It's been a fun bowl season with some very interesting surprises along the way. Oddly for me as a duck fan I wasn't worried about the rose bowl matchup with FSU one bit. I never thoufht highly of them at any point this year and knew they were bound to lose after barely squeaking by A lesser strength of schedule. Woth that being said I didn't expect oregon to win by 39..... Time to dive into this matchup analysis.
*** my family and I just finished moving to kentucky so I will not be wagering any money nor have I in the last 3 weeks due to the relocation and job hunt. BOL TO EVERYONE ELSE THO!
Coaches:
let's be honest, mark helfrich is a solid coach who looks to be an up and coming star but there's no doubt about Urban Meyer. He's a pioneer, an innovator, a better recruiter and probably the best motivator at the college level. His teams are ALWAYS prepared. This scares me more than anything else....
injuries:
both teams have been hit hard in this category so it's a testament to the depth and coaching of each team to get to this point. Losing braxton was a big deal, losing JT was much larger.... Jones hasn't missed a beat. He's got some serious confidence rolling into this game. Word on the street is donthe wilson will be available for this game. That's huge for the offense. He is one of their most dynamic players, and his remarks in the papers have shown he's has extra motivation to best oregon in his home state, (the ducks were his original commit out of high school )
oregon on has been put thru hell.... They had a glimmer of hope with Bralon addison possible to return for this game after suffering a pre season acl tear, but recent reports from oregon have stated he will not even suit up. Extremely disappointed if that stands to be true. I believe addison will declare for the draft anyways next year as he is a great WR, so for him to be healthy and not play in this game is absurd. My guess is that he's mot 100% so I won't blame him or the coachea at all. As a fan I just feel like if he's healthy it should be his choice to suit up. He is Oregons best WR without a doubt and would give Mariota a high profile target to throw too, really difficult to see him not play in this game. As for the rest of the injuries, it's going to be tough sledding. Getting Grasu back was huge, but losing devon allen, Carrington, and already having addison and pharaoh brown really makes throwing the football tougher. A lot of inexperienced receivers will be thrust into the spotlight tomorrow and none of them other than Marshall have the ability to stretch the field vertically. This worries me a lot.
playmakers:
dont fool yourself here, Ohio state has the better playmakers, especially with all the ducks injuries and suspensions.
oregons running game will be asked to carry the load, and the offensive line has to step up huge against a great defensive line. Mariota is great to talk about but the offensive line is what keeps him upright. When his offensive line is healthy and picking up blocks he is flat out SPECIAL.... When they are injured and missing assignments Mariota becomes human and the ducks become very beatable.
the two biggest playmakers in this game will be
1. Oregons offensive line
2. Ohio states defensive line
i watch more oregon football than most people on this site and I feel like I know the team pretty well, with that being said this is not a good matchup for oregon. This team can hang with Oregons speed and tempo I believe. Im going to stick to my guns tho and I think oregon gets it done in the end because of two reasons.
first off, i think the combination of freeman, tyner, and Mariota running the football will be enough to open up the passing game for Marshall, Lowe and Baylis.
secondly, I think cardale jones will have a couple of key turnovers. The ducks are second in the country in turnover margin at +20 and forced some key fumbles against FSU. They've been very active in trying to strip the ball, and I can see jones throwing into coverage one too many times.
it should be a good game but I think Oregon wins by 8..... 49-41 quackers
*** my family and I just finished moving to kentucky so I will not be wagering any money nor have I in the last 3 weeks due to the relocation and job hunt. BOL TO EVERYONE ELSE THO!
Coaches:
let's be honest, mark helfrich is a solid coach who looks to be an up and coming star but there's no doubt about Urban Meyer. He's a pioneer, an innovator, a better recruiter and probably the best motivator at the college level. His teams are ALWAYS prepared. This scares me more than anything else....
injuries:
both teams have been hit hard in this category so it's a testament to the depth and coaching of each team to get to this point. Losing braxton was a big deal, losing JT was much larger.... Jones hasn't missed a beat. He's got some serious confidence rolling into this game. Word on the street is donthe wilson will be available for this game. That's huge for the offense. He is one of their most dynamic players, and his remarks in the papers have shown he's has extra motivation to best oregon in his home state, (the ducks were his original commit out of high school )
oregon on has been put thru hell.... They had a glimmer of hope with Bralon addison possible to return for this game after suffering a pre season acl tear, but recent reports from oregon have stated he will not even suit up. Extremely disappointed if that stands to be true. I believe addison will declare for the draft anyways next year as he is a great WR, so for him to be healthy and not play in this game is absurd. My guess is that he's mot 100% so I won't blame him or the coachea at all. As a fan I just feel like if he's healthy it should be his choice to suit up. He is Oregons best WR without a doubt and would give Mariota a high profile target to throw too, really difficult to see him not play in this game. As for the rest of the injuries, it's going to be tough sledding. Getting Grasu back was huge, but losing devon allen, Carrington, and already having addison and pharaoh brown really makes throwing the football tougher. A lot of inexperienced receivers will be thrust into the spotlight tomorrow and none of them other than Marshall have the ability to stretch the field vertically. This worries me a lot.
playmakers:
dont fool yourself here, Ohio state has the better playmakers, especially with all the ducks injuries and suspensions.
oregons running game will be asked to carry the load, and the offensive line has to step up huge against a great defensive line. Mariota is great to talk about but the offensive line is what keeps him upright. When his offensive line is healthy and picking up blocks he is flat out SPECIAL.... When they are injured and missing assignments Mariota becomes human and the ducks become very beatable.
the two biggest playmakers in this game will be
1. Oregons offensive line
2. Ohio states defensive line
i watch more oregon football than most people on this site and I feel like I know the team pretty well, with that being said this is not a good matchup for oregon. This team can hang with Oregons speed and tempo I believe. Im going to stick to my guns tho and I think oregon gets it done in the end because of two reasons.
first off, i think the combination of freeman, tyner, and Mariota running the football will be enough to open up the passing game for Marshall, Lowe and Baylis.
secondly, I think cardale jones will have a couple of key turnovers. The ducks are second in the country in turnover margin at +20 and forced some key fumbles against FSU. They've been very active in trying to strip the ball, and I can see jones throwing into coverage one too many times.
it should be a good game but I think Oregon wins by 8..... 49-41 quackers
