PASADENA, Calif. ? Oregon didn?t kick away the 96th Rose Bowl this afternoon. It did not lose the game on offense. Or defense. Or because of a lack of size.
If we're being precise, the Ducks lost the game almost two years ago when Terrelle Pryor chose a career in Columbus over one in Eugene.
They have words for a guy like Pryor on the playground: permanent quarterback.
Ohio State beat Oregon 26-17. There's going to be a lot of talk about coach Chip Kelly's odd decision to attempt a field goal on fourth-and-1 in the final quarter. Discuss it if you'd like but if you want to pin this game on one pivotal decision, it would be the one Pryor made in 2008. He's now 20-3 as a starter.
The Buckeyes quarterback toyed with the idea of coming to Oregon, but went with Ohio State, and it became evident watching four quarters in Pasadena as Pryor was straight-arming the Ducks defensive ends silly that he was the difference. And he'd be the difference every occasion if the teams re-played this game 100 times.
"Oh, yeah," Kelly said, "he's real."
It was fitting that Pryor ended up with a single red rose bud clutched between his teeth after the game. He complete 23 of 37 passes for 266 yards and two touchdowns. Pryor also led all players in the game with 72 rushing yards. Also, the lasting image of this game is Pryor rolling out, straight-arming a series of Oregon defenders into face plants.
Every time the Buckeyes needed a play, his coach rolled Pryor out and let him knock down the Ducks defenders like bowling pins.
Ohio State's time of possession advantage (42 minutes to 18 for Oregon) was largely because Pryor was terrific on third down. Seven times Pryor ran with the ball with his team facing a third down, and five times he made the markers. He converted four other third-down passes for another 63 yards and a touchdown.
"I just wanted to lead a team as well as I can," Pryor said. "You know, show the world I can be a good quarterback."
Done.
Pryor, a sophomore, said he wasn't fazed by Oregon's blitzes, and that, "We knew everything they were going to do." And maybe that's because he spent the final two days of his preparation doing nothing but poring over Ducks game footage. Oregon quarterback Jeremiah Masoli said he had Ohio State scouted, too, but when the Ducks needed him to drop back and make a play with his arm, Masoli couldn't do it.
Pryor, 6-foot-6 and 235 pounds, beat Oregon. And if you ask him why he chose Ohio State he'll talk about the tradition of the Buckeyes, and the opportunity to compete on a national stage. The Buckeyes played in their fifth consecutive Bowl Championship Series game on Friday.
Which brings us to today's silver lining: Oregon has arrived.
The defending conference champions have 18 starters returning next season, it's not lost here that Kelly now has the ability to walk into a living room and say, "You want to play in a Rose Bowl next season?" and not get asked to leave for speaking crazy. And the momentum must continue next season, and not be lost as the Ducks did after the Fiesta Bowl victory over Colorado in 2002.
Note to the Ducks football operations department: Immediately educate ABC's Brent Musburger, who talked about the losing team's bright future in the closing minutes of the broadcast but identified Kelly's program as "The Oregon State Ducks."
Eek.
When Kelly was recruiting Pryor, all the then-coordinator had to sell was the concept of a wide-open offensive scheme. And maybe uniforms.
Ohio State's Terrelle Pryor looks for a reciever during today's Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif.All that changed this afternoon.
Oregon didn't get pushed around by Ohio State. Size wasn't the advantage. In fact, the Ducks outrushed the Buckeyes 179-153 on 18 fewer carries.
Oregon got Pryor'ed. And the only thing it could have done to fix any of that ended a couple of years ago under the tenure of another head football coach.
The Ducks last appeared in a Rose Bowl in 1995, and if you're going to get absurdly-talented recruits like Pryor in the next couple of classes it becomes important that the Ducks waste no time in getting back to a BCS game.
You can't win national-stage games with a 5-foot-11 quarterback who goes 9 for 20 passing with one interception. Not when grinding and wishing for every first down and up against a Pryor-led team that can convert a third down on a broken play.
I've covered losing locker rooms in the Super Bowl, and all the time you hear things such as, "You need to make one before you win one." And I'm hoping the Ducks looked around the field after their sputtering start on Friday and thought, "We belong."
Yes, even after LeGarrette Blount kicked away a touchdown run. Even after the gun-slinging Kelly opted for a field goal attempt on a key fourth down. And even after Pryor was kissing the trophy while his coach waxed about reaching "the halfway mark" of his prized quarterback's supposed four-year college career with a bowl win.
Said Ohio State coach Jim Tressell: "We felt like he needed this."
What does Oregon need?
Masoli to grow. And Kelly to continue to get traction in the living rooms of the nation's top recruits. The Ducks need to avoid the sad fade-away job that afflicts too many rising programs. Basically, the program needs a sequel minus the early-season drama.
Friday's loss should not stand alone in the Ducks history as the big games from 1995 and 2000 have. If you're going to maximize a 10-3 season, you do it by making it a piece of continued success. It's then, and only then, that a player like Pryor will pick you over a program such as Ohio State.
Musburger didn't confuse the Buckeyes with Bowling Green or Toledo.
I bumped into Kelly after his news conference. He looked flat and flustered. His shirt was sweat-soaked. I offered, "You went 10-3 and have 18 returners, be proud of that." He looked up, and said, "I just feel so badly for my seniors. They did everything I asked of them."
It's true, those guys won't get another chance.
Here's hoping next year's seniors do.
Mr. Louis and Mr. Brown come on down. And a receiving TE would be nice, too!