The Rose Bowl is being featured as “irresistible force meets immovable object.” It’s Oregon’s offensive juggernaut against Ohio State’s defensive stalwart.

There is no denying each team flashes greatness on those two sides of the ball. But what about the other story, the one you could supposedly call “completely resistible force meets entirely movable object?”

The Buckeyes offense doesn’t garner headlines nor does the Ducks defense. But does that really mean each unit is as flawed as perception allows?

Today, we’ll look at the Ohio State offense and see where the danger lurks. Tomorrow, we’ll probe the Oregon defense and find out what the opposition should fear.

Part I: Is it better than you think? The Ohio State Offense

The book on Ohio State’s offense says conservative, plodding and unimaginative. And if that’s not the book, it’s at least perception. Coach Jim Tressel was roundly criticized for shutting down his offense in the waning moments of regulation against Iowa when there was more than enough time to drive for a winning field goal. It would have made Chip Kelly gag.

But it proved to be a winning formula on that Saturday and guaranteed Ohio State’s Rose Bowl berth.

To gain some perspective on Ohio State’s offensive prowess, let’s look at the numbers in the chart displayed to the right.

The only thing that positively sticks out is Ohio State’s ability to run the football. This certainly fits the image of a conservative, plodding and unimaginative team, right?

The other thing that sticks out is decidedly negative. The passing offense is statistically bad. In fact, it’s among the worst in the nation. But then again, so is flashy, dynamic Oregon who ranks only slightly better in both yards per game and pass efficiency.

So flashy, dynamic Oregon is similar in style to plodding, conservative Ohio State? Well, not exactly. The Buckeyes score 8.4 fewer points per game and the curve of the season has shown Jeremiah Masoli’s numbers to dramatically improve while Terrelle Pryor has thrown fewer passes in the last three games than all but two others from the first nine contests.

But following that same curve, the Buckeyes have become far better at running the ball and, as such, have relied heavily on that part of the game. Since back-to-back midseason games in which it failed to reach 100 yards, Ohio State has rushed for at least 228 yards in the final five games.  They have dominated time of possession and were seriously threatened only once. The fewest rushing attempts in any of those games was 49.

And this five game stretch was not against the weaker part of the conference. The Buckeyes played both Penn State and Iowa during this run and finished against rival Michigan which regardless of current standings still means something.

Ohio State, over the last five weeks, has committed more to the run and less to the pass

It would be surprising to see Ohio State have much success through the air given Pryor’s lack of numbers on the season and the team’s overall lack of confidence in that part of the game. But one could easily imagine an undersized Oregon Duck defensive line getting pushed around allowing the Buckeyes to control the clock as they have done over their last five games.

UO’s defensive line features only two players on the two-deep heavier than 270 pounds. Every Buckeye starter on the offensive line is at least 296 pounds. Tressel is surely looking at those numbers and seeing a possible opportunity that he can exploit.

If he finds success and OSU is able to get to 50 carries, which has worked so well lately, the Ducks could find the Buckeye offense to be more formidable than previously thought.

Sometimes, a game is greater than the sum of two team’s parts. Such is the 2010 Rose Bowl. How else do you explain the fact that both participants will be fielding one measly first team all-conference performer as voted on by conference coaches?

For Oregon, it’s tight end Ed Dickson. The Buckeyes can boast only of safety Kurt Coleman. That’s it. Five Big 10 and five Pac-10 teams have more all-conference representatives than these two league champions.

Forget all-Americans, Doak Walkers, Bronco Nagurskis or any other individual honors. These guys are fighting just to get recognition within their own conference.

The Rose Bowl isn’t a game so often lacking in star power. We’re talking hallowed grounds where the legends have walked. Vince Young, Reggie Bush and Matt Leinart are just the recent headliners.

Okay, sure, some of this is dramatic effect playing on (flawed?) conference voting that basically ignored the individual accomplishments of two champions. And I’m sure coaches Chip Kelly and Jim Tressel spent all of one minute caring about such perceived slights.

But it is odd, isn’t it?

Perhaps the matchup we were supposed to get was Oregon State vs. Iowa. After all, both conference runner-ups placed seven players on their respective first teams. That game would have featured 14 first team players. The one we are getting has two.

And with that said, would anyone choose that over Oregon and Ohio State? Okay, perhaps this audience is a highly biased sample, but I’m guessing there’s not a lot of clamoring for a Hawkeyes-Beavers matchup beyond these digital walls of Duck fandom.

Whatever slight fans, players and coaches may have at first felt can be safely buried beneath a rug of rose petals. These teams should carry the all-conference voting as a badge of honor where “team” matters and “individual” is a passing thought.

On January 1, it’ll be Ducks ‘n’ Bucks and that’s all you need to know. The pieces within those two team names are simply an afterthought.

Note: The Pac-10 includes three more special teams players on its all-conference teams. The Big Ten features both a media and coaches team. The Pac-10 uses only coaches’ selections. For a straight up comparison, the Big Ten’s media vote was not considered.