INSIDE SLANT
In just his first game on the job, Oregon coach Chip Kelly was faced with an excruciating moment that could define his career. LeGarrette Blount’s punch of a Boise State player following a loss in the season opener, in a year the Ducks had Rose Bowl and national title aspirations, sent the program reeling.
Losing an opener was bad enough. What made it worse was the recovery wasn’t possible for Kelly and the Ducks until he decided on harsh discipline for one of the team’s top offensive players.
“Sept. 3 was a bad day for the program,” Kelly said. “But it didn’t define this football program. You kind of dust yourself off and pick yourself up and go out and see if you can change things.”
Kelly wouldn’t let that dark moment become a lingering rain cloud. He acted quickly, and with the support of Oregon AD (and former football coach) Mike Bellotti, suspended Blount for the season. Oregon was suddenly 0-1 and without its best offensive player.
The Ducks still rallied to win the Pac-10. They will face Ohio State in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1.
How did the Ducks do it?
Mostly with offense, which was Kelly’s forte before he was elevated in the offseason to head coach. Oregon scored at least three touchdowns in every game after the opener, and was held below 30 points just once. Kelly was rewarded with the Pac-10’s coach of the year award.
That type of explosive offense is concerning to the Buckeyes, who have struggled scoring at times this season. Ohio State mustered just 15 points in a home loss to USC—Oregon drilled the Trojans this year at home, 47-20.
Kelly was promoted in March, replacing Bellotti when he moved into the role of athletic director.
Ironically, Bellotti was one of the finalists to replace John Cooper at Ohio State in 2001 before he withdrew his name from consideration. Jim Tressel was instead named head coach just a few days later.
NOTES, QUOTES
• Ohio State has seen this one before. An explosive offense that plays fast and can score quickly. An offense with speed all over the field.
Last year it was Texas and the Fiesta Bowl. This time it is Oregon and the Rose Bowl.
“That is one explosive offense,” Buckeyes linebacker Austin Spitler said. “Within two plays, they’re in the end zone.”
Ohio State has struggled scoring much of this season, but if it wants to beat Oregon and win the Rose Bowl, the offense will have to match a powerful Ducks team that is used to ripping through stout defenses.
Oregon has gashed Pac-10 teams Oregon State (288 rushing yards), Arizona State (268), USC (391), UCLA (221) and Cal (236) with big games on the ground. Oregon’s average of 236 rushing yards per game leads the Pac-10 and ranks sixth nationally.
“We better get in shape,” coach Jim Tressel said. “They have speed everywhere.”
Oregon and the Buckeyes have two common opponents this year. Oregon beat both Purdue and USC, while the Buckeyes lost to both. But the Buckeyes will be inspired to finally win another bowl game. Since smashing Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl following the 2005 season, Ohio State has lost to Florida, LSU and Texas in bowl games.
Oregon can’t match those teams in history and lore, but a victory over the Ducks would go a long way toward Ohio State and Tressel shaking that nagging label of forgetting how to win big games.
Scouting The Offense: Jim Tressel believes his offense’s most important job is to make sure it doesn’t put the defense in bad situations. How’s that for conservative?
Ohio State won the Big Ten despite QB Terrelle Pryor’s progression as a passer coming to a screeching halt. Pryor has thrown 10 interceptions this season after throwing four as a freshman, but he also leads the team in rushing with 707 yards. Despite not having a 1,000-yard rusher, Pryor, Dan Herron and Brandon Saine have combined for more than 1,900 yards and 18 touchdowns. Tressel wins by running the ball and playing defense, and it has worked well: He has won Big Ten titles in seven of his nine years.
Scouting The Defense: This is arguably the Buckeyes’ best defensive line since the front four of the national championship team in 2002. The end result is a defense ranked fifth in the nation in total defense, fifth against the run and fifth in points allowed. DEs Cameron Heyward (5.5 sacks) and Thaddeus Gibson (4.0 sacks) combine to give the Bucks to pass rushing threats that merit double teams. Strong safety Kurt Coleman (64 tackles, 5 INTs) was voted team MVP.
Matchup To Watch: Oregon RB LaMichael James vs. OSU LBs Ross Homan and Brian Rolle—The redshirt freshman James, a 5-foot-9, 180-pound speedster, rushed for 1,476 yards and 14 TDs despite being used sparingly in the first two games of the season. He has rushed for more than 100 yards in all but one game since and will make life miserable for Ohio State’s linebackers. Homan and Rolle have combined for 187 stops, but they haven’t faced a back as fast as James. This could be Ohio State’s best defensive line since the Bucks won the national championship in 2002, which should mean a free lane to the ball for the LB corps. The Buckeyes lead the Big Ten and rank fifth in the nation in run defense, allowing 2.7 yards per carry.
Other Key Matchups:
Oregon QB Jeremiah Masoli vs. OSU S Kurt Coleman and LB Ross Homan.
Masoli has only thrown five interceptions in 285 attempts this season, but he has thrown one in each of the Ducks’ last three games. Coleman is the Buckeyes’ team MVP and reigning ball hawk with a team-leading five interceptions, but Homan is the more deceptive player on defense. He has followed in the footsteps of James Laurinaitis as a linebacker who gets deep drops in pass coverage. He has great hands, proven by his four interceptions, including a big one in the Rose Bowl-clinching win against Iowa.
Osu Qb T errelle Pryor vs. Oregon S Javes Lewis and S John Boyett.
Pryor’s elusiveness can make life miserable for safeties, because they must guard against his ability to make plays using his legs and his arm. Oregon’s safeties are young—Lewis is a sophomore and Boyett is a redshirt freshman—and neither has seen a dual-threat quarterback like Pryor. The safeties are Oregon’s top two leading tacklers, combining for 155 stops and four interceptions.
Quote To Note: “We better get in shape. They have speed everywhere.”—coach Jim Tressel on facing Oregon.
STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL
Bowl Breakdown:
Ohio State vs. Oregon, Rose Bowl, Jan. 1, Pasadena, Calif.—USC has held a stranglehold on the Rose Bowl for so long, it’s strange to see another Pac-10 team in Pasadena on New Year’s Day. The Buckeyes are making their first Rose Bowl appearance since the 1996 season, while Oregon is appearing for the first time since the 1994 season.
Players To Watch:
QB Terrelle Pryor—The most dynamic player on the field. Pryor is more dangerous with his feet than his arm, but most be accounted for at all times.
RB Brandon Saine—Averaged 8.1 yards per carry over the final two games. Next to Pryor, Saine is the fastest player on offense.
LB Ross Homan—Led the team in tackles with 96 and had interceptions in three of the last four games. Homan is the most experienced linebacker and the leader of a unit that is at its best running sideline to sideline.
SS Kurt Coleman—Voted team MVP after a consistent senior season. Leads the defense with five interceptions and has nine over the last two years.
Roster Report:
• PK Aaron Pettrey is trying to make it back in time for the bowl game, but it will be tight. The knee injury initially came with a 6-to-8 week recovery period. The Rose Bowl would be about eight weeks after the injury.
• Coach Jim Tressel has heard the rumors about little-used WRs Taurian Washington and Lamaar Thomas transferring, but said neither player has talked to him about it yet.
• LT Mike Adams was slowed toward the end of the season with a knee injury, but is expected to be healthy for the bowl game.
• LB Andrew Sweat (knee), RB Marcus Williams (knee) and S Aaron Gant (lower body) are doubtful for the bowl game. LB Tyler Moeller (head) is out.
