The monkey is off the proverbial back.  Jim Tressel and the Ohio State Buckeyes have returned to BCS glory.

The Buckeyes dominated the Oregon Ducks 26-17 in their first Rose Bowl this century, riding the arm and the legs of sophomore sensation Terrelle Pryor.  Pryor was named the Rose Bowl MVP after throwing 23 of 37 for 266 yards and 2 touchdowns.  He also rushed 20 times for 72 yards, giving him a total for 338 all-purpose yards.

Ohio State fans have grown accustomed to seeing a restrained Pryor throughout his career, with Tressel keeping his talents tamped down into a style commonly known as "Tresselball".  Apparently, that was last decade.  The leash was taken off Pryor and he turned in a shining performance from start to finish.

"We knew everything they were going to do, with their blitzes.  I just wanted to come out and show I can be a complete quarterback."

- Terrelle Pryor

The win snaps a 6-game BCS losing streak for the Big Ten (three of which belonged to the Buckeyes) and shocked an overconfident Oregon squad which refused to give the Ohio State defense their due. 

That Buckeye defense held Oregon to 260 total yards, a full 164 yards below their season average.  They also kept the Ducks to 21 points below their average.  Whether or not the respect will follow remains to be seen.

Ohio State shocked everyone, especially their own fans, when they opened the game with 6 straight pass plays.  The opening drive (which included only one designed rushing play) gave the Bucks a 7-0 lead on a 13-yard TD pass from Pryor to Brandon Saine.

Later in the quarter, the Pryor-Saine connection continued with a beautiful touch-pass for 47 yards down the right sideline, just over the Oregon defense.  Four plays later, Ohio State extended their lead to 10-0 on a short Devin Barclay field goal.

Just 14 minutes into the game, Ohio State led in total offense 159 yards to 14.  Ducks Nation was officially set on stun, but they were not going to go away so quietly.

Oregon followed with a quick-strike drive, eating up 52 yards in just 6 plays that led to a 24-yard Morgan Flint field goal and trimming the deficit to 10-3.  Quickly, the Ducks were regrouped and they made Ohio State pay on the next possession when LeGarrette Blount scored on a 3-yard rush through the right side and a 10-10 tie.

With serious momentum and an energized crowd on their side, Oregon began to emerge as the favorite they were hyped as.  But that's when the MVP stepped in.

Pryor took the ensuing possession and engineered a 19-play drive foir a field goal that recaptured the lead 13-10.  He completed 7 of 10 passes for 36 yards in typical Big Ten style...short plays, time-consuming successful drives.  Linebacker Ross Homan would pick off a Jeremiah Masoli pass soon after, and the Bucks would extend their lead just before halftime to 16-10 on a FG as time expired. 

Masoli, who had been touted as a dominating presence at QB, was unable to get his game on track in the first half as he accounted for just 49 yards passing and a mere 4 yards rushing.  The second half would be just as brutal to him.

The Ducks took the second half kickoff and drove down the field for the touchdown that gave Oregon their only lead of the game, 17-16.  Masoli took the ball in from one yard out, but it was the last time they would see the end zone.  A third Barclay FG reclaimed the lead for Ohio State at 19-17 and Blount countered by fumbling his next carry back to the Buckeyes.  Oregon never found their swagger again.

Well, they found their swagger between every play, celebrating the most mundane of accomplishment.  But on the actual field, their success was limited.

Pryor put the game out of reach when he found WR DeVier Posey on a 17-yard pass in the left corner of the end zone.  Ohio State led 26-17 after the 13-play, 81-yard drive in the 4th quarter.

Additional notes

• Oregon's loss followed suit with their other two failures in 2009.  Both Stanford and Boise State dominated time of possession and rushed the ball over 50 times in their wins over the Pac-10 champions.  Ohio State did the same, carrying the ball 51 times and eating up 41:37 minutes of the clock.
• Masoli ended his day with just 90 yards of total offense (81 passing, 9 rushing)
• FG kicker Aaron Pettrey made his return for the Buckeyes after suffering a nasty knee injury 9 weeks ago.  He nailed a 45-yard field goal just before halftime to signal his return...and his departure as a graduating senior.
• Posey had 8 catches for the game, one shy of his career high.
• WR Dane Sanzenbacher had a career-high 9 catches, mostly in a ball-control mode.
• TE Jake Ballard had the play of the game, as far as I'm concerned.  Yeah, you know the play.  Nuff said.
• Mark May was finally forced to shut the f up, but still managed to say "let's see if he can do that again next year."  What an ass.
• Blount managed to leave the L.A. Coliseum without any assault charges being filed against him.  Kudos on his improvement in losing gracefully.
• The Big Ten improved to 3-2 in bowl games with Iowa and Michigan State upcoming.
• The Pac-10 now takes over the "overrated conference" mantle, going 2-5 in bowls.  Their only wins came against Boston College and Temple.
• Ohio State faced a total of five teams that finished with a 10-win season in 2009-2010 (Iowa, Penn State, Wisconsin, Navy, and Oregon).  The Buckeyes went 5-0 in those games.
• Oregon faced two 10-win teams in 2009-2010.  Boise State was the other 10-win opponent, and Oregon lost both games.
• Pryor ended 2009-2010 with a 3-0 record against teams that were heavy in the running for his services.  Wins over Penn State, Michigan and Oregon finished his sophomore year (with a win over Iowa thrown in for good measure).