No. 8 Ohio State Buckeyes (10-2, 7-1 Big Ten)

vs.

No. 7 Oregon Ducks (10-2, 8-1 Pac-10)

Friday, January 1

5:10 p.m. ET

Rose Bowl – Pasadena, CA

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Tags: Football by Matt Barker, Publisher & Editor of BuckeyeBanter.com
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Right: David Lighty scored 30 points against Cleveland State, last week. (AP Photo)

The 15th-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes travel to Madison to take on No. 23 Wisconsin, New Year’s Eve afternoon. Tip-off is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. ET, and the game will be televised on ESPN2 with Terry Gannon and Steve Lavin.

As always, you can hear the game all across the state on the 60-station Ohio State Buckeyes Radio Network with “Big Daddy” Paul Keels and former Buckeye Ron Stokes. WBNS outlets 97.1 FM and 1460 AM are the flagship stations in Columbus.

The Badgers are 10-2 overall with losses to Gonzaga, 74-61, and to Wisconsin-Green Bay in overtime, 88-84. Of Wisconsin’s 10 wins, the most notable came against No. 5 Duke (73-69) and No. 22 Maryland (78-69). The Badgers have rattled off four-straight wins, including a 79-43 victory over Illinois-Chicago their last time out on Nov. 27. Five UW players notched double figure point totals against UIC as 6-foot-10 junior foward Jon Leuer led all scorers with 17.

Wisconsin is led by Leuer, who is averaging 17.0 points and a team-high 6.5 rebounds per game. Second on the team in scoring is Trevon Hughes, a 6-foot senior guard who pours in 16.4 points per contest. Jason Bohannon is the only other Badger to average double-digits in scoring at 10.1 points per game, and is the team’s best three-point shooter at 42.9 percent from beyond the arc.
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Right: Oregon defensive end Kenny Rowe leads the team in sacks and tackles for loss. (AP Photo)

In scouting Oregon’s defense, I found there’s really not much of one. UO has given up 24 or more points in five games. The Ducks have also given up 360 yards or more on four different occasions, 400 or more yards twice, and allowed a whopping 505 yards against Stanford.

In contrast, Ohio State only allowed 24 or more points three times, and has never allowed an opponent to gain more than 368 yards in any game this season.

And they say defense wins championships? Apparently that’s not true in the Pac-10. Two of the top four teams from that conference have already played in their bowl games and BYU drubbed Oregon State, 44-20, in the Las Vegas Bowl and Nebraska took Arizona to the woodshed, 33-0, in the Holiday Bowl. And those two teams that came just a few points away from winning the Pac-10 and earning a trip to the Rose Bowl. So what does that say about Oregon? The Pac-10? Overrated? Clearly both of those teams have no defense, either.
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Right: Junior quarterback Jeremiah Masoli leads the Ducks offense. (AP Photo)

While watching film on Oregon’s offense, it reminded me a lot of an offense that Ohio State has seen before. Running out of the spread, UO generally utilizes a single-back set with the quarterback in shotgun formation and three wide receivers plus a tight end.

The Ducks bread-and-butter play is the zone-read option, something the Buckeyes use as well. Michigan head coach Rich Rodriguez also uses it extensively.

Basically, the zone-read option starts out with the offensive line either moving to the left or to the right to block after the snap and the quarterback puts the ball into the belly of the running back. At the time, the quarterback then reads what the backside defensive end does, who usually goes unblocked. Sometimes, though, Oregon tries to isolate a defensive tackle.

Now the first options are for the quarterback to either hand the ball off to the running back if the defensive end stays at home and keeps containment, but if the defensive end follows the play with the offensive line, the QB then can roll out to the backside where the defensive end should of been and the quarterback can get outside on the edge. Click here to read more >>

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Right: Though he has Bill Belichick’s fashion sense, Oregon head coach Chip Kelly has guided the Ducks to a 10-2 record and a Pac-10 championship in his first year. (SI Photo)

Taking over the reigns from Mike Bellotti, Oregon’s current athletic director, first-year head coach Chip Kelly has guided the Ducks to a 10-2 overall record and a Pac-10 title even though UO got off to a “Rocky” start, if you pardon the pun.

Back on Sept. 3, Oregon took on Boise State on the famous blue Smurf Turf in the season-opener for both teams.

What happened during the game was not the big story that ESPN and other outlets reported, it’s what happened after the game that was talked about for days.

Following Oregon’s 19-8 loss to Boise State, Ducks running back LeGarrette Blount punched Broncos defensive end Byron Hout, knocking him to the ground. Later as he was leaving the field and headed toward the locker room, Blount went after a few BSU fans in the stands who were taunting him. Click here to read more >>

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Right: No, You’re Freakin’ Goofy! Jim Tressel speaks with Mickey Mouse at his side at Disneyland, Saturday afternoon. (AP Photo)

Two charter planes carrying a Buckeye contingent of 180 players, coaches, team administrators, managers and the like departed from Rickenbacher International Airport in Columbus at around 7 p.m. ET on Christmas evening, and safely landed in Los Angeles shortly before 9 p.m. PT. Charter buses then transported the team to the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza, which is located on the Avenue of the Stars in Los Angeles’ posh West Side neighborhood.

On Saturday, the Buckeyes conducted a two-hour practice at the Home Depot Center, some 30 minutes south of their hotel in Carson, Calif., which is home to the Los Angeles Galaxy and Chivas USA of the MLS, as well as a tennis stadium and a US Cycling velodrome. Later that afternoon, the Buckeyes left their hotel to spend the rest of the day at Disneyland in Anaheim. Click here to read more >>

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From the Big East: Pittsburgh Panthers

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Me thinks Pittsburgh would love to play State Penn every year.

And didn’t Mary May attend Pitt?

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Right: The Buckeyes’ David Lighty blows by a Blue Hose defender on his way to the tin for a deuce. (AP Photo)

Walk-on guard Mark Titus scored a point as No. 18 Ohio State easily routed Presbyterian College, 78-48, at the Schottenstein Center, Wednesday night.

Titus, of course, wasn’t alone in the scoring column. The Buckeyes were led by David Lighty, who scored 20 points. Three others notched double-digit point totals as Jon Diebler added an even dozen, William Buford chipped in 11, and Dallas Lauderdale had 10 points and a team-high eight rebounds.

Ohio State went up two touchdowns early in the first half after Lauderdale snared an offensive rebound and his putback gave the Buckeyes a 14-0 advantage with 15:05 left. It was all downhill from there.

Jeremie Simmons’ triple with 1:26 to go until halftime put Ohio State ahead 53-21, which was the score when both teams headed to the locker room at the intermission break.

The Buckeyes biggest lead of the game was at the 12:23 mark of the second half following Lighty’s tip-in that made the score 70-27 in favor of OSU. Click here to read more >>

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Right: Ft. Wayne’s Roderick Smith (25) is one of the 15 commitments from the class of 2010 head coach Jim Tressel has secured. (BB Photo)

Thus far, the 2010 football recruiting class does not have the swagger to match the 2008 class (Pryor, Posey, Brewster) or last year’s class for that matter (Duron Carter, Jamaal Berry). However, Ohio State has picked up a number of four star players as well as we’ve continued to be rather dominant in the state of Ohio. More importantly, the process is not nearly complete and there are several blue chips out there waiting to be signed.

According to rivals.com, head coach Jim Tressel has received oral commitments from 15 players including seven 4-star recruits. Among the commits are offensive tackle Andrew Norwell, athlete Corey Brown and running back Roderick Smith.

The site lists Andrew Norwell as our highest rated recruit so far, at number 46 overall nationwide, the fifth best tackle on the recruiting boards and the number three prospect in Ohio. He can keep defenders away with his long arms and apparently is also a very physical player, delighting in pancaking defenders and hitting them while they are down. Norwell could redshirt and make an impact his second or third year. Click here to read more >>

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Right: Just have to figure out where on the map the 12th team should go. (MB Photo)

Back in 1896, the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives was founded when seven institutions of higher learning convened in Chicago. Those seven schools were: Purdue, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Chicago, and Northwestern. At that time, the newly-formed league was nicknamed the “Western Conference.”

Three years later, Indiana and Iowa were granted membership, and the “Western Conference” became known as the “Big Nine.” It would be another 18 years before the “Big Ten” emerged when Ohio State joined in 1912 and Michigan returned in 1918 after a nine-year absence. Click here to read more >>

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Right: Ohio State’s Brittany Johnson passes over Mississippi guard Kayla Melson, Sunday afternoon. (AP Photo)

Five Buckeyes scored in double figures led by Samantha Prahalis’ 17 points as No. 9 Ohio State rallied to beat Mississippi, 79-77, at the Tad Smith Coliseum in Oxford, Miss., Sunday afternoon.

Amazingly, Ole Miss led 77-67 with 2:58 left to play, but OSU closed out the game on a 12-0 run. A short jumper by Andrea Walker along with two treys from Maria Moeller and Sarah Schulze got the Buckeyes closer, and Ohio State took the lead for good after Walker drained a pair of free throws with 16 seconds remaining.

It was a closely contested game throughout, with 11 ties and 15 lead changes. Ohio State’s biggest advantage came with 15:44 left in the second half after a conventional three-point play by Schulze that put the Buckeyes up 48-42. Ole Miss’ biggest lead was when they were ahead by 10 with just under three minutes to go. OSU led 36-35 at halftime as Shavelle Little scored a a layup just before the horn sounded.

Ohio State’s Jantel Lavender had a Evan Turner-like triple-double, but not in a good away, as she scored 15 points with 10 rebounds, but committed 10 turnovers in 31 minutes. Schulze added 14 points while Moeller and Johnson each chipped in 10.

Bianca Thomas led the Rebels with 25 points and 10 rebounds.

Up next, the Buckeyes will host Wright State, Tuesday night. Tip-off at the Schottenstein Center is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ET.

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Right: Ohio State’s Dallas Lauderdale (left) is hacked while going up for a dunk vs. Butler.
(AP Photo)

Going into yesterday’s game against Butler, there were many questions that needed to be answered on how head coach Thad Matta and his Ohio State team would react to the absence of national player of the year candidate Evan Turner. While the Buckeyes wouldn’t get a passing grade from me since they lost to the 22nd-ranked Bulldogs, 74-66, they did show some promise.

Butler led by as many as 11 points in the first half after Gordon Hayward’s three-pointer at the 11:40 mark that put the Bulldogs ahead 21-10, and still held a 10-point advantage at 28-18 following a layup by Matt Howard with 7:41 to go.

But the Buckeyes responded by rattling off 16 unanswered points to take a 34-28 lead and went into the locker room at the break ahead 36-34.

In the second half, the game was tied at 48-all after Dallas Lauderdale scored a bucket in the paint with 13:48 remaining, but then the wheels started to fall off for Ohio State. Click here to read more >>

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Right: Gordon Hayward, a 6-foot-8 sophomore swingman, leads the Bulldogs in scoring and rebounding. (AP Photo)

The 13th-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes travel to Indianapolis to take on No. 22 Butler at Hinkle Fieldhouse, Saturday afternoon. Tip-off is scheduled for 12:03 p.m. ET, and the game will be televised on ESPN with Sean McDonough and Jay Bilas.

As always, you can hear the game all across the state on the 60-station Ohio State Buckeyes Radio Network with “Big Daddy” Paul Keels and former Buckeye Ron Stokes. WBNS outlets 97.1 FM and 1460 AM are the flagship stations in Columbus.

Ohio State, though, will be without arguably the nation’s best player as Evan Turner is out for at least seven more weeks with a transverse process fracture on the second and third lumbar vertebra of his spine. He suffered the injury on a dunk attempt last Saturday against Eastern Michigan. Click here to read more >>

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Right: The 36th President of the United States, Richard Milhous Nixon, enjoyed bowling while he was running the country and trying to cover up the Watergate scandal. Not sure if he would like today’s college football bowl system. (Nixon Library Photo)

“Playoffs?! Don’t talk about playoffs! Are you kidding me? Playoffs?!”

While the famous quote above was once uttered by former Indianapolis Colts’ head coach Jim Mora Sr., it’s also the sentiment echoed by the vast majority of university presidents across the nation whose institutions compete as one of the 120 members of the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A.

Wednesday on Capitol Hill, H.R. 390, a bill sponsored by Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX), the top Republican on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, approved legislation that states it is “to prohibit, as an unfair and deceptive act or practice, the promotion, marketing, and advertising of any post-season NCAA Division I football game as a national championship game unless such game is the culmination of a fair and equitable playoff system.” Click here to read more >>

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