As the first half wound down, Terrell Pryor escaped the pocket, avoided the Oregon pass rush, and threw the ball away. The problem is that the ball never crossed the line of scrimmage. So, even though Pryor was outside the tackle box, it should have been intentional grounding, loss of down at the spot of the infraction. It would have pushed Ohio State out of field goal range and the game would have been 13-10 at halftime. That no-call ultimately decided the game. Ohio State kicked a field goal to go up 19-17 in the 3rd quarter, it should have put them down 17-16 instead of ahead. When they scored a TD in the 4th quarter to go up 26-17, it should have put them up 22-17 (and I assume they go for 2 so it's either a 5 or 7 point lead after that). Oregon wouldn't have missed the field goal because they would have gone for it on 4th down, since they would only have been trailing by one score. In a close battle, you can usually point to one play that turned the tide. That was it for me, that was my game-changing play. Congratulations to the line judge who missed the call, even when confronted by Chip Kelly about it: you managed to inject yourself into the outcome. I'm not saying Ohio State wasn't going to win the game...just saying that that play was a turning point in the game.
Congrats to Ohio State and the Big Ten for FINALLY winning a Rose Bowl. I don't anticipate it happening again next year, since I think USC will be back on top the Pac.
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