Chip Kelly and his team earned it on the field. They went undefeated and took the risks to succeed in every game, going for it on fourth down thirty times, calling a gutsy onside kick against Stanford and executing a bold fake punt deep in the own end in the Civil War.
But there was one element of this journey that was completely beyond their control.
If Wisconsin, Ohio State, or Oklahoma had gone undefeated, Oregon wouldn't have finished second in the BCS. The system is hopelessly biased toward the SEC, Big Twelve and Big Ten.
The Ducks looked up on December 5th, and found themselves second in the country. They took care of every challenge, and that takes an incredible combination of work, talent, and a little bit of luck.
It would be interesting to know what Chip Kelly learned from last year's bowl preparation, and if he plans any changes. It's an incredibly challenging time for coaching staffs, because they have to balance the frenzy of the recruiting trail as well. More than a few practices will be run by a skeleton crew, graduate assistants, one or two coaches, and Jim Radcliffe.
Rob Moseley will do a better job than anyone of keeping us updated on the practice routine and progress. The Ducks have to get Tuinei and James healthy, and iron out the glitches that have emerged in the kicking game. What's up with Jackson Rice? Although Alejandro Maldonado deserves a special award for the best performance in a faked punt role, 250,000 Duck fans went from "oh no not again" to "yeah baby!" in a couple of seconds. Michael Clay can rumble. He looked like an old school fullback on that run, even extending it with a couple of nifty cutbacks.
Josh Line and Chris Young had to be proud.
The thing I'm most concerned about is Rob Beard and his sudden inability to kick field goals since the Washington game. The one obvious reason may be the absence of Nate Costa as the holder, lost in that against Washington. Is the holder really that important, or has something got into Beard's head and shot his confidence? Whatever it is, he has not made a field goal since the 2nd quarter of the Washington game and that scares me. We are gonna need those 3 point scores.
ReplyDeleteChris--
ReplyDeleteAgree with you completely about Beard. He's like a golfer who was making every putt, and now has missed three four footers in a row. He needs some rhythm and reps, get his head right. The holder IS important, but they have some time to straighten that out.
The Ducks don't punt or kick field goals often but you'd want them to be at 100% in every phase of the game for the championship.
Thanks for your comment and for reading.
Dale