I was very impressed with Ohio State this afternoon. This win capped off a great day by the Big 10, but also was a huge win for the program because they were able to get the proverbial monkey off their back.
I really liked the game plan by the coaches. They were able to get Pryor comfortable early by completing a lot of high percentage passes (they called a pass play 9 of there first 10 plays!) and were able to play keep away from the high powered Oregon offense. And when Oregon was on offense they never
Ohio State's defense stepped up to the challenge as well. As suspected, Oregon was able to get a few big plays but Ohio State always tightened down in the red zone. Ohio State never allowed Oregon QB Jeremiah Masoli to get comfortable and forced them into several 3 & outs (Oregon converted 2 of 11 3rd downs).
My only complaint is that Oregon won the special teams battle - they always seemed to get a great field position from their return man Kenjon Barner. But that was only a blip.
The best part of this game, for me, was when Oregon tied the game at 10-10. I asked the question - how would Ohio State respond? Because they had gotten off to quick starts in past BCS games that did not end so favorably. But they had a very nice drive that turned into a field goal and than the defense forced a turnover that got us an additional 3 points before the half. Ohio State also answered the bell in the second half when Oregon came down and scored to begin the 2nd half.
Overall, it was a great effort. This Ohio State senior class had been in so many big games and never won, it was nice to send them out on top!
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