Coach Tressel and the Buckeyes came with a game plan for the Rose Bowl matchup against the PAC10 champions Oregon Ducks and executed it very well to come out triumphant in a 26-17 victory. It was 4 since coach Tressel led the 2005 Buckeye team to a victory over the Irish in the Fiesta Bowl. The media made it seem like 40 years. And that made the victory mean that much more to him, the team, the coaches and to Buckeye Nation. KUDOS Coach and to the team. You reminded the CFB fraternity why The Ohio State University is college football royalty.
The Buckeyes came firing out of the gate offensively on all cylinders. Pryor almost exclusively threw on that opening drive resulting in a TD. He did pick up a key 1st down in that drive to keep it alive with one of his smooth runs where he just seems like he is gliding like a gazelle. That would be the theme for much of the afternoon. The Ducks could not get their offense in gear as the Silver Bullets came out firing too and the first quarter belonged entirely to the Bucks. It soon became obvious that the Oregon QB, Jeremiah Masoli had not quite seen a defense like this.
In the second quarter, the Ducks were aided by a good return by Kenjon Barner to start the drive after the Bucks had kicked a FG. Barner had one of the better rushes on the next snap for the Ducks but the Silver Bullets held the Ducks to a FG. The Bucks offense went 3 and out and the ensuing punt return by Barner was again terrific setting the Ducks up for their first TD. We were all tied up and it felt like the momentum had swung the way of the Ducks.
But the Silver Bullets again seized the momentum by picking off Masoli on a tipped pass. The Bucks were able to get a FG out of that INT to go into the half with a tentative 16-10 lead. There was some nervousness as the team had kicked 3 FGs and seemed to have problems scoring TDs. But a lead is a lead.
The Ducks got the ball in the second half and marched it down the field methodically for a TD to take their only lead of the game. On the drive, the Ducks converted several times on 3rd down and once on 4th down. On the next possession of the Bucks it was the same story - move the ball but not able to punch it in. Another Devin Barclay FG gave the lead back to the Bucks which they would not relinquish again. But everyone was still queasy at the time as the Bucks were essentially scoring with FGs whiled the Ducks had scored 2 TDs though they now trailed by 2, 19-17.
But that would change early in the 4th quarter when Pryor hit Posey on a gorgeous outside shoulder 17 yard TD. It was a back breaker for the Ducks and they knew it was desperation time as they were now down 2 scores. On their next drive, Ducks coach Kelly decided to go for a 45 yard FG attempt with just over 5 min left as they were down 2 scores. The FG kicker missed wide right and it was all falling apart for the Ducks. The Buckeyes took over the ball and ran out the clock from there for the victory.
Oregon's plan on defense was simple : Load the box, stop the run and force Pryor to throw to beat em. Well guess what - he did. He went 23 of 37 for 266 yards and 2 TDs along with 1 INT for the night. He was also the leading rusher for the Buckeyes carrying the ball 20 times for 72 crucial yards. On defense, they had only 1 game plan and Pryor was the undoing of that plan. Of the WRs, Posey had 8 receptions for 101 yards and 1 TD.
And Pryor's completions of a wide variety. Short check down throws, touch balls to the sideline, bullets up the middle, throws on the run, swing passes to WRs. He did it all. Oregon blitzed him throughout the game and he punished them for it.
Oregon's plan on offense was to go up-tempo but the Silver Bullets never let them get into a rhythm. After struggling in the first quarter between tackles, they made an adjustment to use their speed on the flanks. It worked on their one scoring drive but the disciplined Buckeye D made the adjustments to stop that. Jim Heacock gave Masoli so many different looks that he probably thought the Buckeyes were playing 50 guys on defense. And the biggest weapon Kim Heacock had today was ... the Buckeye Offense. The Bucks held the ball for over 41 min today leaving the Silver Bullets fresh every time they took the field.
Clearly, the Buckeyes wanted this win more badly. Clearly, they were more focused and executed well. Clearly, Pryor was out to prove a point to his detractors.
In a rebuilding year, coach Tressel and his squad won the conference, beat their 3 rivals handily and won the grand daddy of em all. Job Well Done.