Wahoo Wire

The Oregon Ducks’ magical season had to end at some point; they just wished it didn’t happen in their own house.

“We wanted to walk off this field winners,” running back LaMichael James said afterwards. “We just didn’t execute on that last play and that cost us the game.”

With just under two minutes remaining in the ballgame and the score at 14-10 Ohio State, the Duck’s defense held the Buckeyes near the Oregon 45 yard line.  Rather than attempt a long field goal to make it a seven point game, OSU Coach Jim Tressell sent out his punter to try to pin them back.

“Our defense had played well all game and I wanted them to have a chance to win this for us,” coach explained afterwards.  “We knew [punter Jon] Thoma had some good kicks in practice so we told him to pin it deep.  He really came through for us.”

Courtesy of blog.cleveland.com

Indeed he did.  Thoma’s punt went out of bounds inside the five-yard line, leaving the Ducks with 95 yards between them and the next round.  Oregon quarterback Jeremiah Masoli, however, wasn’t fazed by the situation.

“We had some success against them in the second half and I thought our plan for that drive was a good one,” Masoli said.  “We just didn’t execute once we got out there.”

A false start penalty backed the Ducks up two yards so they were barely beyond their own goal line.  With the Buckeye’s smelling blood, they decided to send a blitz to try to end the game.  It worked perfectly as freshman linebacker Storm Klein came in almost untouched to sack Masoli in the endzone for a safety.

“As a defensive player, you dream of that hit your whole life,” Klein said.  “He doesn’t see you coming and you get a free shot to end the game for your team; there’s nothing better.  I hope I get a chance to do that again at some point.”

While they did win the game, Ohio State was far from sharp in the contest as they had two turnovers to keep Oregon around until the end.

“Obviously that needs to change if we’re going to continue past next week,” Tressell acknowledged.

The coach is right if Ohio State is going to pose any threat to their next opponent, top seed Alabama in the Orange bowl.  Heisman winner Mark Ingram proved impossible to deal with today in their game against Troy, but the Buckeyes believe they will be ready for the challenge.

“He [Ingram] is a great player and we respect them as a team a lot.  Just look at what they’ve accomplished so far this season and you know they can’t be taken lightly,” Buckeye quarterback Terrelle Pryor said.

“But this is Ohio State and we’ve got a great tradition, a great coach, and a great team here too.  I think we can play with anybody and we’re ready to show everyone that next week.”

Results of Other Games:

#1 Alabama vs. #16 Troy

#8 Oregon vs. #9 Ohio State

#4 TCU vs. #13 Iowa

#5 Boise State vs. #12 West Virginia

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#2 Texas vs. #15 Central Michigan

#7 Georgia Tech vs. #10 LSU

#6 Florida vs. #11 Virginia Tech

#3 Cincinnati vs. #14 East Carolina