A Season Hanging by a Thumbnail

There's growing sentiment from Fishduck and other veteran observers, Ken Goe among them, that quarterback might not matter as much to this year's Oregon Ducks. John Boyette and Eddie Pleasant might score enough or produce enough turnovers to keep the Ducks in many of their games. The defense could be stifling. Oregon's offense is showing progress and promise, and that's encouraging, because every day they go against that fast, talented group that knows all their plays by heart. Thomas has improved his accuracy, and Costa is moving the team and the chains. He's resourceful back there, looks cool in the pocket, and runs way better than anyone thought. The Fish called him deceptively fast. That's good enough for me. The receivers are improved enough to replace some of Masoli's lost yards, Fish says.

The major worry is Barner's hand. LMJ is a little gimpy and that can get better in a week or two, but a hard cast on the thumb with eighteen days till opening day, that's a concern you can't wish away. In practice Seastrunk seems to fumble every other punt. He's talented, but not ready for 100,000 in Knoxville, not ready for primetime, the bright lights and ESPN, back at his own fifteen with a conference championship on his slender shoulders. They need Barner. He's the counterpunch, the X factor, the element the other guys don't account for. Defenses will be designed to stop LaMichael, not that they can. But Barner is the instant offense and the momentum-changing return, the lightning in a bottle, the quick little guy with game-changing feet to make a big play when it was really needed. He's the season-saver, the guy who stepped up big and shows the big improvement from year 1 to year 2, the extra dimension, the fly in the ointment. Healthy, he could get you Masoli's yards and a few hundred of his own. He's way more talented than James Rodgers, tough and smart.

Not so fast, my friend. Thumb injuries linger. Thumb injuries nag. Thumb injuries heal slow and aggravate every time you hit them again. There's the flinch of pain every time the ball smacks against it, the concern that it will never heal.

A whole season can turn on a little thing like a thumb. They can replace Barner, they can do without him, but it'd be a whole lot better if he were available and healthy. They don't need him to beat New Mexico, necessarily, but it would be a big lift to have both gamebreakers healthy for Tennessee and the long march to Pasadena that follows.

In a season where so much is right and the Ducks are primed for greatness, it would be a shame to have things unravel, beginning with a nagging thumb.