At the beginning of this season, Oregon had it’s sights set on getting the their 5th straight BCS bowl game and another Rose Bowl. Except they wanted to play in the Rose Bowl for the National Championship this season. Now that they have had what seems to be a yearly hiccup along the way, the players aren’t thrilled with going back to the Rose Bowl if it’s not for the National Championship:
I don’t want to play in a Rose Bowl unless I’m playing for a national championship,” wide receiver Josh Huff told reporters Monday.
“It was pulling at my nerves,” Huff said. “I just wish we would have handled things differently when we played those guys. … I don’t mind playing in the Rose Bowl, playing for the fans and my teammates. But deep down I don’t wanna be a prep game for the national championship game.
“If we would have handled our business like we were supposed to, we wouldn’t have had to rely on USC to get back in the Pac-12 championship game. We wouldn’t have to be in the situation we are now.”
We are learning that De’Anthony Thomas isn’t so shy about letting his feelings be known either:
“It’s not a big deal at all,” Thomas told reporters. “We already won a Rose Bowl, so it feels like, ‘Whatever.'”
Listen, like Huff acknowledged, if they wanted to play for the title, they needed to take care of business. They tried for the furious comeback against Stanford and almost pulled it off but almost only counts in horse shoes and hand grenades. Now to get into the conversation, they need a minor miracle considering the teams in front of them.
The Rose Bowl is also the one bowl that gets the most respect around the country. I expect a forced apology about how they respect the tradition of the Rose Bowl before Monday.