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PASADENA, Calif. — It was so quiet in the Oregon locker room you could hear a season end.
Amid the near silence Wednesday night, Ducks cornerback Jabbar Muhammad found himself offering a way-too-early state-of-the union assessment of his program.
“None of us should come out of here with our head held low. We should definitely have our head held high,” the Washington transfer told reporters following Wednesday’s shocking 41-21 loss to Ohio State in the Rose Bowl. “We did some things that I feel like were legendary — 13-0, Big Ten champs in our first year.”
Legendary … but not complete.
Oregon started 13-0, won the Big Ten and was No. 1 in the country for 2 ½ months. For now, that’s all just a footnote after a disappointing postseason performance.
A proud program that got run out of the Rose Bowl quicker than an over-served fan had been No. 1 for the first time in 12 years. It had been so long that former Ducks coach Chip Kelly had wound his way around the game long enough to be coaching against his former team for the sixth time.
For the first time in his career, Kelly, now Ohio State’s offensive coordinator, beat the Ducks.
“It would be a shame if this team didn’t get to play one more game,” he said of the Buckeyes.
There was shame of a different type in the opposite locker room. It was fitting that the two richest programs in the country — both projected to be spending $20 million in NIL benefits to assemble their rosters — were separated by a point in their first meeting.
In the second meeting, Ohio State proved it had gotten the most out of its money — by far — in a 20-point victory that was the largest in the Rose Bowl in nine years. If there was an overall College Football Playoff MVP award, Buckeyes star…
Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/oregons-season-ended-in-rose-bowl-stunner-but-ducks-made-instant-mark-on-big-ten-with-bright-future-ahead/
Author : Dennis Dodd
Publish date : 2025-01-03 18:36:00
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