The “Granddaddy of them all” will be held for the 96^th time with two hard nose teams that got on track late in the season and finished strong.  This match up features the Ohio State Buckeyes (#8 BCS) vs. the Oregon Ducks (#7 BCS).  For the purists out there you can enjoy a Rose Bowl that features the Big Ten and Pac 10 champions.  The way it used to be before the BCS….but I won’t go into that now.

The Ohio State Buckeyes are returning to the Rose Bowl for the first time since 1997.  The Buckeyes are led by the arm and leg of Terrelle Pryor.  When Pryor does hand off the ball it typically goes to Brandon Saine who rushed for 694 yards this year.  The receiving duo of DeVier Posey and Dane Sanzenbacher are the primary weapons in the passing game.  But like it or not this team and the outcome of the game often rests on the performance of Terrelle Pryor who is still learning in his second season as QB.  The bad news for the Ducks is that Pryor got better as the season progressed.  The other scary thing is that Buckeye Defense (ranked 3^rd) is pretty darned good as well.

For the Ducks, whose offense is ranked 6^th in the Blitz index, they have an offense that should test the Buckeye defense all day.  QB Jeremiah Masoli passed for 2066 yards, 15 TD’s and 5 Interceptions.  RB LaMichael James rushed for 14 TD’s and 1476 yards this season.  And Masoli rushed for 12 TD’s as well.  The primary receiver is Jeff Maehl who had 6 receiving TD’s this year.  After the loss to Boise State this Oregon team has been playing with a chip on their shoulder.  They show up and take care of business.  Expect them to treat the Buckeyes the same.

Prediction:  Oregon 24 – Ohio State 17

Related posts:

1. Big 10 Preview: Ohio State Buckeyes
2. Las Vegas Bowl Preview-Oregon State vs. BYU
3. PAC 10 Preview: Oregon State Beavers
4. Ohio State at USC lead off a great schedule for Week 3
5. Pac 10 Preview: Oregon Ducks