Oregon's Ed Dickson just had a nice touchdown catch in the league I never watch.
A lot of Oregon's win and the disappointment fans might feel over it is perception: one less turnover in the fourth quarter, and the Ducks hit 50 and win by 27, and the feeling and national perception are much different. 50-23 is psychologically much more decisive somehow. Punch in a score on either one of those fourth quarter drives and although the outcome doesn't change and the standings don't change, the headline and commentary does. Oregon goes from "had trouble with" to "pulled away from." It's funny how stuff like that works. They still won, and won by three scores, but 43-23 didn't seem like enough, especially since it was close even midway through the third quarter.
Chip has a staunch policy on injury information, never offering more than a clipped day-to-day on anyone, but fans might wish he would relax it a little this week. Duck fans have to be deeply concerned about Kenjon's welfare, and seeing their blossoming star quarterback limping to the sidelines with his throwing arm hanging by his side is also disturbing and concerning. LaMichael took some hits, and Cliff Harris rolled an ankle. Casey Matthews got dinged. Those are not little injuries. Oregon got battered in this game, and the Cougars seemed to play a little dirty. They came in high and late and more than once the second guy looked like he was hunting heads.
The Ducks were spotty in several areas, but the passing game looked solid, and Costa had to grade out nearly perfect. There's no quarterback controversy, but Oregon is blessed to have two quarterbacks who can command the offense. Costa was ready, right where he should be, and stepped in behind center without jitters or misfires or hesitancy. It was impressive, no matter who the opponent. At that point the Ducks were facing a fired-up crowd in a close game. He not only played well but took control, and produced several big plays that dictated the game. The 43-yard run and the 14-yard touchdown run were eye-openers, and he delivered the ball in the passing game with precision and made good decisions. If Thomas needs more time to recover, they can win with Costa running the offense. They can beat anyone on their schedule.
Jeff Maehl was getting some sniping from Oregon fans over drops and inconsistency, but he had a great game yesterday, with tough catches and tough yards, on a day LMJ wasn't getting free and Barner and Thomas were sidelined. In all he snared 10 balls for 119 yards and a touchdown, and the 34-yard touchdown on the screen was a great play, breaking tackles, using his blockers, displaying a nose for the end zone. Drew Davis had a good game on the other side as well. It seems like the Ducks are under-utilizing Huff and Paulson sometimes, but there are only so many snaps in a game.
The offensive line doesn't deserve more than a C for this game. LaMichael James doesn't need more than a crease to break for 60, and too often they didn't give him enough for two. The Cougars, who came in 117th in the country against the run, often overwhelmed Oregon's bread-and-butter running attack with darting and crashing, and there were some matador blocks in the interior. Pass protection was good, but in two or Oregon's last three games the run blocking has been barely adequate. They'll need to assert themselves in games 7-12, against a much tougher group of opponents.
Link label at espn.com's college football page: "Ducks survive." Win by 20 on the road, taking a knee for the last minute and a half, allowing one touchdown in the last 30 minutes, and that's "surviving." Jimmy Johnson should have survived so well. In the end it's 6-0, and a chance to remain alive for every prize Duck fans could have reasonably dreamed of at the start of the year. And now they have a bye week to gather themselves for the battles ahead.
Oregon may have "survived," but Arizona, USC, Michigan and Alabama didn't. Surviving leaves you with the opportunity to win not only the day but the season. Six games left. It's going to be an amazing race.
I really didn't notice the head hunting, but I did note that the o-line could have done a better job. I understand WSU was really crashing the line, and maybe we need to mix up how he runs with more wide pitch outs, but he didn't seem himself.
ReplyDeleteAs to "surviving", meh. Maybe we did and maybe we didn't. I'll leave that for the pundits. All I care about is the fact we're 6-0.
So the polls are out and we're #2. Cupcake State U. is #3. And, homers being homers, Oklahoma gets 1st place votes from Oklahoma writers. I feel very good about being #2 right now with our lousy strength of schedule as TN keeps losing.
BP--
ReplyDelete6-0 is good, exactly where they needed to be at this point. The computers and the BCS and the human polls, that's a mess that will sort itself out over the next eight weeks. The Ducks have done everything they could have done on the field, and they will have six more opportunities to prove themselves.
Ohio State is likely to have a stumble somewhere along the line, maybe at Camp Randall, maybe in a month or so at Iowa, maybe with Denard Robinson going crazy in the Michigan game. Nebraska, Oklahoma and the rest will have their say also.
This could be the year of the ultimate BCS mess with 5-6 undefeated teams, or it could all shake itself out like it always does.
One way or the other, the Ducks control their destiny, and will unless they lose.
Oregon-Oregon State could be for the conference title for the third year in a row. Wouldn't that be something?
Dale