Over the last few years, Oregon’s potent offensive attack has garnered plenty of national attention. Whether it’s running or passing, the Ducks have posted prolific numbers under head coach Chip Kelly. The pace at which they’ve done it is what continues to give defensive coordinators gray hair.
Meanwhile, Wisconsin, Oregon’s opponent in the 2012 Rose Bowl, has been equally impressive with the ball, but with a drastically different style. Fifth-year head coach Bret Bielema prefers to slowly and methodically move the ball at a pace that potentially dictates the outcome of the game.
When the No. 6 Ducks and No. 9 Badgers bring their 11-2 records to Pasadena on Jan. 2, two of the nation’s most potent rushing attacks will collide in the Granddaddy of Them All.
“Oregon is such a unique system offensively that it’s going to present, obviously, a very big challenge for us,” Bielema said. “These bowl games — you want to have unique matchups — and for us to be able to play Oregon in this environment, it’s gonna be so unique that it’s going to draw a lot of attention and hopefully it’s everything the Rose Bowl wants.”
With a win over UCLA last Friday, Oregon clinched its third-straight Pac-12 Conference Championship en route to becoming the only program in the nation to qualify for three straight BCS bowl games. The Ducks led the conference in scoring offense (46.2 points per game), total offense (515.2 yards per game) and rushing offense (295.7 yards per game) for the second-straight season.
Wisconsin secured the Big Ten title with a dramatic win over Michigan State on Saturday to earn a return trip to the Rose Bowl after coming up short against TCU a year ago. The Badgers’ offensive numbers compare well to Oregon’s, having led the Big Ten in scoring offense (44.6), total offense (466.9) and rushing offense (237.4).
The biggest difference, aside from style of play, then becomes the time of possession, where Wisconsin (31:57) holds more than a six-minute advantage over the fast-paced Ducks (25:03).
Yet, in Oregon’s last two bowl appearances — a 26-17 loss to Ohio State in the 2009 Rose Bowl, and a 22-19 loss to Auburn in last year’s BCS title game — offense has been hard to come by for both teams.
“I think both of us get notoriety for what we do offensively,” Kelly said. “But you don’t win championships unless you have a great defense, and I think both schools do.”
That being the case, the early defensive advantage goes to the Badgers. Wisconsin allowed just 17 points per game this season, with Oregon giving up 23.6. Statistically, Oregon’s bend-but-don’t-break defensive philosophy leads to somewhat skewed numbers. While the Ducks gave up more yards receiving (243.5 to Wisconsin’s 155) per game, they’ve allowed just seven more touchdowns on the season, many of which came late in games that had already been decided.
In Sunday’s Rose Bowl teleconference, both coaches fielded a variety of questions from reporters, many of which regarding the comparisons between this year’s team and the ones that have come up short in recent bowl games.
It’s a comparison Kelly doesn’t care to make.
“I think every year each team is different,” Kelly said. “There’s a lot of kids that played a good Ohio State team in 2009 that aren’t here any longer. We lost 23 or 24 seniors from last year’s team that played in the national championship, so I think every year is different.
“We don’t look at what transpired in the past to be motivation for what’s to come in the future. We know we’re playing against an outstanding team and we’re gonna give it our best effort in our preparation to get down there and see what we can do against Wisconsin.”
Bielema echoed Kelly’s message.
“I think as a coach you just want to live in the year that you’re in,” Bielema said. “You really, truly embrace and enjoy the opportunity that you have on a year-to-year basis, and this year takes us back to Pasadena in one of the greatest environments in the world of college football.”