Why OSU lost the Civil War and.....

[gofightingducks]

..... why Ohio State will beat the Ducks according to a Beaver blogger

http://www.rivalryesq.com/2009/12/11/11 ... e#comments

excuses, bitterness and jealousy. Hmmmm go figure it is from a Beaver after all!


As we look at the Rose Bowl, AndyPanda of the outstanding Oregon State blog, Building the Dam, was kind enough to answer these questions that we had about the hated Oregon Ducks.

1. What schemes worked best for you on defense against Oregon's motion Pistol, spread sweeps, and zone read attack?

The key to contending with Coach Chip Kelley's spread option read offense is to play assignment football, and maintain gap and assignment discipline, and do it all night long. A traditional style pro defense. You cannot over-pursue, and one step can be too much, as the speed Oregon has will run into, or cut back thru, any gap a mistake opens. The Ducks' offense is predicated on option reads, and Jeremiah Masoli is a master at quick recognition and decision making.

Masoli isn't an exceptional thrower, but he is good enough to capitalize on an assignment error, as was evidenced when OSU's James Dockery over-committed on Jeff Maehl, and there was no safety support. The result was an immediate over the top 73 yard touchdown.

And while Masoli is rightly known for his running ability, his reads can just as easily result in someone else being the star. With cornerback Tim Clark already out with a broken leg, all conference Keaton Kristick missed only one play with a tweaked wrist. Masoli immediately sent LaMichael James thru where Kristick and Clark would have been for a 52 yard touchdown.

Those two plays, one break down, and one where a personnel vulnerability existed, were the difference in the game, producing over a quarter of the Ducks' total yards, and underscoring how important it is to maintain discipline against Oregon's offense on every play.

2. What's going to happen when Ohio State's (C) Michael Brewster (296 lbs), (RG), Bryant Browning (312 lbs), (LG) Justin Boren (315 lbs), (LT) J.B. Shugarts (298 lbs), and (RT) Jim Cordle (297 lbs) line up against Oregon's (LDT) Brandon Bair (250 lbs) (RDT) Blake Ferras (290 lbs), (RDE) Kenny Rowe (230 lbs), and (LDE) Will Tukuafu (272 lbs)? That's an average of 43 pounds difference at each position. Do the Buckeyes get burnt, or does Oregon get crushed?

A variety of blitzes and stunts will happen. The Oregon linebacking crew of Eddie Pleasant, Casey Matthews, and Spencer Paysinger are fast enough that they can come from anywhere, and if an offensive line releases to pick up the blitz, Tukuafu is strong enough, and Rowe is fast enough, to recover despite being initially stopped, and still make the play.

A sustained power running game can work against the Ducks, as Stanford demonstrated, but it must start with an effective passing game that pushes back Oregon's back seven. The key to overcoming the Duck defense is to prevent them from running toward the line of scrimmage, which allows them to capitalize on their speed.

3. The Beavers put 30 points up on the Ducks in the first 35 minutes of the game. The final 25 minutes saw the Beavers only get a field goal. How was OSU able to dominate the Ducks early, and what did Oregon do late to turn the tide?

Early on, Oregon St. quarterback Sean Canfield was on, and by completing a number of passes, was able to keep the Oregon defense backpedaling much of the time, not attacking the line of scrimmage.

What Oregon did in the second half was keep the ball away from Oregon St. The Ducks are known for being a quick strike offense that doesn't need a time of possession advantage to generate points and wins, but few teams will win a firefight against the Rodgers brothers and Canfield. Against the Beavers, the Ducks played defense with their offense.

Oregon knew the best way to curb the Rodgers are to have them standing on the sidelines as much of the time as possible. With a boost in their power running game from LeGarrett Blount, Oregon held the ball for about 18 and a half of the last 26 minutes, and over 13 minutes in the last 17 and a half minutes. The Beavers only had one fourth quarter possession.

So limited in their number of opportunities, the weather, in the 20's, resulted in a couple of dropped balls off receivers' hands, resulting in a field goal instead of a probable touchdown, and another stalled drive. And the difference in the game when the Ducks were able to keep the Beavers' offense off the field for over six minutes at the end of the game. Both Kenjon Barner and Masoli won individual matchups, where the OSU defense was in position to make the play, and one on one, just got beat. The Ducks converted three fourth downs in the game, two on the final drive.

4. Much of the rest of the country looks at Oregon as having fashion models, not football players. Has the Oregon fan base embraced the Phil Knight-ification of their football team, or would they rather focus on the game?

The Oregon fan base loves Uncle Phil, who epitomizes the high dollar image most of them aspire to. And if any aspect of the image in any way causes a distraction of any sort, that's just another advantage they gain.

5. What can Buckeye fans do in advance of the game to most annoy Oregon fans?

Remind them of the Stanford and Boise St. games, where they were physically dominated, then talk about how good Washington is going to be soon. It doesn't matter if Washington actually will be good or not; they hate the Huskies, almost as much as the Huskies hate them. Or talk about how college football games should be "dry" events.

[karlhungis]

Remind them of the Stanford and Boise St. games, where they were physically dominated,

Big difference between Stanford, Boise and Ohio State. Stanford and Boise have 2 of the most accurate QB's in the nation that demand respect and prevent us from selling out to stop the run. Ohio State has Pryor who is not exactly an accurate passer.

[chapelhillduck]

yeah...let them think that Masoli is not a good thrower

[MFRDuckFan]

If you look at AndyPanda's blog, he lists himself as an Oregon St. Band Dad. Any other credentials to warrant having an unbiased opinion??? Hmmmmm.....
His comments about reminding us about Huskies & the Boise State game, oh yea. Sting. Give me a break. That's the best he can do??? If an Ohio State fan said anything like that to me, I would laugh my a$$ off & reply "Oh, you must have been chatting with a Beaver fan, because they suck."

[Greydrake]

Not certain why mentioning the Dawgs means anything, they've recently been irrelevant in PAC-10 play except for one win over USC

[ducksrock]

The tOSU fans..just crack me up..Seems we hear the same old crap, each and every bowl game, just coming out of different faces and different mouths....

Makes one wonder why tOSU doesnt schedule a team like Boise State or Utah in pre-conference games...The one year that they do schedule a perennial top notch team (this year-USC) SC is a weakling that had trouble breaking out of a wet paper bag....And tOSU still lost to em....lol
Oh, and then there was the Purdue loss....

The F _ _ KEYES will sooner or later come to realize that even the MIGHTY are subject to fall....
And the sooner the better..Let's say, Jan, 1, 2010....

I strongly believe that, Oregon, Oregon State, Stanford, and Arizona would all beat tOSU this year and/or on Jan. 1st of next....Fortunately, it is the Ducks that get the pleasure to do so....
And it is a very satisfying feeling to look at the faces of those that expect more out of their teams after they lose to the Ducks...

Keep your heads up tOSU, we actually wanna see the disappointment in your eyes, come the end of the Rose Bowl...


BTW, I know this is a long shot, but I truly hope to get the opp to once again meet the older black tOSU fan that I met at the Monte Carlo and also again at the Vegas airport, on September 6th and 7th, right before the Michigan game at Ann Arbor...Would love to hear his explanation as to what went wrong with his prediction with that game.....I was there and saw what happened, but would be very interested in his take on it...lol..I am sure it would be a classic...

GOOOOOOOOOOOOO DUCKS

[UOducksTK1]

Someone sounds bitter. All I gotta say is scoreboard and get over it.

[Destroyer77]

OSU lost the Civil War because..... they were the 2nd best team playing behind Oregon.

[woundedknees]

OS(u) lost the CW because... They were busy watching the Duck Cheerleaders, just like every other team Oregon beat this season!

[wheaton4prez]

He does make one good point that many people miss, imo. Stanford's offense only worked the way that it did because the passing game kept the back 7 away from the line. If it wasn't for the passing game, Oregon beats Stanford that day.

Ohio State's running game is very similar to Stanford's. However, Pryor is no Luck when it comes to passing.

[woundedknees]

The same could be said about Kellen Moore.

[gofightingducks]

Stanford put up a lot of points in every game they played, even in their losses. Ohio State hasn't put up a lot of points in most of their games including their wins so I don't see Ohio State replicating what Stanford did. I don't even include Boise State because that was a completely different offense playing that game and the defense held the high scoring Boise State offense well below their average anyways. Oregon faced pretty good run defenses against Arizona and Oregon State and struggled early on but got things going in the 2nd half, I think the same thing will happen against Ohio State.

[freedjr]

I think Ohio State's problem will be they really haven't seen anything close to what Oregon does. They say that the closest is Illinois? Seriously? It's one thing to think you know what you're doing, but another once game time rolls around.

Ducks have seen an Ohio St. type offense a hundred times (although the closest Pryor is in the Pac-10 is Locker, and Pryor has a lot more weapons) but there's not even CLOSE to a Masoli or zone read in the Big 10. That's the key.

[Silver Bullets]

Makes one wonder why tOSU doesnt schedule a team like Boise State or Utah in pre-conference games...The one year that they do schedule a perennial top notch team (this year-USC) SC is a weakling that had trouble breaking out of a wet paper bag....And tOSU still lost to em....lol
Oh, and then there was the Purdue loss....

We played Texas two years running, we just got done with playing USC two years, next year we start a two year run against Miami, then we have a go at California (will they ever deliver?) and Cincinnati. After that we play Okl home and away. Can't help it if a perennial elite team is having a down year when we schedule them, usually about 8 years in advance.

[wheaton4prez]

Michigan is supposed to do a lot of zone read. However, they didn't resemble Oregon at all when they played Ohio State this year.