Ducks Celebrate Rose Bowl Win With One Eye On Title Game
by Rob Moseley
Editor, GoDucks.com
PASADENA, Calif. — The T-shirts distributed to Oregon players after Thursday's Rose Bowl bore the message, "Won, Not Done." A different shirt on the field at the end of the College Football Playoff semifinal might have delivered that message even more dramatically.
UO coach Mark Helfrich wore a white polo shirt for the game. Afterward, it remained dry and unstained; there was no ice bucket poured over Helfrich's head in celebration of the Ducks' 59-20 victory over Florida State, nor Gatorade either.
Through the jubilation of a school-record 13 wins and the devastation of injury after injury, the Ducks have always kept their eyes on the next goal. It was no different Thursday, when the postgame celebration lacked the traditional Gatorade bath for Helfrich.
"A couple guys wanted to do it, but they all agreed," said center Hroniss Grasu, who put a stop to the idea along with quarterback Marcus Mariota. "It's a huge deal to win the Rose Bowl — but it's a playoff semifinal now. We're not done yet, and we've got one more to go."
The Ducks won Thursday by controlling the line of scrimmage, and continuing to have players step up when teammates went down. Receiver Devon Allen played just one snap in the game, but fellow redshirt freshman Darren Carrington led Oregon in receiving for a second straight game, while Grasu and defensive end Arik Armstead helped the Ducks win the battle in the trenches both ways.
Before a torrent of turnovers helped Oregon break the game open in the third quarter, the Ducks still had an 18-13 halftime lead. Both UO touchdowns came on the ground, while the defense stopped FSU quarterback Jameis Winston just short of the goal line on fourth down to preserve the lead.
"I had trust by the fact we were doing the pushing around, and not them, things would eventually begin to pop," UO offensive line coach Steve Greatwood said. "And they did."
Grasu's return helped the Ducks average 6.7 yards per rush, and keep Mariota from being sacked at all. Armstead and the UO defensive line, meanwhile, held the Seminoles to 4.6 yards per rush despite a few big plays, and the Ducks sacked Winston twice.
Despite wins over Michigan State and Stanford this season, Oregon once again heard prior to the Rose Bowl questions about the ability to handle a team deemed more physical. Once again, the Ducks answered those questions in resounding fashion.
"It's been around a long time now; we'll probably hear it next game too," Armstead said. "All I know is we're going to keep playing the way we play."
The Ducks ended up putting up a Rose Bowl record with 59 points. "Just getting a win, that means the most," Grasu said. "It's great to score all those points, but winning in general means so much."
Winning is something Oregon would like to keep on doing. There's one more chance this season, at the College Football Playoff final on Jan. 12.
With that in mind, the Ducks didn't cap their celebration Thursday by drenching Helfrich. "You gotta love the maturity of it," Greatwood said. "It exactly fits this season. It was very exuberant and excited in (the locker room), but the kids all know there's one more step to take."
