In the words of Ron Burgundy, "Well that escalated quickly." That's pretty much how I feel about the National Championship game the other night. It was a miserable night for all those who wanted to see Oregon demolish Ohio State and thereby prove that the Big 10 is a crappy excuse for a conference and has no business playing organized football. I mean there may be other reasons for wanting Ohio State to lose, but I figure that has to be one of them. That did not happen though. I honestly thought that Marcus Mariota would be the difference maker, and it's not like he didn't have a decent night. He was 24 of 37 for 333 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception. I mean in actuality he had about the same night as the National Champion third-stringer Cardale Jones. Jones was 16 of 23 for 242 yards, one touchdown, and one interception as well. So what happened? What really happened to Oregon? Well I'll tell you what I think happened.
What Happened to Oregon (In My Own Words)
Defense. Defense is what happened to Oregon. Or should I say a lack thereof. I mean there is one name that those commentators could not stop saying and that was Ezekiel Elliot. That guy ran all over Oregon's defense and I don't know if they were ever able to really stop him. Ohio State had 296 rushing yards on the night and guess who had 246 of them? Yep. That would be Ezekiel Elliot. He had more yards rushing than there were total passing yards. Now I'm not saying that Oregon didn't have yards because they did, but they didn't have Ezekiel Elliot and, worse than that, they didn't have a defense to stop him.
Now I'm not going to bash Oregon's defense entirely because they also managed to get four turnovers, including three fumbles, off of the Ohio State offense so that's great. The problem with that is that the Oregon offense couldn't see to get anything together when they were given those opportunities. The first fumble gave them a fourth down which they went for and didn't get so that gave the ball back to Ohio State with nothing to show. The second fumble gave them a punt, and the third fumble gave them a field goal. The only turnover that actually gave them substantial points was the interception that Marcus Mariota threw 70 yards to Byron Marshall for a touchdown. That was pretty impressive and, for a moment, I thought that they may turn that into momentum of some kind and come back to destroy Ohio State. No such luck. As I said before, they had no Ezekiel Elliot and no defense to stand up to what he was doing.
Now What?
Well as of today Marcus Mariota has decided that he will declare for the NFL Draft and is predicted to go Number 2 to the Tennessee Titans. Cardale Jones, as of right at this moment, has not decided whether or not he will go after just starting three games in his whole career. Apparently he's made enough noise to have some people thinking, "Hmm.. should we take a chance on this kid?" Honestly I think he might go. The only way that he will play next year is if Braxton Miller transfers, and JT Barrett starts the season throwing a million interceptions and nothing else. I mean Cardale is a good player, that can't be denied especially now, but is he going to get the start over either Miller or Barrett? No, probably not. Either way he's got until the end of the day to decide because that's the deadline for players to make their decisions. Well, here's to hoping it works for him either way.
I guess I could apologize for being so hateful toward Ohio State and wishing them to lose so badly. The fact remains that the score I picked was lopsided, but it was lopsided the wrong way. I basically picked close to the right score, but I picked the wrong team to win. Normally, I would own that mistake and laugh it off, but I doubt any Ohio State fans read this blog. Frankly, I think only my dad reads this thing (shout out to you dad!) and I don't need to apologize to him for hating Ohio State. He knows I hate Ohio State. He raised me that way. So, the other team won. I'll get over it. And so will Oregon. They have a lot to make up for. Ohio State is looking to repeat next year and with the talent at their disposal they very well could make a run for it. Oregon will bounce back, and maybe one day they'll win a National Championship too. Probably not against Alabama, and definitely not against Auburn (we've already seen how that turned out) and maybe not against any other SEC team. Maybe I'm being too optimistic. I do love my conference and next year we'll be back in the finals. But for this year college football is officially over *sob* and now all we have to look forward to is the draft and signing and all that. Which can be fun also. So until next time dad, and maybe one or two other readers who are still hoping for some nice recipes, I'll talk to you then.
Now What?
Well as of today Marcus Mariota has decided that he will declare for the NFL Draft and is predicted to go Number 2 to the Tennessee Titans. Cardale Jones, as of right at this moment, has not decided whether or not he will go after just starting three games in his whole career. Apparently he's made enough noise to have some people thinking, "Hmm.. should we take a chance on this kid?" Honestly I think he might go. The only way that he will play next year is if Braxton Miller transfers, and JT Barrett starts the season throwing a million interceptions and nothing else. I mean Cardale is a good player, that can't be denied especially now, but is he going to get the start over either Miller or Barrett? No, probably not. Either way he's got until the end of the day to decide because that's the deadline for players to make their decisions. Well, here's to hoping it works for him either way.
I guess I could apologize for being so hateful toward Ohio State and wishing them to lose so badly. The fact remains that the score I picked was lopsided, but it was lopsided the wrong way. I basically picked close to the right score, but I picked the wrong team to win. Normally, I would own that mistake and laugh it off, but I doubt any Ohio State fans read this blog. Frankly, I think only my dad reads this thing (shout out to you dad!) and I don't need to apologize to him for hating Ohio State. He knows I hate Ohio State. He raised me that way. So, the other team won. I'll get over it. And so will Oregon. They have a lot to make up for. Ohio State is looking to repeat next year and with the talent at their disposal they very well could make a run for it. Oregon will bounce back, and maybe one day they'll win a National Championship too. Probably not against Alabama, and definitely not against Auburn (we've already seen how that turned out) and maybe not against any other SEC team. Maybe I'm being too optimistic. I do love my conference and next year we'll be back in the finals. But for this year college football is officially over *sob* and now all we have to look forward to is the draft and signing and all that. Which can be fun also. So until next time dad, and maybe one or two other readers who are still hoping for some nice recipes, I'll talk to you then.
