Rose Bowl Open Thread
5 PM on ESPN.
Well, here it is - the Rose Bowl Presented By Vizio.
This is the battle of conference champions, of the 11-2 teams. Wiscosin versus LaMichael's Legs, or Oregon, if you prefer.
I don't have much in the way of sarcasm directed towards this game - it actually seems like it should be a good game, although I have to wonder if Wisconsin will be able to keep up with Oregon for the entire game.
Can Monte Ball break the record for TDs in a single season of FBS play? We shall see.
Will Bret Bielema find an innovative way to be a d-bag? Very likely.
I took Oregon. Call me nuts.
January 2nd, 2012 at 7:51 PM ^
January 2nd, 2012 at 7:54 PM ^
I like that Ball will take on all comers as it pertains to taking hits on a run.
January 2nd, 2012 at 7:56 PM ^
Are they not actually wearing the 'Rose-Pedel' numbers on their jerseys? If they are it is literally not noticable. I'm kind of dissapointed I keep looking for a difference on the jersey and I just don't see it.
Am I just crazy?
January 2nd, 2012 at 7:58 PM ^
It's there, just not very obvious. Wait for a closeup and look for slightly wavy numbers.
January 2nd, 2012 at 8:05 PM ^
I guess I'll wait until after the game and zoom in on pictures because I'm just having a hard time seeing them even when there are close ups.
I'm still a fan of stamping big old Roses on the shoulder pads.
January 2nd, 2012 at 7:59 PM ^
definitely more evident on the helmets than on the jerseys.
January 2nd, 2012 at 8:00 PM ^
There's some stiching in the numerals, and a similar effect in the W on the helmets to mimic rose pedals. Perhaps, the point was not to have anthing drastically different.
January 2nd, 2012 at 8:00 PM ^
January 2nd, 2012 at 8:18 PM ^
I think you are right. That was him
January 2nd, 2012 at 8:02 PM ^
...and still a quarter to play.
January 2nd, 2012 at 8:07 PM ^
if there is one thing i can appreciate about Michigan D, its open field tackles. Kovacs saved us so many times this season.
January 2nd, 2012 at 8:03 PM ^
From a friend at Pitt:
"I just keep telling myself we're hiring the Wisconsin OC, not the DC."
January 2nd, 2012 at 8:12 PM ^
....he could always bring the DC along, but would you notice in the Big East?
EDIT: 3 plays and Oregon is at midfield again. Sadly, with this defense, 12 minutes left is not "we just put this game away" territory.
January 2nd, 2012 at 8:13 PM ^
I really want to know what the DB coaches on both these teams do. I've seen so many plays where the DB is right there but doesn't try to rake the ball or anything. He just kind of stands there as the WR pulls it in.
January 2nd, 2012 at 8:18 PM ^
....and I am merely an observer in this game.
Only GERG could claim that inertia was a backfield strategy. There is no excuse for others.
I want to know about the DL coaches too - how is it that you can live with yourself and bring NO pressure up front, disappear on almost every rush and give up 7 or 8 yards on dive plays? Why are you on that sideline?
January 2nd, 2012 at 8:21 PM ^
Wisconson's D-Line at least redeemed itself with that strip sack and they get decent pressure on their 5 man rushes. Hopson must be coaching their LBs though. Wisconsin's LBs just kind of wander around in space and never come within 5 yards of an Oregon player...
January 2nd, 2012 at 8:17 PM ^
Wisconsin would be better served if they had cows as defensive backs. At least they would take up space and they wouldn't lose that much speed.
January 2nd, 2012 at 8:18 PM ^
I've been driving all day and just got home so I missed all the games so wow the big ten has sucked today. Here's to another year of hearing about how down the big ten is
January 2nd, 2012 at 8:21 PM ^
Seems like a Defense optional game like this is considered good football by the experts whereas the LSU-BAMA 9-6 offense optional slugfest is considered bad football.
January 2nd, 2012 at 8:25 PM ^
Both kind of suck
January 2nd, 2012 at 8:27 PM ^
ESPN has a bunch of ex QBs as announcers. So they like the offensive highlight porn. I played DB in high school, so this is like having teeth pulled for me. I can just imagine my old coach having a seizure.
January 2nd, 2012 at 8:25 PM ^
I think Wisconsin's offensive line of "players that should weigh 290 but have an extra 30 pounds of fat each" are finally getting gassed in the heat. Oregon's quick little guys are starting to penetrate. Assuming Oregon's secondary doesn't collpase I think they walk out of here with a win.
January 2nd, 2012 at 8:29 PM ^
Careful -- you just obliquely insulted MANBALL.
January 2nd, 2012 at 8:33 PM ^
I know you're joking, but if you're gonna do manball you gotta do manball. Wisconsin should have pulled out some clock killing drives early in the game if they wanted to manball it up. Instead they got suckered into trading TDs with the Ducks.
January 2nd, 2012 at 8:57 PM ^
Agreed.
January 2nd, 2012 at 8:30 PM ^
I love how people keep saying this, there is absolutely no humidity there. It's in the 70's now. I wouldn't describe that as heat.
January 2nd, 2012 at 8:38 PM ^
This is how the Wash St game ended with no time
January 2nd, 2012 at 8:26 PM ^
blarg.
January 2nd, 2012 at 8:28 PM ^
the kind of shit that happens to Big Ten teams out there.
January 2nd, 2012 at 8:29 PM ^
Is kind of expected though. Oregon is built to win shootouts so this whole game has been in their favor.
January 2nd, 2012 at 8:33 PM ^
are expected, but UW's driving for the potential game tying TD, hits a guy wide open and he fumbles along the sideline and the ball just sits there waiting for UO to recover. THAT'S the kind of shit that happens to Big Ten teams out there.
January 2nd, 2012 at 8:28 PM ^
Oregon ball after the fumble. Granted, 4:06 is an eternity in this one.
January 2nd, 2012 at 8:29 PM ^
I can't believe that happened. Ball can't roll out of bounds. It has to sit there.
January 2nd, 2012 at 8:43 PM ^
Was the goat in Oregon's two biggest losses this year. First he mistimed his jump on the MSU hail mary, and then he fumbled on what could have been the Rose Bowl game tying drive.
January 2nd, 2012 at 8:59 PM ^
didn't really mis-time his jump in the MSU Hail Mary. Rather, he couldn't back up to make a jump that would have mattered, because his teammate Marcus Cromartie was behind him, in the spot to knock down the ball. But just before the ball arrived, Cromartie was knocked down; pushed from behind by BJ Cunningham, who should have (but wasn't) called for offensive pass interference.
Watch that replay. Watch it 20 times, as slow as you can slow it down and from as many angles as you can find. I'm right about Cunningham's shoving Cromartie from behind. The Badgers know it; I know it. Cunningham got away with murder on that play.
January 2nd, 2012 at 9:04 PM ^
...it had nothing to do with Abbrederis' early leap. He was already in the air when the push occurred.
January 2nd, 2012 at 9:47 PM ^
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ek3yw6zADls
Of course, BJ Cunningham's offensive interference on Cromartie didn't affect Abbrederis' leap.
And, Abbrederis might have jumped just a split-second too soon. But he made a huge jump, and nearly got a hand on it. By any reckoning, Abbrederis' leap was huge. I'm not so sure that a perfect leap by Abbederis could have gotten him to the ball. It was a damned near perfect leap as it was. The play didn't succeed for MSU based on a bad jump by Abbrederis.
The real problem on the play was that the ball fell to Cunningham (and bounced off his face mask), and the guy who was directly in front of Cunningham, in perfect position to play the ball, was Marcus Cromartie (#14), who was shoved in the back by Cunningham and was on the ground by the time the ball arrived. That's what made the play; it was the difference-maker. And it wasn't even close, as to whether it was illegal contact with the ball in the air. It absolutely was.
This was the worst no-call of the year in the Big Ten Conference; every bit as bad as the refs' butchery of the last seconds of Michigan-Iowa game.
January 2nd, 2012 at 8:30 PM ^
That extra timeout would be pretty useful right now, wouldn't it Brett?
January 2nd, 2012 at 8:32 PM ^
I think Bret has shown that he can no longer be trusted with timeouts. He should have those privliges revoked.
January 2nd, 2012 at 8:31 PM ^
Oregon trying to do the power run on Wisconsin (when Wisconsin is ready for it) is just plain cute. Of course on 3rd and 10, Oregon will just throw for an 11 yard gain.
January 2nd, 2012 at 8:33 PM ^
Would be nice to have more than one timeout left.
January 2nd, 2012 at 8:34 PM ^
A smarter LB would have pushed the Ducks RB out of bounds there. Instead of taking him to the ground.
January 2nd, 2012 at 8:34 PM ^
Wisky took the "Sparty No!" moment from the Spartans by way of a hex Dantonio used involving Worthy's Missouri tattoo and a duck.
January 2nd, 2012 at 8:34 PM ^
January 2nd, 2012 at 8:35 PM ^
Why does Bielema look like he's always talking out of the side of his mouth?
January 2nd, 2012 at 8:35 PM ^
....if you're Oregon, why not just go for this 4th and 5 or so and put it away? Punting seems overblown at this point.
January 2nd, 2012 at 8:38 PM ^
That would have been hilarious.
January 2nd, 2012 at 8:36 PM ^
88 yards in 16 seconds. No timeouts.
Let's do this.
January 2nd, 2012 at 8:37 PM ^
This reminds me of the OSU/Wisconsin ending. Hopefully Wilson can get the pass off here
January 2nd, 2012 at 8:37 PM ^
I don't know guys, no one can win with :23 left in a game with a long way to go...