Klein is a bonafide leader and will have one last thing to say about his college career. |
The 12 Days of BCS will provide you with everything you need to know for the five BCS games starting on New Year's Day. Each day will be a different subject finishing on New Year's Eve.
#4 Oregon vs. #5 Kansas St.
If you're looking for the bowl of the BCS bowl season, you've found it. I know the National Championship has an overwhelming amount of important and historical storylines to dive into, but if you want the most purely exciting game, here it is.
Both of these squads come from conferences that like to spread it out, score a lot and do it in scintillating fashion. Each is well equipped with supreme athletes on offense and the two starting quarterbacks are elite college football players. They might not be the prototypical NFL quarterbacks (though Mariota is only a freshman) but both were among the most exciting quarterbacks in college football this year and are equally capable of ravaging a stat sheet.
I might have given Marcus Mariota the nod for the best offensive player in the BCS, but by only a small margin over Klein. Klein is just an old school baller, who likes to run people over, run wild and show his heart right on his chest. Mariota is a rookie who plays like a senior. He's a better passer than Klein, choosing to stay in the pocket more than Kansas State's QB, but that doesn't mean he doesn't like to make plays with his feet. I see both of these guys finding themselves in an almost direct one-on-one shootout to see who can make more big plays. It'll be important to see if Mariota can whether the pressure of being in his first BCS game and first bowl game in general.
The difference in this game is the play makers surrounding these high-quality quarterbacks. Both defenses are quite equal, but Oregon has a legitimate edge at running back with Kenjon Barner and they have the most electric player on the field in slot back D'Anthony Thomas. Kansas State will try to answer with its own compact, "pop back" as they like to call them with John Hubert. Hubert might be small be he runs with the explosiveness and intensity we see in many of his NFL counterparts. However, I'm just not sure that Hubert can shoulder the same load Barner and Thomas can, forcing Klein to play to an even higher level. But I think he will elevate to that incredible level.
Despite the fact that Oregon has a few more playmakers it's hard to see Klein letting his team fade down the stretch and I believe he will put a final stamp on his college career unlike Tim Tebow.
Wildcats 48, Ducks 45
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