Buckeyes get the monkey off

Jim Tressel and the Buckeyes needed this one -- not just because it was a chance to finish strong, but for the long-term credibility of the Ohio State football program, and even the entire Big Ten. Ohio State came into the Rose Bowl Game Presented by Citi on Friday on a three-game bowl losing streak, and came out with an impressive 26-17 win over the #8 Oregon Ducks. And no Big Ten team had won a BCS bowl since January 2006, when the Buckeyes beat Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl and Penn State beat Florida State in the Orange Bowl.

Terrelle Pryor was the obvious MVP, having played the best game of his two-year collegiate career. He threw for a career-high 266 yards on 23-of-37 passing. He threw two touchdown passes and one interception. He also rushed for a Rose Bowl Game Presented by Citi-high 72 yards, and got some big first downs with his feet. There were times when he seemed too quick to run, and maybe should have tried to hit a running back on a hot route or something of that nature, but these are minor quibbles. Pryor played a heck of a game.

Give the Buckeye defense a lot of credit for this victory in the Rose Bowl Game Presented by Citi. They gave up some big running plays to LaMichael James and Kenjon Barner, but they held Jeremiah Masoli and the high-powered Ducks passing game in check. Masoli's numbers were terrible -- 9-for-20, 80 yards, no touchdowns, one pick. And while he did run for a touchdown, Masoli only gained nine yards on the ground, on six carries. Without an effective passing game to lean on, the Ducks only got 12 first downs in the game, to the Buckeyes' 26; and were just 2-for-11 on third down conversions. And the Buckeyes win their first Rose Bowl Game Presented by Citi since 1997, when it was just called the Rose Bowl.

The Buckeyes have become the Big Ten's standard-bearer in the Tressel era, having won or shared six conference titles in Tressel's nine years here, including each of the last five. They've won the Big Ten's only national title in that time, and have won four of the five BCS games the Big Ten has won this century. (Iowa has a chance to add to that total in Tuesday's Orange Bowl.) With Michigan down and out the last couple of years, and nobody else stepping up to challenge them, the Buckeyes have dominated this conference. That has enabled Ohio State to play in eight BCS bowls, the most of any school since the BCS' inception in 1998. May it continue into 2010 and beyond.