Alright, let's get this out of the way first: Oregon is not going to get "exposed" by a top-10 defense, it has faced athletic, competent defenses before, and it has done well against them. Boise State was not a "fluke" per se, but it's impossible to deny that the Oregon offense has progressed since then. It's not the most balanced of attacks, but it doesn't have to be when it averages 236 yards on the ground. I feel safe in saying that just slowing down Oregon's offense will be the biggest challenge Ohio State's defense has confronted this year.

Is it up to the task? Well, the match-ups are roughly even across the board, but there are a few to worry about. Let's take a look at them.

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The debate surrounding Oregon's defense began immediately following the Ducks' 37-33 win over Oregon State, and has yet to cease. Addicted To Quack, using statistical rankings adjusted to reflect strength of schedule, has put forth the reasoned Oregon argument quite well:

Now, I'm not gonna sit here and say that Oregon's defense is better than OSU's. It's not. But, it's a lot closer than any Buckeye fan is willing to admit. Looking at these statistics, Oregon has the 15th ranked defense in the country, and beyond that has the 10th ranked rushing defense in the country (mostly because they have faced a lot of really good rushing teams). These results really shouldn't be a surprise. Oregon is giving up only 4.6 yards per play on the season, good for 11th nationally. And they are giving up only 3.41 yards per rush, good for 24th nationally (again, let's remember that S&P+ takes into account opponent strengths).

And The Rivalry, Esq. has responded with a comparable amount of stat-wonkery:

Adjusted to reflect the quality of opponents, and number of snaps, Ohio State's defense is allowing 26.9% less points per game than Oregon's defense.  Coming into the Rose Bowl Oregon is scoring 8.4 more points a game than Ohio State on average (29.3 points versus 37.7 points).  Adjusting these figures to reflect Ohio State's defensive advantage (e.g. the 26.9 percent scoring differential), the Buckeyes have a 2 point advantage on paper heading into the game.

I suggest reading both articles so that you can fully understand both sides' respective points. You're probably expecting me to take a side here.

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Florida coach Urban Meyer steps down for health reasons - ESPN (caution: autoplay video)
The WTF story of the week, with Urban Meyer stepping down from the Gators' coaching position due to health reasons. Now, there are some crazy Buckeye fans out there who think Meyer is a lock for our next head coach, the fact that he has (or had) nothing to leave Gainesville for notwithstanding. While assuming a "non-football position"  within the Florida AD at the age of 45 makes Meyer ripe for every coaching rumor from here until he either actually takes one or officially retires from the world of sport, I tend to think no one would retire from UF right now, even post-Tebow, if they aren't suffering from something very, very serious; something that precludes them from ever returning to coaching again. So while Meyer would (and may still be) the sexy pick for Jim Tressel's successor down the road, I personally wouldn't want to thrust the Ohio State job on anyone who isn't fully equipped to deal with the insane amount of pressure that comes with it. I have no doubts that Meyer would deliver on expectations, but if that comes at the expense of his health, I'd want no part of it.

(EDIT: Or.... not? I maintain that, regardless of how this all works out, the man has no reason to leave Gainesville for Columbus, and I hope our AD is smart enough to politely request once, take no for an answer, and immediately move on to its options 1B and 2 when the time comes after the next five or so years)

Every holiday a journey | BuckeyeXtra
Fluff piece about Jon Thoma's far-flung holiday treks to see his international family. As if his Christmas wasn't stressful enough, he also has to worry about bowl prep.

Time to perform: Days of Pryor growing into QB job are running short | BuckeyeXtra
No point in getting outraged with Pryor when the alternatives are Joe Bauserman and a true freshman afterthought. I will concede this: if Pryor's Rose Bowl performance registers a thorough "yikes", as opposed to a "meh" or "holy crap, tangible improvement!", the quarterback competition should be wide open in the spring.

Suspensions put reserves in Rose Bowl game: Ohio State Football Insider | Ohio State Buckeyes - cleveland.com - - cleveland.com
Thomas and Washington will have to catch the one or two balls Carter and/or Small would have caught if they were eligible. I'm being slightly sarcastic, but let's be honest: we'll miss Small's work more on special teams than we will anywhere else.

Ohio State football team seeks balance of work and play | Ohio State Buckeyes - cleveland.com - - cleveland.com
All play didn't work against Florida, all work didn't fly against LSU, and whatever worked against Texas caused Anderson Russell to lose his GD mind.

Ohio State on Forbes’ most-valuable teams list
Behind Penn State, even, but well ahead of Michigan, who dropped from #4 on the list to #11. For the record, this is determined by how much money is left over to pay for non-revenue sports after football. Ohio State has 30+ non-revenue sports to pay for, while Penn State, uh, doesn't. But hey, that's good for them - they don't have to put off stadium renovations and facility upgrades so the Women's Rifling team can attend their postseason tournament.

Germaine rallies Buckeyes | mansfieldnewsjournal.com | Mansfield News Journal
Revisiting Ohio State's last trip to Pasadena.

Urban Meyer’s Sudden Retirement Could Affect Ohio State’s Recruiting | WaitingForNextYear
May get us in contention for Matt Elam - brother of Browns safety Abe Elam - but I wouldn't count on it.

Ohio State and Oregon could be rusty after layoff -- latimes.com
So the layoff excuse can be utilized as such by... both teams? That's depressing.

Playoffs losing support, Gee says | BuckeyeXtra
I like Gordon Gee, and I've seen him strolling around campus on numerous occasions, but his opposition to college football playoffs sets this program farther back than Jim Tressel's brand of offensive football. Him being in favor of conference expansion signals a willingness to strengthen the appeal of the Big Ten, but he apparently thinks those who want to do the same for the sport at large can basically suck it.

Titus, an Ohio State Basketball Scrub, Stars as a Blogger - NYTimes.com

Mark Titus, founder of Club Trillion, gets profiled in the New York Times.