By: Jon Spencer (News Journal via StatesmanJournal.com) — COLUMBUS, Ohio — “Fatigue makes cowards of us all.”

It sounds like something a famous general would have said, maybe Patton or MacArthur, or former Ohio State coach Woody Hayes.

Actually, those words were uttered by a captain, Ohio State senior defensive lineman Doug Worthington, as he talked about the Buckeyes preparing for the Rose Bowl and an Oregon offense that always keeps its finger on the fast-forward button.

The pace in Buckeyes practices has been brisk, to say the least.

“It’s good for conditioning and getting your mind-set right when you’re tired,” Worthington said. “Things could happen super, super fast. They do a lot of things to keep you guessing and the defense on their toes, so we have to be prepared for everything.”

Ohio State is 7-0 all-time against this year’s Pac-10 champion, but the Buckeyes never have faced an Oregon team this potent.

The Ducks rank sixth nationally in rushing (236.1 ypg) and seventh in scoring (37.7 ppg).

Redshirt freshman tailback LaMichael James has rushed for more than 100 yards in nine of his past 10 games, and dual-threat junior quarterback Jeremiah Masoli three times has amassed more than 300 yards of offense, including 386 in a 47-20 dismantling of USC.

James stepped up when incumbent LeGarrette Blount was exiled for throwing a punch after the season-opening 19-8 loss to Boise State.

Blount returned for the regular-season finale against Oregon State and gives the Buckeyes a second 1,000-yard back to worry about as a powerful change-of-pace complement to James.

“It comes down to tackling,” OSU cornerback Chimdi Chekwa said. “You watch (Oregon) games, a lot of (defenses) get there. They have guys around the ball, they have athletes, but what makes the big play is them missing a tackle.

“You have to make sure you make the play that comes to you and make sure you tackle in open space. You miss a tackle on James — we’ve all seen it — and he takes off.”

Oregon could argue that James was as good, if not better, this season than Alabama’s Heisman Trophy winner, Mark Ingram.

His worst outing during the past 10 games was 81 yards on 13 carries against Washington State, a game the Ducks led 42-0 at halftime, which limited James’ carries.

Six times in that stretch he rushed for more than 150 yards, including 183 yards on 24 carries against USC and 166 yards and three TDs in the Rose Bowl-clinching 37-33 Civil War win against prescription medications online Oregon State.

James, named the Pac-10 freshman of the year and a second-team All-American, leads the nation with 20 runs of more than 20 yards this season.

Ohio State, conversely, has given up only four runs of more than 20 yards and is working on a streak of 22 consecutive games without allowing a 100-yard rusher, second-longest in the nation behind Alabama (32 games).

“When you see Blount or James back there, we’ve got to make sure we go out there and bite down, play our defense and make sure we get in the holes,” Worthington said.

“We’ve got to play our (positions) and not try to do too much. This is one of those games where you can get excited and want to make the big plays, but everyone needs to simmer down and enjoy the moment and, at the end of the day, say we played our game.”

Film study of the Ducks is a challenge in itself because of their hurry-up approach.

“A lot of times, you’ll see that even the camera guy missed things and you’ll see the middle of the play,” safety Anderson Russell said.

“A lot of times, the defense doesn’t even have time to get lined up. It throws off your rhythm. They might call two plays and just snap the ball and get right back to the line and snap it again.

“We’ve been working on that. It gets you tired, I’m not going to lie, so we’ve got to be in shape for it.”

First-team all-Big Ten safety Kurt Coleman had to explain what he…..

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