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Game Thread 2015 National Championship Game: (2) Oregon vs. (4) Ohio State, Jan 12th @ 8:30p ET, ESPN

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If Bama's D couldn't stop the run, I don't see Oregon finding much success in doing so, but we'll see. I expect to see some big numbers on the ground for the Bucks. Bama is built for physical run stops, Oregon is not. I don't think that's debatable. I won't go the "Oregon is soft!" route, but they certainly don't have the bruisers and attack methods that Bama has. I also don't think they'll be able to protect Mariota anywhere near the way Bama is capable of in protecting Sims and the Bucks blew it up in the backfield, so he'll have to scramble to make plays... which we all know he does well. This is where Oregon can be dangerous: getting to the second level.

I'd be shocked if I'm wrong about this.
 
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cmstophe said:
I don't think Oregon is stopping our offense. 500+ yards to FSU? They blew them out, but it's not going out on a limb to say 1) FSU quit, 2) FSU turned the ball over 5 times causing that blowout. Credit to Oregon for taking advantage of turnovers, but I don't think they will get 5 of them vs Ohio State.
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I keep seeing this and scratching my head. Yes, we gave up a lot of yards but that means very little. They were trying to catch up most of the second half, so they were throwing the ball a lot, right?

The only statistic that matters is the final score. I've been having this same conversation with a few Duck fans, as well, who haven't been happy with our new D-Coordinator this year. In a perfect world there'd be complete domination. But it doesn't work that way when your offense is only possessing the ball about 20 minutes per game. The stat that really matters is that we're only giving up slightly under 18.00 points per game over the last 7 games, including the FSU game.

Also, it's not like Florida State just dropped the ball on those turnovers. Oregon defenders took the ball away, knocked it out of their hands and recovered it, tipped a ball and allowed a defender to intercept in and straight up recovered another bonehead fumble. The Ducks had a hand in 4 of those turnovers that were more like "takeaways". The only "gimmee" was the fumble by Winston that we returned for a TD.

cmstophe said:
If we want to win, though, it'll be about how we handle their offense. I know Oregon fans scoff at this but the answer really is ball control...that is how they got beat in 2010, and their team is way better this year but that is still how you stop teams like that. EzE is going to need to have a big day. I think he's capable.
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Your defense was able to keep us mostly in check in that game. That was the beginning of a long learning experience for Chip Kelly about how not to keep trying to run when there's nothing there. But what really killed us in that game was Terrell Pryor. That kid was a magician on 3rd down. We'd get you guys in 3rd and long and he'd keep finding a way to convert, mostly with his feet. It became demoralizing after awhile.

Fortunately, we're the ones with the stud QB this time. :-)

cmstophe said:
Been reading Oregon forums. They are pretty respectful. I don't know if that is just their nature or if it's a product of what Ohio State has done our last two games. Either way, it's pretty refreshing to not see stifling arrogance and hubris like we did on the Alabama boards.
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We're very respectful unless treated otherwise. We've had several fans from opposing teams visit and had some great experiences. There were a few jerks, who were ejected immediately, but it's usually been pretty casual. Of course, there are Oregon fans that are idiots, too, that make us all look bad. If any jerks from our clan show up and start trouble feel free to kick them to the curb. We don't appreciate people like that either.

Finally, the past is just that, the past. You can pretty much throw that last game out the window. The game we played in the 2010 Rose Bowl will have little if any impact on this game. We have a few freshman that redshirted that year still on the roster, but about 98% of those players are gone and we both have new head coaches, new defensive coordinators and we have a new offensive coordinator. That game is pretty much moot.

One thing I will say about that is we were just beginning to find our way back then and you guys were already a national brand. We're on a lot more level playing field now nationally (excuse the pun) than we were back then, having made the playoffs this year and going to 4 BCS Bowls in the previous 5 years, including a national championship game.

Good luck!

Go Ducks!
 
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Joe Stewart said:
I keep seeing this and scratching my head. Yes, we gave up a lot of yards but that means very little. They were trying to catch up most of the second half, so they were throwing the ball a lot, right?

The only statistic that matters is the final score. I've been having this same conversation with a few Duck fans, as well, who haven't been happy with our new D-Coordinator this year. In a perfect world there'd be complete domination. But it doesn't work that way when your offense is only possessing the ball about 20 minutes per game. The stat that really matters is that we're only giving up slightly under 18.00 points per game over the last 7 games, including the FSU game.

Also, it's not like Florida State just dropped the ball on those turnovers. Oregon defenders took the ball away, knocked it out of their hands and recovered it, tipped a ball and allowed a defender to intercept in and straight up recovered another bonehead fumble. The Ducks had a hand in 4 of those turnovers that were more like "takeaways". The only "gimmee" was the fumble by Winston that we returned for a TD.



Your defense was able to keep us mostly in check in that game. That was the beginning of a long learning experience for Chip Kelly about how not to keep trying to run when there's nothing there. But what really killed us in that game was Terrell Pryor. That kid was a magician on 3rd down. We'd get you guys in 3rd and long and he'd keep finding a way to convert, mostly with his feet. It became demoralizing after awhile.

Fortunately, we're the ones with the stud QB this time. :-)



We're very respectful unless treated otherwise. We've had several fans from opposing teams visit and had some great experiences. There were a few jerks, who were ejected immediately, but it's usually been pretty casual. Of course, there are Oregon fans that are idiots, too, that make us all look bad. If any jerks from our clan show up and start trouble feel free to kick them to the curb. We don't appreciate people like that either.

Finally, the past is just that, the past. You can pretty much throw that last game out the window. The game we played in the 2010 Rose Bowl will have little if any impact on this game. We have a few freshman that redshirted that year still on the roster, but about 98% of those players are gone and we both have new head coaches, new defensive coordinators and we have a new offensive coordinator. That game is pretty much moot.

One thing I will say about that is we were just beginning to find our way back then and you guys were already a national brand. We're on a lot more level playing field now nationally (excuse the pun) than we were back then, having made the playoffs this year and going to 4 BCS Bowls in the previous 5 years, including a national championship game.

Good luck!

Go Ducks!
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The turnovers were indeed forced, no one should be insinuating anything differently.

My point with the TO's is that Oregon feasts on them. It's a major part of their game and a major part of all their wins.

I simply think that if OSU can run the ball and keep from turning it over, then that will give OSU their best chance to win.

Easier said than done because Oregon forces a shit ton of TO's.

We shall see what happens
 
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Jaxbuck said:
The turnovers were indeed forced, no one should be insinuating anything differently.

My point with the TO's is that Oregon feasts on them. It's a major part of their game and a major part of all their wins.

I simply think that if OSU can run the ball and keep from turning it over, then that will give OSU their best chance to win.

Easier said than done because Oregon forces a [Mark May] ton of TO's.

We shall see what happens
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Good analysis. Man, would you stop the Mark May references, though - please? It's like freakin' kryptonite! I don't know who drives me more crazy, him or Lou Holtz.

Oh, wait. I have a tiebreaker. I'll spot you a Mark May and respond with a great big Skip Bayless! I know, that's so wrong. Lol.
 
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Joe Stewart said:
Good analysis. Man, would you stop the Mark May references, though - please? It's like freakin' kryptonite! I don't know who drives me more crazy, him or Lou Holtz.

Oh, wait. I have a tiebreaker. I'll spot you a Mark May and respond with a great big Skip Bayless! I know, that's so wrong. Lol.
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It's a swear filter. If you say the swear form of feces, you will get his name in brackets instead.
 
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FSU has been turnover prone, and Oregon forced turnovers. Great job on them and Oregon deserves credit for eviscerating FSU, they deserve every ounce of that credit. I specifically said I take nothing away from them for it, but it is what it is. FSU racked up yardage and was absolutely murdered by turnovers, and then their team subsequently quit. I know Ducks fans are confident in this game, but if you expect 5 turnovers and a quit from Ohio State, you will be painfully surprised. Giving up a lot of yardage means a lot, actually. Looking at yardage stats can tell us a ton. Oregon very well could have/would have won without the 5 turnovers, but the game probably would have been pretty close. Think about it: if you are being driven on at will, but the other team is constantly turning the ball over during those drives instead of converting them into points, what does that say? It says you can be driven on, for sure.

Your defense is ranked in the lower half of the nation, if I recall correctly, so I'm not saying anything that should be surprising. Ohio State has its own weaknesses, too, of course. Will be very concerned about whether we'll be able to contain on the edge against Oregon's speed.

To be quite honest, I give teams credit for turnovers regardless of how they occur. I don't differentiate and cherry pick like a lot of fans.

Anyways, I love Mariota and they certainly have the QB advantage in this game, at least on paper. However, coming off of a third down performance like OSU just had vs Alabama, if I'm a Ducks fan, I wouldn't be so convinced that OSU won't be deadly on third down in this match up as well, regarding your reference to the 2010 Rose Bowl.

Appreciate the talk! And good to have you on here Joe Stewart. You are on a Buckeye board, a lot of us are going to offer a fresh and different opinion than what you'd find amongst your Oregon boards, and vice versa to any of us who go to your board. Keep that in mind. Sometimes it's nice to get a new perspective from people who don't cheer for your team.
 
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Looking at the NCAA stats on TO's (these include the first round playoff games):

Oregon has lost the fewest, just 10 in 14 games (7 fumbles, 3 int)
OSU is middle of the road with 22 lost (11 and 11)

OSU has actually gained/forced a couple more TO's though and is 6th nationally with 32
Oregon is 10th nationally with 30

Obviously then Oregon has a better TO ratio, 2nd nationally at +20
OSU is 10th nationally at +10

The only loss of the year for Oregon coincidentally or not, was the game against Arizona when they were just even in TO's (lost 2 gained 2)
 
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jwinslow said:
I think the youngsters are improving. I don't think Bell is playing at an All-B1G level yet, let alone the force that Coleman was.

I think Grant has elevated his game to Austin Spitler's level, which is a huge boost but still a far cry from Rolle.
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14 Bell: 86 tackles, 6 int (including 15 tackles and 2 INTs in the last two games)
09 Coleman: 68 tackles, 5 int (including 8 tackles and 2 INTs in the two games leading up to the Rose Bowl)

14 C. Grant: 63 tackles, 5 tfl, 1 sack
09 Spitler: 38 tackles, 5 tfl, 1 sack

So, once again, I think you're underselling the current team and the level they are playing at.

I also think it's a mistake comparing position to position rather than the units as a whole.

C. Grant obviously is no Rolle but Darron Lee is comparable in terms of impact and skill set.
 
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