Ohio State, Oregon playing for same prize but for different reasons

ARLINGTON, Texas — Oregon is the trendsetter, the school that created the fad of switching uniform color combinations each week, the place where the up-tempo offense became as much a signature as the Duck mascot.

The Ducks, in fact, have it all.

Except a national championship.

Ohio State has one of those. Actually, the Buckeyes have seven of them.

But unlike the Ducks, they weren’t one of the favorites to reach this point. Not in just the second season off probation and with a roster full of underclassmen.

So when the 13-1 teams meet at 5:30 p.m. PST today at AT&T Stadium for the first College Football Playoff national championship, they will have separate motivations for trying to win the same prize.

Should that team be second-ranked Oregon, a 6-point favorite, that wins the title, it would fill the one missing piece for a program often referred to as more style than substance.

“Bringing back a national championship to the University of Oregon would be special,” Ducks Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Marcus Mariota said. “Being the first team to do it would be an indescribable feeling.”

A victory also would further validate an offense that many traditionalists consider to be the latest craze that soon will pass.

Oregon runs a high-tempo scheme, the short time between snaps designed to give opposing defenses little opportunity to adjust.

It’s also a physically taxing offense to defend. In Oregon’s 59-20 victory over Florida State in the semifinals in the Rose Bowl, the Seminoles’ defenders were gasping for air by the second quarter.

The Ducks average 552.9 yards and 47.2 points per game. Mariota directs that offense, and he seldom makes mistakes, having thrown three interceptions compared with 40 touchdown passes.

“Our No. 1 concern is their quarterback,” Ohio State coach Urban Meyer said. “I think he’s one of the finest that’s ever played this game, and that’s our biggest issue.”

The fact the Buckeyes are even playing tonight is remarkable. At least this quickly.

Meyer, who won two national championships at Florida, took over a mess three years ago because the Buckeyes were on probation.

But just like at his other three coaching stops, Meyer won immediately at Ohio State, going 12-0 in 2012 and 12-2 last season.

Whether he had the team this season to go all the way seemed unlikely, however, not with freshmen and sophomores playing key positions. The situation became even more dire when quarterback Braxton Miller suffered a season-ending shoulder injury in training camp.

A 35-21 home loss to Virginia Tech on Sept. 6 seemed to do in the Buckeyes, but then they began to win. Meyer said the 31-24 double-overtime victory at Penn State on Oct. 25 made him think this season could be special.

“We should have lost that game,” Meyer said. “It happens every year where a team loses a league (game), doesn’t play very good, every excuse in the world to lose that game, a quarterback playing on a sprained MCL (knee ligament), offensive guard, freshman that didn’t play very well, and they found a way to win that game. That’s when I personally walked in the locker room after going, ‘That could have been a program changer for us.’ ”

Adversity would continue to hit the Buckeyes, though, with No. 2 quarterback J.T. Barrett breaking his right ankle Nov. 29 against Michigan.

In stepped Cardale Jones, who then led Ohio State to a 59-0 victory over Wisconsin in the Big Ten Conference championship game and a 42-35 win over Alabama in the national semifinals in the Sugar Bowl.

“I think he’s more dangerous than a lot of people gave him credit for,” Oregon safety Erick Dargan said. “He can run. He’s not scared to take off. He’s not really sliding or anything. He’s going to try and deliver a blow, whether he’s ready to go out of bounds or he’s in the middle. He can throw the ball from hash to hash, and he’s got a deep ball. Any time you’ve got a quarterback that can throw the ball hash to hash and deliver the ball downfield, you’ve got to watch out for him.”

Jones has kept the offense churning for the Buckeyes, who have averages of 509.7 yards and 45.0 points per game.

Similar numbers to Oregon. Both teams also are close defensively, each giving up slightly more than a 22-point average.

They play for the same prize, even if a victory would have a different meaning for each.

But it would be special for either side.

“Being a part of this national championship, it’s an awesome feeling,” Mariota said. “It would be an even greater feeling if we were able to win it.”

Contact Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2914. Follow him on Twitter: @markanderson65.