rose Bowl. Doesn’t matter, it’s Erin Andrews and Erin Andrews is always good for a little Erin Andrews search engine traffic.
Not that I’ve facetiously loaded that sentence with traffic driving key words, Oregon and Oregon State meet tonight in the Civil War. And unlike all 112 Civil Wars that have gone before, this one decides who the Buckeyes will meet Jan. 1 in Pasadena. For all intensive purposes, this is about as close to an Ohio State/Michigan Rose Bowl game as you can get. Think back to Ohio State #1, Michigan #2 and you’ve got the game we’ll see tonight.
While this has always been a great rivalry game, there was usually a pesky USC or maybe UCLA standing in the way. Not this year. Winner take all. Rose Bowl, Pac 10 Coach of the Year (?), maybe a few Pac 10 player of the year honors for good measure. Even more important, at least a year’s worth of serious smack privileges for the winning fans.
But that will all come to a head on Jan. 1 and when the real bragging rights take hold.
Oregon is a 9.5 point favorite going into tonight’s game. Of the two teams, I think the Buckeyes line up better against Oregon State but of the two teams I’d rather see the Buckeyes beat, no question I’d love to see a serious Duck beat down. If we meet Oregon, the Buckeye defense will need to pound the quarterback and their spread option attack. Offensively, Tress will need to seriously step it up. The Ducks bring powerful defensive speed and there won’t be time for hesitation. However, Ohio State’s threeyardandacloudof stuff might play well against the Ducks if they pull the third down conversions. The Ducks are also prone to turnovers giving up almost 20 gifts so far this season. Good news for a Buckeye defense that likes to score on offensive mistakes.
Oregon State is more like what we see in the Big Ten. Lots of long slow drives, move the ball, convert the third down…that sort of stuff. More of a classic Rose Bowl matchup. A Pryor lead offense in top form could give Oregon State fits.
For tonight though, the Ducks bring the home field advantage and it’s going to be loud. They’ve also got the memories of last year’s near 30 point blow out to give them confidence. Question is, will they be over confident. As much as I’d like the Ducks to get stomped, I’m calling them to beat the spread. Besides the only thing I’d like to see more then Oregon getting stomped tonight is Oregon getting stomped on Jan. 1.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Who is it in the video?
Oh. I’m sorry. I should clarify…that is Erin Andrews in the Video.
(Did I mention that Digg and Google are now crawling comments also?)
I think Oregon will cover the spread. The Buckeyes have an opportunity to silence a lot of critics with a win over a quality opponent in a traditional Rose Bowl match. Once again, the Buckeyes must somehow overcome a long, long layoff to do it, but it is what it is (no excuses). Go Bucks!!
The Buckeyes will have to play aggressive, physical defense (like they have most of the season) to slow down/stop Masoli and Co. If it’s a high-scoring game, we are toast.
(And by the way, the phrase is “For all intents and purposes”, not “For all intensive purposes”. Second paragraph.)