Oregon and Ohio State take the big stage

Oregon is in the Rose Bowl for the first time since 1995. Ohio State returns to the Arroyo Seco for the first time since 1997. Times staff writer Gary Klein looks at some of the game’s key issues and matchups when the Pacific 10 Conference champion Ducks play the Big Ten Conference champion Buckeyes.

Movers and shakers

Oregon quarterback Jeremiah Masoli mans the controls of a spread-option offense that operates at a quick pace before and after the snap.

Masoli has completed 59% of his passes for 15 touchdowns, with five interceptions.

The junior also is an outstanding, sometimes game-breaking, runner. He rushed for 164 yards against USC and has scored 12 touchdowns.

Ohio State’s Terrelle Pryor is playing on an injured left knee, but that doesn’t seem to have slowed the 6-foot-6, 235-pound sophomore quarterback.

Pryor has completed 56% of his passes for 16 touchdowns, with 10 interceptions.

Pryor has rushed for seven touchdowns and has twice gained more than 100 yards in a game.

On the run

Oregon running back LaMichael James took full advantage of the opportunity when LeGarrette Blount was suspended following his infamous punch after a season-opening loss at Boise State.

The speedy James, a 5-9 freshman, rushed for 1,476 yards and averaged 6.9 yards a carry. He gained more than 100 yards nine times, including a 183-yard effort against USC. James has rushed the ball 215 times and has not fumbled.

Blount, his suspension lifted, scored a touchdown in the Ducks’ Rose Bowl-clinching victory over Oregon State.

Brandon Saine is the Ohio State’s top running back. The 6-1, 217-pound junior has rushed for 694 yards and four touchdowns.

Catching on

With so much focus on Masoli and James, Oregon’s receivers don’t get much attention.

Wideout Jeff Maehl and tight end Ed Dickson have been instrumental in keeping defenses off balance.

Maehl has a team-best 52 receptions and six touchdowns. The 6-5 Dickson has caught 42 passes and scored six touchdowns.

DeVier Posey has been Pryor’s favorite target, catching 52 passes for the Buckeyes and scoring seven touchdowns.

Dane Sanzenbacher, averaging 18.7 yards a catch, has scored six touchdowns.

Getting defensive

Oregon’s offense overshadowed a defense that overcame numerous injuries in the secondary.

Junior linebacker Casey Matthews and senior end Will Tukuafu lead a unit that ranks 33rd among 120 major college teams.

Ohio State lacks the star power of previous seasons, but it ranks fifth nationally in total defense and scoring defense.

Senior safety Kurt Coleman was an All-Big-Ten selection.

Linemen Thaddeus Gibson and Cameron Heyward and linebacker Ross Homan are other standouts for a unit that has given up only 11 touchdowns in the last 43 quarters.

Something special

Oregon’s Morgan Flint has made 15 of 17 field goals.

Teammate Jackson Rice averages 40.3 yards a punt.

Kenjon Barner, averaging 24.3 yards a kickoff return, has returned one for a touchdown.

Ohio State could utilize two kickers.

Aaron Pettrey made 13 of 19 field-goal attempts before suffering an October knee injury that required surgery. Devin Barclay has made four of seven field-goal attempts.

Both are available today.

Posey and Sanzenbacher will return punts; Lamaar Thomas returns kickoffs.

Motivating forces

Ohio State Coach Jim Tressel and his players are trying to shake a reputation, fair or not, of not being able to win big games.

And, fair or not, they come in carrying the burden of the Big Ten’s recent Rose Bowl failures.

USC easily beat Michigan, Illinois and Penn State in the last three Rose Bowls.

Oregon, of course, routed the Trojans this season en route to Pasadena, but the Ducks’ only victory in the Rose Bowl came 93 years ago.

The Ducks and first-year Coach Chip Kelly have not had a national stage this big since the season opener. Most wrote them off as an overrated gimmick after the defeat at Boise State.

No one underestimates them now.

By the numbers

(2009 averages)
OU	CATEGORY	OSU
37.7	Scoring	29.3
23.6	Points given up	12.2
188.6	Passing offense	165.9
236.1	Rushing offense	198.9
424.7	Total offense	364.8
202.8	Passing defense	179.1
126.7	Rushing defense	83.4
329.4	Total defense	262.5

gary.klein@latimes.com