Watching Back the Video, the Teachable Moments in a 21--point Win

Duck fans have to love this team, for their focus, maturity and resilience. A lesser team would have folded on the road, after USC's crazy-carom interception and big punt return, two short-field touchdowns back-to-back to take a 32-29 lead in the third quarter. The Ducks immediately responded, asserting their will on the Trojans with a 24-0 finish. LaMichael James and the offensive line ran for half their yards from that point forward.

Still, there were teachable moments, and areas where Oregon can and must improve to win five more games. Incredible to say it, even though we've dreamed of this all our lives as fans, and envisioned it with fierce specificity since February. Oregon could win a national championship. Right now they are playing the best football in the country.

The combination of explosive running, crisp downfield passing and a swarming, opportunistic defense that contests every yard has the Ducks on the cusp of greatness. They've won eight games and the closest one was by 11 points with the offense under wraps for most of the fourth quarter. LaMichael James has rarely been needed for four quarters, and both times he was he responded with over two hundred yards against the Webfoots' two most formidable opponents. Darron Thomas can stretch the field. With the defense forced to respect the threat of the pass, LMJ has room to run, and that gives Oregon one of the most entertaining and effective offenses in memory.

But there were four too manys, two shouldas, a coulda and one what the hell:

Too many drops. At least six by my count, two each by David Paulson, Lavasier Tuinei, and Jeff Maehl. Those three have done a lot of wonderful things in an Oregon uniform this season, but there were a handful of plays they didn't help their quarterback.

Darron Thomas does a great job of getting rid of the football and avoiding sacks, but that was one time he probably should have taken one on that play just before half. The blocking broke down and he was trapped. It could have just as easily been a scoop and score.

Too many missed blocks. Too many plays where the linemen were beaten off the ball and standing up helpless behind the play, with the defensive interior blowing up the running game for negative plays and big hits on the Ducks' biggest asset.

On the defensive pass rush, there were too many plays the Ducks got pushed upfield and out of the play, doing a wide circle around "Brock" Barkley, giving him an unobstructed view and too much time, and a huge gap a more mobile quarterback (like Jake Locker) could have exploited for huge yardage.

Too many slants, outs, and skinny posts. The Ducks gave ground in the passing game in 15-yard chunks, although they avoided explosion plays. USC's longest gain from scrimmage was 25 yards, but there were too many in the 15-20 yard range.

Eddie Pleasant is still getting his feet under him as a safety. He's a hitter and a hard worker, but he could have three picks in this game with a better feel for where he was in relation to the ball. He must continue to improve his footwork, anticipation and agility.

Cliff Harris high-stepped when he should have turned on the jets. He's the cheese on the nachos, but he has to learn to respect the role of the chips. His playmaking flair is entertaining to watch, but he can't let it interfere with getting the job done.

The punt coverage team had its worst game of the season. After limiting opponents to 8 yards of returns all season, Ronald Johnson torched them for 4 returns for 94 yards. They took bad angles and ran into blocks. They missed him. Robert Woods also had a 39-yard kickoff return, where the most valuable kicker in the conference, Rob Beard made a saving tackle. Coverage units get a D grade for this game.

Oh, any too many penalties, 8 for 83 yards. That's four-fifths of a football field in self-inflicted wounds, drive killers, drive-extenders, and giving hope to the hopeless.