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Arlington, TX (SportsNetwork.com) - The Oregon Ducks and Ohio State Buckeyes are the two teams left standing and will face off against one another in the first-ever College Football Playoff National Championship game at AT&T Stadium on Monday, Jan. 12. Mark Helfrichs Ducks earned their way into the playoff, by going 12-1 during the season, including routing Arizona in the Pac-12 title game. The team than steam-rolled defending national champion Florida State in the Rose Bowl (59-20) to post its 13th victory and a spot in the national title game. The 59 points set a new Rose Bowl record. Star offensive lineman Hroniss Grasu put the Rose Bowl win in perspective after the game. Its a huge deal to win the Rose Bowl -- but its a playoff semifinal now. Were not done yet, and weve got one more to go. Oregon is attempting to win its first-ever national title. The Ducks had a chance in the 2011 season to pick up that elusive championship, but lost to Auburn, 22-19 in the BCS Title Game. Overall, OU is 13-15 in bowl history and now 4-2 in BCS/CFB bowl games. Urban Meyer has done it again, as he has brought Ohio State to the pinnacle of the college football world, after leading Florida to a couple of national titles a few years ago. This one has to be sweeter though, as the Buckeyes battled adversity all season long with the loss of key personnel, but still found their way to the CFP by winning the Big Ten title in emphatic fashion with a 59-0 blanking of Wisconsin, setting up a showdown with top-ranked Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. Ohio State fell behind early, but rallied and earned its 13th win of the season with a 42-35 defeat of the Crimson Tide. Ohio States postseason resume is a bit longer than Oregons. The Buckeyes own seven national championships (four AP national titles), have 44 bowl appearances and five BCS bowl wins (most in the nation). The Buckeyes are playing in their fourth national title game in the last 13 years (2002, 2006, 2007). This marks the ninth all-time meeting between these two programs. It has been all Ohio State, which has won all eight previous matchups, the last of which was the 2010 Rose Bowl, a 26-17 victory for Ohio State. Oddly enough, the Oregon and Ohio State participated in the first-ever NCAA basketball championship in 1939 in Evanston, Ill. Oregon won that matchup, 46-33. Anyone that considers Oregon a finesse team, need only look at last weeks matchup with Florida State to change their mind. The Ducks punched the Seminoles in the mouth on both sides of the football en route to the lopsided victory, ending FSUs 29-game win streak. A lot of that had to do with the pace in which Oregon runs its offense. No one in the nation does it better than quarterback Marcus Mariota, who brought the Heisman Trophy to Eugene, the first in school history. Oregons star quarterback is the architect of an offense that averages 47.2 ppg on 552.9 yards of offense per outing. The Ducks have the ability to move the chains both on the ground (241.9 ypg) and through the air (311.0 ypg), but the key is the teams star under center. Meyer is certainly impressed with Mariota as the complete package. Ive been around him when he first when he was a young player, I went out and visited and I remember them telling me about him. I think Chip (Kelly) recruited him when he was was it which high school was it, Puna? St. Louis, yeah, the other great one. Was a backup for a while and just a great kid. I think thats so good for college football to see a guy like that go out and win it. Great, great player. Great, great person, great leader, you can tell. Plays his best when its hard. The 6-4 Mariota has been remarkable in his time in Eugene and this, his junior year, has been nothing short of amazing. Mariota enters this contest, having completed 68.6 percent of his passes, for 4,121 yards, with 40 TDs against just three interceptions (one of which came against FSU). Perhaps the nations top dual threat, Mariota also found the time to rush for 731 yards and 15 more scores. If it isnt Mariota running with the football, it is likely either freshman Royce Freeman (1,343 yards, 18 TDs) or sophomore Thomas Tyner (511 yards, 5 TDs) getting the ball. Tyner is coming off a season-high 124 yards and two TDs against Florida State. Converted tailback Byron Marshall (66 receptions, 834 yards, five TDs) has settled in as Mariotas favorite target downfield. However, the team did lose a key contributor in the passing game with last weeks injury to Devon Allen (41 receptions, 684 yards, 7 TDs) on the opening kickoff. With Allen expected to miss this game (knee), Marshall will need to step up even more, along with Dwayne Stanford (39 receptions, 578 yards, 6 TDs) and Darren Carrington (37 receptions, 704 yards, 4 TDs), who The offensive eruption against the Seminoles had a lot to do with the defensive effort by Oregon. A close game (25-20) turned into a rout, thanks to five total FSU turnovers, four in the third-quarter, all of which the Ducks cashed in for touchdowns. Defensive backs coach John Neal summed up that third quarter. That was almost freaky, Neal said. There was a point where theyre moving the ball as easy as they want. But the study of the game still goes back to, from a defensive point of view, takeaways. If you win the takeaway battle, you win games. That has really been the way Oregon has played defensively all season long. The Ducks dont completely shut teams down, as evidenced by the 421.9 yards yielded per contest. However, this is an opportunistic bunch, with 36 sacks and a whopping 30 forced turnovers to date. Safety Erick Dargan is the defensive leader on the field now that star cornerback Imo Ekpre-Olomu is out due to injury. Really, Dargan has performed at a high level all season long. The 5-11, 210-pound senior posted eight tackles, a forced fumble and an interception in the Rose Bowl and currently leads the team in tackles (90) and interceptions (7). Senior linebacker Tony Washington was named the Rose Bowl Defensive MVP after returning a fumble 58 yards for a TD to really end Florida States hopes of a comeback. Washington (53 tackles, 11.0 TFL. 6.0 sacks) teams with junior linebacker Christian French (24 tackles, 7.5 TFL, 6.5 sacks) to put pressure on opposing QBs. It was quite the 2014 season in Columbus. The Buckeyes were dealt a harsh blow when their Heisman candidate quarterback Braxton Miller was injured before the season started. The team had to go to Plan B which was J.T. Barrett and despite an ugly loss early on at home to Virginia Tech, Barrett and the rest of the team rallied, as the young signal caller was phenomenal in his own right, and actually picked up some Heisman chatter along the way, by throwing for 2,834 yards and 34 TDs, while rushing for 938 yards and 11 more scores. However, Barrett went down near the end of the season with his own injury, setting the stage for sophomore Cardale Jones to step in. All Jones has done is lead the Buckeyes to huge wins over Wisconsin and Alabama of late in his only career starts. Against Alabama, Jones passed for 243 yards and one TD, and led the team back from a 21-6 deficit to earn the victory. The running game is still the preferred mode of travel for Ohio State, which averages 262.2 yards per game on the ground. Tailback Ezekiel Elliott has been a revelation in OSUs backfield. The 6-0, 225-pound sophomore has amassed 1,632 yards and 14 TDs on the season. He comes into this game red-hot, having rushed for a Sugar Bowl-record 230 yards and two TDs against Alabama, including an 85-yard scamper in the fourth quarter to keep Alabama at arms length. The Buckeyes are as balanced as they come, as the passing game generates well over 200 yards per game. The team has a deep pool of quality pass catchers, headlined by Michael Thomas (50 receptions, 746 yards, 9 TDs), Jalin Marshall (33 receptions, 447 yards, 6 TDs) and speedster Devin Smith (32 receptions, 886 yards, 12 TDs). The Buckeyes have gotten the job done on the defensive side of the ball as well this season. Ohio State is limiting foes to just 333.6 yards per game (17th nationally), while amassing 43 sacks and forcing 32 turnovers, including 24 interceptions (second-most in school history). Junior linebacker Joshua Perry leads the team in tackles with 118. However, playmakers can be found at every level of the OSU defense. The secondary is headlined by a pair of ball hawks in sophomore safety Vonn Bell (86 tackles, 6 INTs) and senior cornerback Doran Grant (58 tackles, 5 INTs). The defensive line is highlighted by All-American sophomore Joey Bosa at end and senior Michael Bennett in the middle. Bosa was named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year. Of his 53 total tackles, 20 have come behind the line of scrimmage, including 13.5 sacks. He has also forced a team-high four fumbles. Bennett penetrates from the inside with 40 tackles, 14.0 TFL and 7.0 sacks to his credit. Sam Reinhart scored twice while Anthony Duclair and Curtis Lazar also found the net to lead Canada to a 4-1 victory over Finland at the World Junior Championship. Fucale made 27 saves to earn his second victory of the tournament. Max Domi had two assists and Duclair also picked up a helper for a twwo point night.dddddddddddd Canada will face USA in their final game of the round robin with the winner taking first place in Group A. Artturi Lehkonen scored for Finland in the second period, snapping a Canadian shutout streak by both Fucale and Eric Comrie that lasted 158:26. China NFL Jerseys Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys NFL Jerseys Cheap Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap Basketball Jerseys Online Stitched Hockey Jerseys Wholesale Baseball Jerseys Football Jerseys Outlet College Jerseys For Sale Cheap MLB Jerseys Wholesale Soccer Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys For Sale Wholesale NFL Jerseys ' ' '