Florida, Ole Miss Prove Southeastern Conference Greatness is Exaggerated

For more than three quarters earlier today, Miami (Ohio) outplayed a sloppy Florida Gators team in the swamp. The Gators had less than 50 total yards on offense in the third quarter before finally waking up in the fourth.

Both teams finished with 212 total yards. In the end, UF won the game 34-12 despite their horrible showing. Lucky for them they weren't playing a team that had more than one win in 2009.

New quarterback John Brantley was overwhelmingly unimpressive and it was apparent that UF has virtually no weapons at wide receiver.

Even worse for SEC-ville was the embarrassing performance of the Ole Miss Rebels against the Jacksonville State Gamecocks of FCS fame.

Junior Marques Ivory and true freshmen quarterback Coty Blanchard outplayed both Nathan Stanley and Jeremiah Masoli as they combined to lead the Gamecocks to the huge win in double overtime.

Ivory tossed the first touchdown pass, a seven-yard score to Alan Bonner to put the Gamecocks ahead 41-34.

Brandon Bolden tied the game at 41 with a two yard touchdown run, then Ole Miss took the lead in the second overtime on a two yard touchdown run by Enrique Davis.

That's when the magic happened. Blanchard scrambling for his life, hit Kevyn Cooper in the back of the end zone for the 30 yard touchdown on 4th down and 15 from the 30 yard line.

After calling timeout, Jacksonville State decided to avoid a third overtime and go for the win.

On a bootleg right and just as he was nearly caught for a dream-crushing sack, Blanchard found his man at the goal line for the conversion, and the win.

Surely SEC fans who read this are going to post comments chock full of excuses and saying that Ole Miss sucks anyway, etc, etc.

Here's the problem with that just so you all know ahead of time.

You all claim each others wins and BCS titles as a conference so by God, you're going to own this loss by Ole Miss as a conference just the same.

P.S. There goes that whole "The SEC is the best conference top to bottom in the country" crap...


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Images Copyright of ESPN & the AP / Rogelio V. Solis

Oregon Ducks 2010 Off-Season: A Lesson In Lack Of Institutional Control

Unless you are living under a rock, you have heard about the recent thuggery that has gone down in the Pacific Northwest at the University of Nike Oregon.

Last season, LeGarrette Blount sucker-punched a Boise State player post-game and was suspended for the season, but his suspension was later reduced to only eight games.

Then, starting QB Jeremiah Masoli was named as a robbery suspect in an on-campus frat house burglary situation, but as of yet, has not been suspended or penalized by Kelly. It seems as though he might be getting a pass by the frat, since he is the best player at Oregon.

LaMichael James, the RB who replaced Blount last season and had a huge year was arrested and charged with assault and strangulation against a female student, but has not been suspended "pending further investigation", according to Kelly, who claims to "not have all the facts" yet.

Strangely, Kelly did suspend linebacker Kiko Alonso (yeah, we've never heard of him either) this week after the sophomore was arrested for a DUI early Saturday, just hours after the coach had met with the media about the string of troubles among his players since the Rose Bowl.

In an apparently related situation, Kelly also dismissed wide receiver Jamere Holland (another nobody—coincidence, we think not) from the program on Sunday for "violation of team rules."

Holland had posted an inflammatory Facebook status calling Alonso's potential dismissal from the team as "weak" and racially motivated. He also added that he wished he could "unfriend whites, and only have blacks as friends."

So if you're a star player at UO, you get a pass—If you're a marginal talent, you're get suspended or kicked off the team.

Favoritism much?

Kelly addressed some of these issues on a local radio station, and things between the host and Kelly did get heated.

He also appeared on ESPN's Outside The Lines yesterday (Tuesday Feb. 23, 2010).

In case you missed it, here's the video of Kelly on OTL.




In my opinion, Oregon football and Kelly, much like USC, seem to be on the verge of what the NCAA refers to as a "lack of institutional control."


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Video Highlights: Ohio State Buckeyes "Stun" Oregon Ducks And Their Cocky Fans Too...

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Ohio State-Oregon 2010 Rose Bowl Live In-Game Blog Chat (Only 4 Days Until Kickoff!!!)

Hey there Buckeye fans, in association with TheBuckeyeBattleCry, Block-O-Nation is proud to bring you THE Official 2010 Rose Bowl Live Chat!







Don't miss the final In-Game LIVE Blog of the 2009-2010 season this Friday starting at 4:45PM EST when our mighty Buckeyes from THE Ohio State University, take on the Oregon Ducks in Pasadena!

Duck fans are allowed and encouraged to join the chat if you wish, BUT be forewarned, flaming the chat room will get you banned, so don't do it!

In order to allow as many posters into the chat as possible, please use an account from one of the following when logging in if possible:








Hope to see you all here!

Thanks, and GO BUCKS!




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Terrelle Pryor Rose Bowl Interview Video From OregonLive.com

Here's my personal favorite quote/excerpt:

"We Don't Care How Much They Beat USC By, Because They're Playing The Buckeyes..." - Terrelle Pryor

Watch the entire video below:


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Ohio State-Oregon YouTube Video Six-Pack

Here are six of the best recent Ohio State-Oregon Rose Bowl Preview/Promo or Ohio State "pump-up" videos on YouTube—Enjoy!















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From "Harley In The Huddle" - Oregon's Spread Offense And How to Stop It

Written by Rob Harley
Former Buckeye and Founder of Harley In The Huddle




The Rose Bowl sets up to be a fantastic battle of imposing wills.

Will Oregon's offense impose their fast break tempo on Ohio State, or will it be the Buckeye silver bullet defense that flexes it's muscles to pound the Ducks into submission?

There are tons of questions surrounding Oregon's spread offense, and more importantly their bread and butter: the read option.

What are the keys?

What are the reads?

How do you defend it?

First of all let's review the spread offense. The main goal of the spread is to stretch the field horizontally, forcing the defense to defend from sideline to sideline. The offense is looking to stretch and distort the defense to open up multiple creases, thus giving themselves multiple options.

Offenses want to put the pressure on defenses to make quick decisions, and most importantly defend in the open field. In fact decision making and open field play is the crux of the read option on BOTH sides of the ball.

The one thing to keep in mind about Oregon is that they love "smoke and mirrors," tons of movement and misdirection to get the defense out of position. The hard part is seeing this for what it really is, mainly window dressing covering up a familiar option attack.

Every option play leaves one defender unblocked that the quarterback will option off of (keep, pitch, or dive), and the Ducks' read option is no different. It may vary who they leave unblocked at times, either the defensive end or defensive tackle, but the plan remains the same. Force the defender into jumping one of the options, leaving the defense out leveraged with little time to rally to the football.

The reason Oregon has been so successful is because QB Jeremiah Masoli has done a superb job making good decisions, and hitting the defense where it hurts. The Ducks' offense is like a metronome staying on pace and chipping away at opposing defenses, forcing them to play perfect on every play. They know that one defensive mistake can lead to big gains and big points.

Which leads us to stopping this seemingly unstoppable attack.

To be honest there's no real secret—dominating the trenches is paramount. Don't allow horizontal creases, and the offense won't have any options. Then the defense has to put the pressure back on the offense by forcing the quarterback to be perfect under duress.

I'd bring heat early and often to make things happen quickly, now the creases don't have time to become huge gaps. When things happen fast the defense can resort to old fashioned football...see ball, hit ball. The last and most important part is being able to rally to the football.

Relentless pursuit covers up all mistakes, when someone misses their assignment there's four more guys to clean up the mess. It has to be eleven defenders playing with one heart beat, nobody trying to make "the big play." You try to do too much or be the hero, and that's when the Ducks strike.

Football is a simple game—forget about all the exciting schemes and you're left with fundamentals. The team that dominates the trenches and wins the run game, is almost always victorious. Win your one on one battles on each play and you'll ultimately win the war.

Can the Buckeyes find a way to slow down this juggernaut attack? Will the Ducks waver amidst the silver bullets flying?

The Rose Bowl approaches...


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2010 Rose Bowl—Ohio State vs. Oregon: Preview, History Lesson, and Prediction Included

Preview

It is official—the stage is set.

Oregon outlasted Oregon State in "The Civil War" and will now face the REAL OSU.

That's right—The Big Ten champion vs. the Pac-10 champion in the grand-daddy of them all.

The No. 8 Ohio State Buckeyes (10-2) will face the No. 7 Oregon Ducks (10-2) on January 1, 2010 in Pasadena at the Rose Bowl presented by Citi.

The Ducks are a very talented offensive team, and to this point have proven they can score plenty of points to win games—especially in the clutch.

The Buckeyes aren't quite as flashy, preferring to pound their opponents with their unrelenting and very successful running game while boasting one of the top defensive units in the nation, yielding less than 11 points per game.

Will the experience and leadership of junior QB Jeremiah Masoli be the difference in leading the Ducks to victory and another big-stage loss for Ohio State, or will youth win out as sophomore QB Terrelle Pryor looks for the first bowl win of his Buckeye career after a narrow, near-miss-loss to Texas a year ago?

One thing is certain—When these two teams meet in Pasadena, something must, and will give.

They say defense wins championships and Ohio State gets the edge on that side of the ball—but it remains to be seen if defense, or offense, will ultimately win the 2010 Rose Bowl.


Oregon—By The Numbers

Jeremiah Masoli has 2,066 passing yards, 659 rushing yards, 12 rushing touchdowns, 15 passing touchdowns, five interceptions, and a QB Rating of 138.

Masoli, LaMichael James, and Kenjon Barner have combined for 2,437 yards on the ground and 29 rushing touchdowns. That's an average of 203 yards and 2.4 touchdowns per game.

After missing 10 games due to suspension, LeGarette Blount is also back in the mix and may have an impact against the Buckeyes for the Ducks.

Oregon's top receivers are Jeff Maehl (52 receptions, 686 yards, six touchdowns), Ed Dickson (42 receptions, 551 yards, six touchdowns), D.J. Davis (22 receptions, 230 yards, two touchdowns), and Jamere Holland (13 receptions, 199 yards, two touchdowns).


Ohio State—By The Numbers

Terrelle Pryor has 1825 passing yards, 707 rushing yards, seven rushing touchdowns, 16 passing touchdowns, 10 interceptions, and a QB Rating of 128.

Pryor, Brandon Saine, Boom Herron, and Jordan Hall have combined for 2,207 yards on the ground and 19 rushing touchdowns. That's an average of 184 yards and 1.6 touchdowns per game.

Ohio State's top receivers are DeVier Posey (52 receptions, 727 yards, seven touchdowns plus one passing touchdown), Dane Sanzenbacher (27 receptions, 506 yards, six touchdowns), Duron Carter (13 receptions, 176 yards, one touchdown), Ray Small (15 receptions, 175 yards), and Brandon Saine (15 receptions, 165 yards, one touchdown). Small is also a solid contributor as a punt returner.

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2010


1/01/2010—Game 13—4:30PM EST—TV: ABC


Vs.

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History Lesson
Ohio State—Oregon Tidbits

• This will be the eighth meeting between Ohio State and Oregon.

• Ohio State leads the all-time series 7-0 (1958, 1961, 1962, 1967, 1968, 1983, 1987).

• Ohio State is 6-6 all-time in the Rose Bowl.

• This will be Ohio State's first Rose Bowl appearance since their 1997 win over Arizona State.

• The first ever meeting between the two schools was in the 1958 Rose Bowl, a 10-7 Ohio State victory.

• This will be the first meeting in which Ohio State and Oregon are both ranked in the top 10.

• Oregon is 1-3 all-time in the Rose Bowl, the programs only win coming in 1917 over Penn—no not Penn State, just Penn.

• Oregon's last Rose Bowl appearance was a 38-20 loss to Penn State in 1995.

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I seriously doubt that Ohio State's defense, as good as it is, will hold Oregon to less than 11 points.

That being said, I do not believe Oregon's defense will be able to contain the Buckeyes running game, nor will they be able to keep the Bucks from scoring.

Clearly Masoli has better statistics and would be considered the better QB of the two right now, but I do believe Terrelle Pryor will have more success vs. the Oregon defense than will Jeremiah Masoli against the Buckeye defense when it comes to scrambling away from pressure, and finding open receivers down the field.

Much like the 2009 Fiesta Bowl (Texas, Ohio State), I fully expect this game to be one of the best, and most entertaining bowls of the season, and also like that game, this one could come down to the final seconds as well.

Call me a homer if you want, but the Buckeyes are due for a big-stage bowl game win, and the Big Ten rep finally gets to play a game in Pasadena in which its' opponent is not essentially playing at home 10 minutes from campus (cough, USC, cough).


Prediction

Ohio State 24
Oregon 17


The Ducks WILL NOT blowout Ohio State, if they even win -- which is NOT a given.

P.S. to the Duck fans posting the cocky, disrespectful, classless comments in the comment section below, I guess I shouldn't be surprised.

Your fan base and your players are clearly birds of a feather...




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