“Quackers” being the Oregon Ducks. The Ducks…gawd whomever agreed to that name oughta be smacked.
Anyway, for awhile it looked as if the Bucks were going to snatch another defeat from the jaws of victory, but they got their shit together and won the first Rose Bowl they’ve attended in a decade.
PASADENA, Calif. — Ohio State’s bowl woes are over, thanks to a sturdy defense and a quarterback who finally played up to his enormous potential.
Terrelle Pryor passed for a season-high 266 yards and two touchdowns, rushed for 72 more and threw a 17-yard scoring pass to DeVier Posey with 7:02 to play, ending the No. 8 Buckeyes’ three-game BCS skid with a 26-17 victory over No. 7 Oregon in the Rose Bowl on Friday.
Posey had eight catches for 101 yards, and Brandon Saine caught an early TD pass for the Buckeyes (11-2), who put together a remarkably fluid offensive performance in their first trip to Pasadena since 1997.
That offense relied on Pryor, the sophomore quarterback who has had a hard time matching his enormous hype. With a Rose Bowl effort that evoked memories of Vince Young’s breakout performance in the same stadium four years ago, Pryor shook off his early mistakes and led the Buckeyes confidently through a tense fourth quarter.
“I just wanted to lead the team as best I can,” Pryor said. “The defense helped out a lot.”
Indeed, Ohio State’s defense did much of the work, largely reducing the Ducks’ high-flying, no-huddle offense to ineffectiveness. Jeremiah Masoli passed for just 81 yards, while LaMichael James rushed for 70 — but a series of big plays and kick returns by Kenjon Barner kept the 96th Rose Bowl close until Pryor took control of the final minutes.
“We have an up-tempo defense and they run, they hit and they prepare,” coach Jim Tressel said. “Terrelle did a heck of a job.”
The rest here:
http://www.fox8.com/news/wjw-ohio-state-rose-bowl,0,3686177.story
The past 7 years have not been good for the Ohio State Buckeye football team. Their bowl championships hit the skids.
Last year, they blew the National Championship game against LSU in the final two minutes. The year before that, Florida blew them out in that National Championship bid. This year, they screwed up their chance at another title shot thanks to their loss to USC; but at least they went to the Rose Bowl.
It was a good victory nonetheless, and it was about damned time.
Related posts:
http://sfcmac.wordpress.com/2008/01/08/the-ohio-state-buckeyes-fail-again/
http://sfcmac.wordpress.com/2009/01/06/congratulations-buckeyes/