Ohio St Buckeyes, Oregon Ducks set up interesting Rose Bowl battle
This Friday's Rose Bowl brings back some very fond memories for yours truly, specifically the 1969 Rose Bowl and, no, not because O.J. Simpson played in that game.
Hard to believe that it's been 40 years since one of the most memorable college football games I've seen. I don't remember many details about the game, just that it was Ohio State vs. USC and that O.J. Simpson had a big afternoon.
Rex Kern in black-&-white.
To be honest I had to look up what the score was in the 1969 Rose Bowl game: No. 1 Buckeyes - 27, No. 2 Trojans - 16. Bits and pieces of the game are still in my old noggin, but the actual play on the field was not what made the game so memorable for me.
As strange as this may sound to a lot of people, what made the game so unforgettable was it marked the first time I had watched anything inside someone's home on a color television set. Granted, color TV had been around for 5-6 years by then and I had seen transmissions on them in stores. But this was the first time I'd seen one up close from the comfort of a chair.
Even being colorblind, it was something to behold for a young man who was moving well into his teens.
About a week later my dad went out and spent what was then a small fortune on a color set for our house. After two days of mounting and fiddling with the rooftop antenna, we were able to watch Super Bowl III on our own color TV. Final score: Jets -16, Colts - 7. I didn't have to look that one up.
No doubt it seems strange these days for someone to make a fuss about a color television. The wife and I have four in our home today, plus the four monitors on the two computers where I sit and watch a lot of sporting events now. But trust me when I say that when I stretch out on my couch this Friday afternoon to watch this year's Rose Bowl, nostalgia will seep into the conversation with my friends and family.
As fate would have it, Ohio State is back in the Granddaddy of Them All this year to represent the Big Ten; USC only wishes it was there after a very disappointing season for the Trojans. In their place from what is now the Pac-10 instead of the Pacific-8 will be Oregon, with the Ducks four-point favorites and 51 set for the total.
A lot has changed in the last 40 years, to state the obvious. But one thing that has remained constant is the fact the Buckeyes are still among the Big Ten stalwarts year in, year out. Ohio State enters this battle with five consecutive conference titles in the bag and riding a five-game win streak.
Jim Tressel's troops will however be out to stop a three-game BCS bowl losing streak.
The Buckeyes' 10-2 record straight up translated into nine winners out of 12 at the window. The two SU losses were to USC on Sep. 12, falling 18-15 at home to the Trojans who were favored by a TD, and 26-18 on Oct. 17 at Purdue, with the Buckeyes 12 ½-point chalk in that game.
In addition to the ATS loss at Purdue, Ohio State's other two defeats versus the line came on Nov. 14 at home when they knocked off Iowa, 27-24, as 16 ½-point favorites, and in the season opener on Sep. 5 when they narrowly avoided a home upset to Navy, beating the Midshipmen by a 31-27 count as 21 ½-point chalk.
Rex Kern on a color television.
As quarterback Terrelle Pryor goes, so go the Buckeyes. Pryor led the team in rushing with 707 yards on the ground, scoring seven times on the carry. The sophomore out of the Keystone State also completed about 56% of his passes for over 1,800 yards and 16 more scores. He was picked off 10 times.
The only new injury that Ohio State is reporting is Pryor himself, and he's the one reporting it after he told some reporters that he has a slight ligament tear in an unspecified knee.
The Ducks might be the least likely conference champion in any bowl this season. Not only was Oregon huge underdogs along with every other Pac-10 team to USC, but Chip Kelly's bunch also got off to a most inauspicious start to the campaign in their opener at Boise State on Sep. 3.
With a Thursday night national TV audience looking on the Broncos slapped the Ducks, 19-8. And towards the end of the game, senior running back LeGarrette Blount performed a little payback slap on one of the Boise State players and was suspended for the season.
But Kelly, in his first year in Eugene, found a way to rally his team that lost just once more, 51-42 at Stanford in early November. Something else Kelly found as a result of Blount's suspension was redshirt freshman LaMichael James who stepped into the starting running back roll and rushed for nearly 1,500 yards at nearly seven yards a pop.
Oregon's 10-2 mark in the standings includes a fairly flat 7-5 ATS record. The Ducks failed to beat the spread in three of their final four games, including the loss to the Cardinal on Nov. 7 as 6 ½-point favorites.
The clash in styles between these two schools is best reflected in their 'over/under' records. Seven of Ohio State's 12 games went 'under' the total, along with two pushes. Oregon saw the 'over' cash in nine of its 12 games.
ABC's broadcast this year starts at 4:30 p.m. (ET) on New Year's Day, though kickoff will come a good 30 minutes or more later according to most reports. Unlike 1969 when we had the sound up for the game, I'll have my mute button activated since I suspect Brent Musburger will be calling this one.
This Friday's Rose Bowl brings back some very fond memories for yours truly, specifically the 1969 Rose Bowl and, no, not because O.J. Simpson played in that game.
Hard to believe that it's been 40 years since one of the most memorable college football games I've seen. I don't remember many details about the game, just that it was Ohio State vs. USC and that O.J. Simpson had a big afternoon.
Rex Kern in black-&-white.
To be honest I had to look up what the score was in the 1969 Rose Bowl game: No. 1 Buckeyes - 27, No. 2 Trojans - 16. Bits and pieces of the game are still in my old noggin, but the actual play on the field was not what made the game so memorable for me.
As strange as this may sound to a lot of people, what made the game so unforgettable was it marked the first time I had watched anything inside someone's home on a color television set. Granted, color TV had been around for 5-6 years by then and I had seen transmissions on them in stores. But this was the first time I'd seen one up close from the comfort of a chair.
Even being colorblind, it was something to behold for a young man who was moving well into his teens.
About a week later my dad went out and spent what was then a small fortune on a color set for our house. After two days of mounting and fiddling with the rooftop antenna, we were able to watch Super Bowl III on our own color TV. Final score: Jets -16, Colts - 7. I didn't have to look that one up.
No doubt it seems strange these days for someone to make a fuss about a color television. The wife and I have four in our home today, plus the four monitors on the two computers where I sit and watch a lot of sporting events now. But trust me when I say that when I stretch out on my couch this Friday afternoon to watch this year's Rose Bowl, nostalgia will seep into the conversation with my friends and family.
As fate would have it, Ohio State is back in the Granddaddy of Them All this year to represent the Big Ten; USC only wishes it was there after a very disappointing season for the Trojans. In their place from what is now the Pac-10 instead of the Pacific-8 will be Oregon, with the Ducks four-point favorites and 51 set for the total.
A lot has changed in the last 40 years, to state the obvious. But one thing that has remained constant is the fact the Buckeyes are still among the Big Ten stalwarts year in, year out. Ohio State enters this battle with five consecutive conference titles in the bag and riding a five-game win streak.
Jim Tressel's troops will however be out to stop a three-game BCS bowl losing streak.
The Buckeyes' 10-2 record straight up translated into nine winners out of 12 at the window. The two SU losses were to USC on Sep. 12, falling 18-15 at home to the Trojans who were favored by a TD, and 26-18 on Oct. 17 at Purdue, with the Buckeyes 12 ½-point chalk in that game.
In addition to the ATS loss at Purdue, Ohio State's other two defeats versus the line came on Nov. 14 at home when they knocked off Iowa, 27-24, as 16 ½-point favorites, and in the season opener on Sep. 5 when they narrowly avoided a home upset to Navy, beating the Midshipmen by a 31-27 count as 21 ½-point chalk.
Rex Kern on a color television.
As quarterback Terrelle Pryor goes, so go the Buckeyes. Pryor led the team in rushing with 707 yards on the ground, scoring seven times on the carry. The sophomore out of the Keystone State also completed about 56% of his passes for over 1,800 yards and 16 more scores. He was picked off 10 times.
The only new injury that Ohio State is reporting is Pryor himself, and he's the one reporting it after he told some reporters that he has a slight ligament tear in an unspecified knee.
The Ducks might be the least likely conference champion in any bowl this season. Not only was Oregon huge underdogs along with every other Pac-10 team to USC, but Chip Kelly's bunch also got off to a most inauspicious start to the campaign in their opener at Boise State on Sep. 3.
With a Thursday night national TV audience looking on the Broncos slapped the Ducks, 19-8. And towards the end of the game, senior running back LeGarrette Blount performed a little payback slap on one of the Boise State players and was suspended for the season.
But Kelly, in his first year in Eugene, found a way to rally his team that lost just once more, 51-42 at Stanford in early November. Something else Kelly found as a result of Blount's suspension was redshirt freshman LaMichael James who stepped into the starting running back roll and rushed for nearly 1,500 yards at nearly seven yards a pop.
Oregon's 10-2 mark in the standings includes a fairly flat 7-5 ATS record. The Ducks failed to beat the spread in three of their final four games, including the loss to the Cardinal on Nov. 7 as 6 ½-point favorites.
The clash in styles between these two schools is best reflected in their 'over/under' records. Seven of Ohio State's 12 games went 'under' the total, along with two pushes. Oregon saw the 'over' cash in nine of its 12 games.
ABC's broadcast this year starts at 4:30 p.m. (ET) on New Year's Day, though kickoff will come a good 30 minutes or more later according to most reports. Unlike 1969 when we had the sound up for the game, I'll have my mute button activated since I suspect Brent Musburger will be calling this one.
