Rose Bowl Score Gives Buckeyes Long Awaited Victory

The Rose Bowl score was the event that Ohio State waited four years for. The 26-17 Rose Bowl score for the Buckeyes was the biggest win Jim Tressel had in a long time. Granted, it wasn't for a national championship, and wasn't against a number one team. However, the Oregon Ducks were expected to prove that a Pac-10 team - and anyone outside the Big 10 - could slaughter these Buckeyes like usual. Yet the Rose Bowl score finally defied recent history, and put Ohio State a step closer to redemption.

Ohio State and Oregon made history by facing off, as the Buckeyes returned to the Rose Bowl after a 13 year absence, and the Ducks made their second trip in over 50 years. Although this was relatively new territory for the Ducks, the Buckeyes' horrific past in big games made them the underdog. Yet Terrelle Pryor made some new history of his own for Ohio State.

The Rose Bowl score was set to the Buckeyes' pace, as a long opening drive led to the first Ohio State touchdown. They went up 10-0, until the Ducks struck back in the second quarter to tie it up, with LeGarrette Blount getting a touchdown. But the Buckeyes' Devin Barclay got two late field goals - with the last one after a very late Oregon interception.

Though the Rose Bowl score was 16-10 Buckeyes at the half, they dominated the time of possession, and Pryor was running and passing through the Ducks' defense. However, Oregon would take a quick 17-16 lead, and looked like they would doom the Buckeyes to another disappointment. But Pryor wouldn't be denied, leading Ohio State to a fourth field goal, after which they never gave the lead back.

A costly fumble by Blount in the red zone was Oregon's last real threat. One more long touchdown drive by Pryor sealed the deal, and the Buckeyes shut things down the rest of the way. The 2010 Rose Bowl score was the BCS victory the Buckeyes have waited for since 2006.

Tonight, Ohio State finally shut their enemies up for a while, even if it wasn't for a national title. With this, and Penn State's win in the Capital One Bowl over LSU, the Big 10 had a long overdue triumphant day. Pryor led the way with almost 340 yards of total offense, more than the entire Oregon team.

Not only did USC fail to win the Rose Bowl for once, a Big 10 team actually did it, for the first time since 2000. Now that the Buckeyes broke their BCS losing streak, they can be expected to do more in the future. Next year, perhaps it won't be so frightening to see Ohio State in the national championship hunt - especially if Pryor has more showcases like this in him.

Despite the Rose Bowl score going against Oregon, the Ducks still had a breakthrough year. With all of their weapons coming back, Chip Kelly will be expected to do more of the same in his second season.

If they return to Pasadena, they will have the spotlight to themselves, since they won't be warmup acts for the BCS title game next year. The Rose Bowl can now fully gear up for the Alabama-Texas championship game, just six nights from now.

Sources

Cleveland Leader- "Bucks Beat the Ducks 26-17 in 2010 Rose Bowl"

ABC News- "Pryor Leads Bucks Past Oregon 26-17 in Rose Bowl"