Buckeyes to the Rose Bowl

The last time Ohio State left Pasadena in January, they left with a win. Thirteen years later, they’re headed back, hopefully with the same result (though let’s not lose to Michigan this time, mkay?)

I need to re-watch OSU -v- Iowa a couple times but some initial thoughts:

• Whatever people are saying about the offensive line, keep saying it. Whatever it takes to motivate the hog mollys is fine with me. Nothing wrong with a 4th straight 200+ yard rushing performance either. If we were getting consistent special teams play this squad would be down right orgasmic for Coach Tress- pure Tresselball just like the manual reads.
• I’m concerned the D-Line didn’t get pressure on Iowa but I need to re-watch to better understand why. Getting the sack on 3rd down in overtime is all that really matters I suppose.
• Despite the loss and the list of injuries, Iowa is definitely a charmed team this year. Watching another gravity defying pinball reception in their favor tells me Coach Ferentz has some very good karma flowing his way.
• The way Ohio State has run the ball the last four weeks and with a 6′6″ QB, I don’t like the decision to punt on 4th & 1 from the OSU 32 in the 1st half. Besides that, there’s not a whole lot else to disagree with Tress about.
• I don’t like the long completions Iowa had; Devon Torrence in particular struggled a little bit. Giving credit where credit is due though, that’s the most talented set of receivers we’ve played this year and Iowa’s redshirt freshman QB played very well, throwing the ball into some very tight spaces.
• Despite being the kings of 3-and-out on defense this year, Ohio State was only able to force two 3-and-outs against the Hawkeyes.
• Pryor’s stats are pedestrian at best but he took what the defense gave him. Iowa was obviously playing safe zone coverage not allowing Ohio State to get anything deep. Rather than forcing the issue and throwing into coverage as Pryor did earlier in the season, he took what was available and didn’t turn the ball over. That’s a critical part of a QB’s development and it’s good to see Pryor getting there even if he’s not throwing 300 yards per game.
• Whether it’s fear of losing playing time to more injury or other running backs, both Brandon Saine and Boom Herron are playing at a very high level right now. Running, catching, blocking, breaking tackles- these guys are finally playing like every Buckeye fan hoped they would.
• The Buckeyes secured at least a share of a 5th straight Big Ten title. Whether the conference is down or not this year, that’s a remarkable accomplishment.
• For all the recent big game troubles Ohio State has had, they’ve now won consecutive games against higher ranked opponents (though they were favored heavily today).

The Rose Bowl opponent for Ohio State is still very much in the air. As I write this, Oregon is up 14-7 over Arizona State. At the conclusion of that, all Pac-10 teams have two conference games remaining, except Stanford who only has one and Arizona who has three. Arizona was in a tie with Oregon for the conference lead until they lost to Cal today, so that puts Oregon in the driver’s seat as long as they go on to beat ASU tonight.

Stanford looks like the best team in the Pac-10 right now having dropped 50+ in consecutive games on both Oregon and USC, but my money’s on Oregon to be in the Rose Bowl based on where they stand and what’s left. I’ll have a more detailed post later this week but in the meantime here’s what each of those teams has left:

Oregon 7-2 (5-1 in conference)
playing Arizona State tonight
@ Arizona
Oregon State

Stanford 7-3 (6-2 in conference)
Cal
Notre Dame

Arizona 6-3 (4-2 in conference)
Oregon
@ Arizona State
@ USC

Oregon State 7-3 (5-2 in conference)
@ Washington State
@ Oregon

Much more to come on this Sunday or Monday.