Oregon’s Three Biggest Keys

1. Be Oregon

Ohio State is going to come out with a ton of fire and emotion. It’s going to try to be physical, it’s going to try to intimidate, and it’s going to try to come out hot from the start and take the momentum right away. No matter what happens, and no matter how successful the Buckeyes are early on and throughout the game, Oregon just needs to be Oregon offensively. This isn’t a team that adjusts to the opponent, it does what it does, and it doesn’t really care what the other defense is doing. The Duck D will give up big yards and points, because that’s what it does, but the offensive tempo can be way too much for even Ohio State to overcome. As long as everything is in sync, and as long as the O is humming, everything is in place to come up with the win. 

2. Get the running backs rolling

It’s easier said than done to get to Marcus Mariota and beat him up, but that’s what Ohio State is going to have to try to do. Florida State ganged up on slowing down Royce Freeman, and held him to 44 yards on 12 carries, but Thomas Tyner ripped off 124 yards on 13 carries and the offense as a whole came up with 301 yards and five touchdowns – Mariota getting 62 of the yards. Oregon needs Tyner and Freeman to work with a 1-2 punch and keep the ground game moving. Alabama made the critical mistake of not running enough when the passing game was a bit flustered, but it worked averaging five yards per carry with Derrick Henry coming up with 95 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries. Oregon’s backs have to work inside and out and they might have to be in control to take the pressure off the Heisman winner. 

3. Don’t turn the ball over

Or, more precisely, don’t lose the turnover battle. Oregon went 9-0-5 in turnover margin this year, never being on the negative side, but being even in the loss to Arizona. In all, Oregon turned the ball off a miniscule ten times on the year with two coming in the Rose Bowl against Florida State, two coming in the 59-41 win over Cal, and two coming in the gaffe to Arizona. The past doesn’t really matter, but Oregon lost the turnover battle three times last year including the two losses to Stanford and Arizona. Ohio State wasn’t bad in turnover margin this year, and like Oregon, it pounces all over mistakes. The Ducks can’t be out of character and start screwing up now.