Today we have a great article written by Paul Buker of the Oregonian on Jacquizz Rodgers. A lot has been made about Rodgers being a potential Heisman Trophy candidate coming into the season after gaining 2693 yards and scoring 32 touchdowns in his first two years at OSU. However, this article brings a different light to Rodgers. With all of the hype surrounding him it would be easy to get caught up in it and become complacent in a search for college football’s most prestigious individual award. Quizz isn’t like that though, he would rather do something for Oregon State that has not been done since 1965, get to the Rose Bowl. The past two years the Beavers have been one game away from the Rose Bowl only to have it taken from their hands by their nemesis the Oregon Ducks both years. This year Jacquizz Rodgers is determined to do everything that he can to break that cycle. To read the article about Jacquizz Rodgers’ quest for the Rose Bowl and Pac-10 championship check out this link:

http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindbeaversbeat/2010/09/college_football_preview_orego.html

The Pac-10 had a great 2009 season as a conference and proved to the rest of the nation that it was the deepest and most talented conference in the nation. Not only did the Pac-10 end up with 7 bowl eligible teams, meaning the team had at least 6 wins, all of the bowl eligible teams will be playing in bowl games. Last year the Pac-10 had 5 teams in bowl games and went undefeated as a conference. As I look at the Pac-10 bowl matchups for this year I don’t think there is any reason that the Pac-10 can repeat that feat and go 7-0 in bowl games. Here are all of the Pac-10 bowl matchups for this holiday season.

Las Vegas Bowl: #18 Oregon State vs. #14 BYU – Tuesday, December 22 @ 5 PM on ESPN

Poinsettia Bowl (San Diego, CA): #23 Utah vs. California- Wednesday, December 23 @ 5 PM on ESPN

Emerald Bowl (San Francisco, CA): Boston College vs. #24 USC- Saturday, December 26 @ 5 PM on ESPN

Eagle Bank Bowl (Washington D.C.): UCLA vs. Temple- Tuesday, December 29 @ 1:30 PM on ESPN

Holiday Bowl (San Diego, CA): #20 Arizona vs. #22 Nebraska- Wednesday, December 30 @ 5 PM on ESPN

Sun Bowl (El Paso, TX): Oklahoma vs. #21 Stanford- Thursday, December 31 @ 11 AM on CBS

Rose Bowl (Pasadena, CA): #8 Ohio State vs. #7 Oregon- Friday, January 1 @ 1:30 PM on ABC

*Side Note- Future Washington Husky, RB Keanon Lowe who plays for Jesuit High School in Portland, rushed for 310 yards and 6 TD’s in the Oregon 6A State Championship game last weekend at Reser Stadium in Corvallis. Unfortunately for Lowe it came in a 50-43 losing effort to Sheldon High School.

Rose Bowl adds to UO\’s growing brand regognition

The Pac-10 football season has been a crazy one to say the least. From USC losing three conference games so far to Stanford being in the Rose Bowl discussion in late November nothing has seemed right. Don’t feel bad if you are confused about your team’s chances of making the Rose Bowl right now because there are 4 teams that still have legitimate chances to make the Rose Bowl. I will go into a little more depth on those chances so you know who to root for and against so that your team has the best shot at being in Pasadena on New Years Day.

Oregon: The Ducks control their own destiny. If they win their last two games @Arizona and then at home against rival Oregon State then the Ducks will be playing in the Rose Bowl for the first time since January 1, 1995.

Arizona: Just like Oregon, Arizona controls its own destiny despite being a game back in the loss column right now. Due to Arizona’s victories over Stanford and Oregon State if the Wildcats beat the Ducks this weekend, and then win their final two games against rival Arizona State and @USC, then the Wildcats will be playing in the Rose Bowl for the first time ever.

Oregon State: Just when it looked like the Beavers might have a mediocre season, they once again turned it on late and are now looking straight at the Rose Bowl. Oregon State holds a tie breaker over Stanford but they lost to Arizona, so for the Beavers to make the Rose Bowl they must have Oregon beat Arizona this weekend and then win the Civil War in Eugene next weekend. If the Beavers can pull off a Civil War win, and a win at WSU, accompanied by an Arizona loss then the Beavers will be in the Rose Bowl for the first time since 1965.

Stanford: Stanford has beaten Oregon and USC in the last two weeks and has now put them solidly in the Rose Bowl talk. However, Stanford needs a lot to happen for their shot at the Rose Bowl to become a reality. They have lost to both OSU and Arizona, so the Cardinal need Arizona to beat Oregon, then Oregon to beat OSU, and then have Arizona lose to either ASU or USC in their final two games. It may seem like a long shot for the Cardinal to make the Rose Bowl but as we have seen in college football anything is possible.

From beginning to end this game was amazing to watch.  Oregon was able to accomplish what no other team has been able to do against the Trojans under the Pete Carroll era. They blew USC out of the stadium. Oregon beat the Trojans 47-20. In the last 93 games USC has lost 8 games by a combined 28 points. In one game the Ducks beat them by 27. The Ducks looked more prepared, faster, stronger, and just like they wanted it so much more than USC. The first half was a very close tense back and forth half with the Ducks scoring late to take a 24-17 lead going into halftime. However, as has been the case all year the Ducks came out and showed that they are a great second half team. They dominated USC from the time the second half started and ended up outscoring them 23-3 in the second half. Jeremiah Masoli played his best game of the year and ran Oregon’s offense almost perfectly. He ended up 19 of 31 for 222 yards passing with 1 passing TD. Masoli also had 13 carries for 164 yards and a rushing TD. LaMichael James did everything he wanted to the Trojans as well. James had his 5^th 100-yard game going for 183 yards on 24 carries and a TD. Oregon WR Jamere Holland also had a TD reception in the game against his old school USC. In the end the Ducks gained 613 total yards of offense 222 passing and 391 rushing. USC came into this game giving up 80 yards a game rushing. This was the second most yards ever given up by a USC football team and falls 10 short of the 623 yards that a 1946 Notre Dame team put up on USC. The Ducks head into this weekend at Stanford. They are now (7-1, 5-0) and have a very good chance to win the Pac-10 and make the Rose Bowl this year.

Growing up I have always been a fan of Pac-10 football. From top to bottom I feel the Pac-10 is the most competitive conference which makes it the most fun to watch. I personally have been to six of the ten Pac-10 stadiums and last weekend I had the privilege of being at the Oregon at UCLA game. The only time I had ever seen the Rose Bowl before was on TV when I would watch the ‘grand daddy of them all’ on January 1^st ever year. When we arrived at the stadium on the day of the game the first surprise that I encountered was that all of the parking and tailgating that is done by the stadium is on a golf course. I was shocked that a golf course would allow cars and tailgating to be on their course but it made for a great atmosphere. We were a very short walk from the Stadium and it was a beautiful golf course that made for a great tail gate setting. When we walked through the entrance of the stadium we knew that we had to take a classic tourist picture underneath the famous “Rose Bowl” sign on the side of the stadium. The stadium is huge but when we finally got to our seats the long walk around the stadium was worth it. I have always been a fan of football fields that have real grass and the grass at the Rose Bowl looked perfect. It was almost like a picture how short and clean the turf looked. Looking around the stadium it was amazing to see what 92,542 seats looked like in person. The only real disappointment was the lack of enthusiasm from the UCLA fans. At times I was wondering whether they even knew that they had a football team or not. Most of the UCLA fans didn’t come strolling into the stadium until the middle of the first quarter and some didn’t even come in until the 2^nd quarter. They were even beating Oregon 3-0 at halftime yet the 5,000 duck fans were louder the whole game. I loved my whole experience of the Rose Bowl from the sights, to the game we were treated to, and of course the 75 degree October weather. I would definitely recommend for any football fan to attend a game at the Rose Bowl whenever you get a chance.