The University of Oregon has a great football team. And with 18 returning starters on both sides of the ball, next season the Ducks will be one of the pre-season favorites to win the national championship. But for all of their talent, speed, offensive firepower - and uniform combinations - Oregon was soundly beaten 26-17 by Ohio State in the Rose Bowl. Which means that Oregonian sports columnist John Canzano has some 'splainin' to do.
After the Ducks' victory over Oregon State in the shootout that was this year's Civil War game in Eugene, Canzano crowed that the Buckeyes wouldn't stand a chance against either team in the Rose Bowl:

It became obvious on the field at Autzen that because of the jobs Kelly and Riley have done Ohio State wouldn't have beat either one of them.
I'm sure the Big 10 Conference is proud to send the Buckeyes to Pasadena, but they haven't seen offenses like either of the ones on display in Eugene. And what we're really talking about now is Oregon finishing the job that started in this rivalry game on Jan. 1 in front of the country.

While the Ducks were a 3 point favorite over Ohio State and picked by 75% of ESPN viewers to win the game, Canzano on December was even more confident in the Oregon rout to come:

The first meeting of what will certainly be called "Mike Riley vs. Chip Kelly I" went to Kelly. And when I saw the men match wits, shuffle personnel and shake afterward, I thought, "Ohio State is toast."
...It's clear as the cold night that Ohio State couldn't have handled what happened at Autzen Stadium.

Canzano insisted that the storyline in the run-up to the Rose Bowl was about Oregon finishing its Cinderella season strong and not Terrelle Pryor, "the blue-chip recruit from Pennsylvania turned Ohio State quarterback spurned Michigan and Oregon to be a Buckeye."
But on January 2, four weeks after declaring "there's going to be a lot of talk about the Ducks having the opportunity to give Pryor a seminar in the Heisman Trophy he could have won," John Canzano concluded that's exactly what Buckeye's Rose Bowl beat down was about.

Oregon didn't kick away the 96th Rose Bowl this afternoon. It did not lose the game on offense. Or defense. Or because of a lack of size.
If we're being precise, the Ducks lost the game almost two years ago when Terrelle Pryor chose a career in Columbus over one in Eugene.

The numbers revealed a domination by Pryor and his teammates not reflected in the final score. Ohio State racked up 26 first downs, 419 yards in total offense and controlled the clock for almost 42 minutes, while the Buckeye's Silver Bullets defense held the Ducks to 260 yards overall. And Pryor's 338 yards, including a surprising 266 through the air, easily overshadowed Oregon QB Jeremiah Masoli.
This is not to suggest that Ohio State could repeat the performance at will or that a loaded Oregon team might not get its revenge in a bowl game next year. But on January 1, 2010, the Oregonian's John Canzano couldn't have been more wrong when he warned, "I'm not sure the Buckeyes understand where this is going."