LOS ANGELES – The shoe is on the other foot. Oregon, not Ohio State, is feeling more pressure for a change. The Ducks say they embrace the high expectations. We are about to find out if that is true, if the team built by Nike can handle the heat of being the team to beat.

Pay little attention to the betting line showing the Buckeyes to be a 2 ½-point favorites, which is a product of bookmakers setting odds to attract bettors and create action. Oregon has shown itself to be the best team in the nation, and while Ohio State impressed with its 42-17 win against Tennessee in the Dec. 21 first-round playoff game, it remains that OSU is the “LOWER SEEDED TEAM,” as emphasized in the Rose Bowl media packet.

Oregon is seeded No. 1. Ohio State is No. 8. The Ducks edged the Buckeyes 32-31 on Oct. 12 in Eugene. Now, the Big Ten champion must prove it can win again at a neutral site. 

The heat is on. Will Oregon get burned? I think so. The Ducks think not. They say they are built for moments like this. I’m not so sure. When you haven’t been there and done that, it’s impossible to predict how finally being there will go.

It’s like lighting my gas fireplace with a Bic butane. Trepidation occurs with first-time use. I have to turn the knob just enough to let the gas escape, but not too much to risk singeing my eyebrows when ignition occurs. 

So it is with Oregon, which brings a spotless 13-0 record into Wednesday’s Rose Bowl. The Ducks are relatively new to this playoff business, last qualifying in 2014, when they lost to Ohio State in the College Football Playoff championship game. Oregon has played in big games the past decade, but not this big. Will the inexperience combined with the magnitude of the moment explode in its face?

Ohio State is 11-2, having lost at Autzen Stadium and at home against Michigan. I like the Buckeyes to win 27-24, based on their positive mojo following the win against Tennessee and because the pressure will get to Oregon.

The Buckeyes, of course, also feel pressure. As OSU linebackers coach James Laurinaitis explained it, “When you put on the scarlet and gray, even when I was being recruited, you knew what the standard was, and it was you’re supposed to beat the team up north, win the Big Ten and you will be judged by whether you win the national championship. So no matter who you play, the pressure is always there.”

Perfection not expected among Oregon fans

The expectations are lower at Oregon. Not among coaches and players, but in Eugene football is not considered life and death. Not yet, anyway. Still, Wednesday’s game provides another opportunity for the Ducks to show they belong among college football royalty. That is a striving that creates stress. 

Ohio State has been a blue blood for decades. Nothing left to prove. I’m not saying the Buckeyes are playing with house money, but they can let it rip against Oregon, knowing nothing can be as bad as what happened against Michigan. 

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The Ducks know they have more riding on this game – Oregon has never won a national title – and entered the 12-team playoff favored to end that drought. They also know what many of us are wondering: Can they beat the Buckeyes a second time?

“We have to approach this game the same way and not feed into the narrative of this being a second game, a second opportunity (for Ohio State),” Oregon linebacker Jestin Jacobs said. 

To that end, the Ducks are employing an age-old strategy – us against the world – to depressurize the situation. 

“Preseason, they weren’t expecting much from us,” tailback Jordan James said. “We weren’t respected at all, but we have done a good job proving ourselves.”

Never mind that Oregon was ranked No. 3 in the preseason polls, behind No. 1 Georgia and No. 2 Ohio State. The Ducks will play the disrespect card as far as it takes them, as well as performing the trusty “chip on the shoulder” routine.

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James wanted to sign with the Buckeyes out of Oakland High School in Nashville, having grown up a fan of OSU because of tailback Ezekiel Elliott. 

“Ohio State was a school I wanted to go to so bad. I even went to a camp up there in Columbus,” said James, who leads the Ducks in rushing with 1,253 yards, which ranks 21st nationally. “But I never got an offer.”

James emphasized that “it turned out for the better” going to Oregon, but no doubt the perceived slight will serve as a release valve against pressure.

Oregon players face Ohio State with chip on shoulder

Jacobs played high school football at Clayton Northmont near Dayton, but opted to play at Iowa after receiving a scholarship offer from Ohio State late in the recruiting process. He spent two seasons with the Hawkeyes before transferring to Oregon. 

Like James, he felt somewhat overlooked by Ohio State.

“My family wasn’t too happy when I decided to not go to Ohio State,” he said. “I grew up in a household where a lot of my mom’s side of the family is from Michigan and my dad’s side is all Ohio State. I attended some (OSU) games when I was young, but still have a small chip because the scholarship offer came so late.”

That’s called finding a motivational edge where you can. 

Oregon coach Dan Lanning has his own way of dealing with pressure. He welcomes it.

“I think you hope that you can feel that pressure,” Lanning said. “If you’re in moments like this, you’re certainly going to feel pressure. Anybody who says they’re not, they’re lying.

“But that’s what you want to coach toward. You want to be in positions where pressure is applied. Kirby Smart said it before and I agree with him: ‘Pressure is a privilege.’ If you put yourself in position to where you’re going to have pressure, that’s something you have to be able to handle. And our team’s handled it really well so far, and has to continue to do so down the stretch.”

Both Ohio State and Oregon feel the pressure, but I contend UO feels more. Who cracks first? The Quackers.

roller@dispatch.com

@rollerCD

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