Oregon and Ohio State are very similar teams in statistical breakdowns. I think both of their scores are a bit misleading from the semifinals. Both were +110 or more yards over their opponent, but as we all know now Ohio State did it against a better opponent than Oregon. We are still catching a TD dog at many books here and I'm even going to play Ohio State on the money line for a 2* bonus. The Big Ten has gotten crap all season long and then it looked worse when Ohio State lost to Virginia Tech. However, this bowl season the Big Ten has some pretty singificant wins on their resume including Michigan State over Baylor, Rutgers over UNC in blowout fashion, Penn State over BC, Wisconsin beat Auburn and Nebraska hung with USC and lost by 3.
I watched the entire Oregon vs Florida State game 2 times this week after watching it live and Florida State really moved the ball up and down the field and had over 500 yards of offense. I see no reason why Ohio State can not do the same thing. People keep doubting Cardale Jones, but Urban Meyer has always had a top QB and he's prove that he puts them in a system or scenarios that have a long history of success. Jones did not seem to be phased one bit in the game against mighty Alabama while if you go back and watch the first half of the Oregon game, Marcus Mariotta really took a while to get going and in the first half he really was not off to a great start. This Florida State team flat out gave up after Cook fumbled the ball twice and from there it was just a domino effect. Cook was having a great game as well, but after he was benched the Florida State offense really did not have the same impact. Ezekial Elliot is not going to fumble multiple times and Urban Meyer will be sure as hell they don't turn the ball over 5 times or allow 35 points off turnovers. I still think if you had Oregon play Florida State again I would take the points again because this was a ball game until the shit hit the fan with the turnovers.
A few things here - Ohio State is a much better defense ranking 11th in yards per play allowed compared to Florida State ranking 66th and even Oregon at 53. Now Oregon does have the better offense, but I can see Ohio State controlling this game on the ground. And no it's not because I think Oregon is "soft." I hope to hell we don't have to hear that brought up all game again. In the end I'm taking the far better coach with the far better track record as a TD dog. I'll also take them on the money line and hedge in live game if we need to.
