Every bowl season brings with it the bellyaching and jokes of bowl game overload. Perhaps lost in the cornucopia of corporately named games is the rich history and tradition of many bowls that make college football what it is.
The Rose Bowl Game is college football. Nothing is more indicative of the game’s rich tradition than this pairing of “East and West” representatives, dating all the way back to 1902, then made an annual affair in 1916. The Rose Bowl Game has endured through dramatic changes to the sport, two World Wars, adapted to shifts in conference alignment to remain largely true to its roots.
The day the Rose Bowl Game ceases to be is the day college football is no longer college football.
The list of star players to have played in the Rose Bowl Game is endless: Notre Dame’s Four Horsemen, Warren Moon, Desmond Howard, Vince Young, Harry Gilmer, Jim Plunkett only scratch the surface.
Likewise, the coaches who have guided teams in Pasadena (or Durham, N.C.) is a Who’s Who of the profession. Bret Bielema and Chip Kelly’s names are already etched in the Game’s annals alongside Fielding Yost, Hayden Fry, Bo Schembechler, Woody Hayes, Bob Stoops, John Robinson, Knute Rockne and more. Monday each makes his return trip, and one will get his first win in the Granddaddy of ‘Em All.
Las Vegas has UO as a 61/2 favorite. Rare is the Duck win that comes by such a narrow margin, however. In fact, the closest UO victory this season was 14 over Arizona State. The Ducks’ quick-strike offense, once it gets rolling, does not allow for close games.
Oregon scores in deluges, forcing opponents to play a game of catch-up it can’t win. The more an opponent struggles to keep pace with the Ducks, the worse it gets, akin to a python constricting its prey.
In Oregon’s two losses, USC and LSU were both successful in dictating the pace. And even USC saw a multiple-score lead nearly erased once momentum shifted the Ducks’ way.
Speed, speed, speed. That’s UO in a nutshell. Everyone who follows the sport knows about LaMichael James, the starter of the Ducks’ 46.2 point per game engine. A 2010 Heisman Trophy finalist, James may have had a repeat invitation to New York City were it not for a shoulder injury that kept him out of 21/2 games. Even with the layoff, LMJ led the Bowl Subdivision in yards per game at a whopping 149.6. His 1646 yards rushing were more than 35 FBS teams.
Stopping Oregon might be easier if the potent rushing attack, ranked No. 5 nationally, if it was just James. And in fact, in the Ducks’ two losses, James had 54 yards on 18 carries against LSU and 78 on 20 vs. USC. The less success Oregon has establishing its star tailback correlates directly to the number of passes Darron Thomas throws. He passed 36 times against USC and a whopping 54 in the season opening loss vs. LSU. By comparison, he averaged 20 attempts in the Ducks’ 11 wins.
Both teams established sizable leads that forced Oregon out of its comfort zone. And certainly, Thomas is most comfortable when he’s passing to setting the table to unload the occasional long ball to Lavasier Tuinei with a steady does of speedster D’Anthony Thomas.
Thomas is as elusive a slot receiver as there is in college football, and Kelly uses him effectively. He was the Ducks’ most prolific target with 42 receptions, and used his blazing quickness to take screen passes for an average of over 13 yards.
The above is an example of why Thomas is so dangerous. Wrapping up and bringing him down is critical to limiting to that vital facet of the Oregon offense, because so much of his damage is done as the result of missed tackles.
Surely Bielema and his staff have used the month since Wisconsin beat Michigan State in the Big Ten Conference Championship to study what made those teams successful against Oregon, and that bodes well for the Badgers’ chances.
Oregon’s season opening and ending record through its three-season stretch of BCS-level is just 1-4, and the victory is over lowly New Mexico. Boise State, Ohio State, Auburn and LSU all used ample prep time to game plan for the nuances of Oregon’s offense that make it so explosive. The Ducks’ combined score in those four outings? Seventy-one. Only once did the Ducks break the 20-point barrier, and interestingly it was the most lopsided of the four defeats (this year by 13 vs. LSU).
UW lost some key pieces from its typically stout defense of a season ago, but has excelled against the pass with a veteran secondary. Opponents have accumulated all of 2015 passing yards on the Badgers, or 155 per game. Shelton Johnson and Antonio Fenelus combined for eight interceptions. UW will try to pinch the tosses that go longer than a few yards past the line of scrimmage.
Everything UO does is methodical. James and Kenjon Barner’s rushes, as well as Thomas’ breakout bursts from the slot, are set up as defenses get back on their heels. Tight end David Paulson is a component of that, but if the Badgers cut off those connections between Thomas and Paulson, that should allow Chris Ash to call a more aggressive pursuit in the backfield.
Louis Nzegwu, Mike Taylor and Chris Borland will lead the Badgers in attacking the Ducks at the line. Wisconsin’s defensive tenacity makes is similar to last year’s Auburn team that bested Oregon in the BCS Championship in some ways. That AU defense had talented pieces that helped tee up the offense by setting it in good field position, limiting the scoring chances for the opposition.
Well, this season’s Wisconsin defense has allowed opponents into the red zone just 28 times. That isn’t necessarily indicative of what Oregon can expect — the Ducks are proficient at scoring from further out than the 20-yard line. But UW forced 71 punts, and that does have bearing on how the Badgers pair up with the UO offense.
UW is also similar to Auburn in that the Badgers can score. A lot.
Running back Montee Ball was one of the very few rushers to best LMJ this season. Ball bested a lot of backs, including those of a historical nature. He comes into the Rose Bowl with 32 rushing touchdowns and six receiving. Cynics are quick to point out that Ball’s numbers comparing favorably to those of Barry Sanders’ 1988, arguably the greatest season by a running back in college football history (Marcus Allen’s 1981 is really all that might compare), are the result of more games.
And there’s validity to the argument. But Ball also had fewer touches than Sanders, carrying the ball 275 times to Sanders’ 344. Wisconsin’s offensive success was less reliant on just its back than Oklahoma State’s, because Russell Wilson had a vastly underrated season at quarterback.
Wilson threw for 31 scores and was intercepted just three times. That score-to-turnover ratio is actually better than Heisman winner Robert Griffin III. Wilson also completed 72.5 percent of his passes, distributing the ball among a receiving corps led by Nick Toon and Jared Abberderis, each of which surpassed 800 yards.
All told, the UW offense registered over 46 points per game, making it one of the few more prolific than Oregon. As much as the onus to slow the Ducks will be on the Badgers’ defense, a similar proposition faces UO. Defensive coordinator Nick Alliotti lost numerous key components from the vastly underrated 2010 Duck defense, and Cliff Harris was largely ineffective before being dismissed.
UO allowed 23.6 points per game, a respectable figure given how quickly the Duck offense moves the ball. Oregon was on the wrong side of a 34:57-25:03 time of possession disparity, but that hardly tells the story. The Ducks gained 27 turnovers, a byproduct of a stout pass rush with Josh Kaddu and Dion Jordan. The furious pursuers combined for 22.5 tackles for loss and 14 sacks.
The defense that can make the most plays is going to win the Rose Bowl Game for its team. Kelly’s ability to make enough adjustments to address Wisconsin’s extra two weeks of preparation is crucial for Oregon’s chances.