There's Always a Reason to Be Worried

The main topic currently on Rob Moseley's Oregon Duck football blog is, "Which remaining game has you most concerned?" It's a great topic for a bye weekend, and keeps people visiting on a weekend he takes a well-deserved break. Adam Jude is filling in, capably, but Duck fans have grown to rely on Moseley as the go-to guy for news and updates. He's observant, diligent, fair and frank but rarely negative. A good reporter and a great resource.


There are several possible answers to his question, and merit for each:


UCLA, because it is the next one. The Bruins beat Texas in Royal Stadium, they operate out of a new offense that creates a lot of misdirection and quick-strike ability, they feature two tremendously talented and productive tailbacks in Franklin and Coleman, and two potential All-Americans on defense in Akeem Ayers and Rahim Moore. They're blessed with a budding superstar at defensive tackle, an Oregon kid the Ducks desperately wanted, Owamagbe Odighizuwa from David Douglas High.

The Bruins have had an uneven, unpredictable season. They beat Houston and Texas but were thumped by Stanford and Cal. Still, there's enough talent and coaching experience to make Rick Neuheisel's team a dangerous opponent, and the Washington State game should prove to anyone that the Ducks will get everyone's best effort. Any game is losable or winnable depending on effort. There are plenty of reasons to be worried about UCLA, and not borrow any trouble from the weeks to come.

USC, because the game is on grass, in the Coliseum, and this game is the closest thing the penalized Trojans have to a bowl game. Make no mistake, USC still has the talent to beat anyone in the country. They have five tailbacks who could rush for 1,500 yards at a host of schools, two tall, explosive receivers in Johnson and Woods, a star quarterback bound for the NFL one day, and five-star talent all over the roster. It's been thinned by defections and the NFL draft, but the Trojans still have enough in the cupboard to be dangerous, and reasons to be angry and irritable. They have the potential to be spoilers, or merely spoiled. There's no telling what their effort level and attitude will be by the end of the month.

Washington, because they are fighting for a bowl, and this is Jake Locker's last hurrah. He came back to achieve something, and it's turned out to be a horrendous decision financially, one that has cost him millions of dollars. His draft stock is down because of uneven play, and the NFL and the Player's Association are headed toward a rookie salary cap and perhaps even a lockout. Sam Bradford signed with the Rams for six years and $78 million, and Locker would have been in the same tax bracket. Now he's looking at second-round money and a far less lucrative deal.

He and his family say they don't care about the money. For him playing his senior season at Washington was more important, and now he has one last opportunity to justify that decision. Beat Oregon for the first time in his career, catapult his team into a bowl for the first time in eight years, and suddenly he has something to show for his deferred NFL future.

Locker has a talented cast to work with, particularly on offense. Chris Polk is a 1,000 yard rusher with good balance and tackle-breaking ability, often overlooked in a conference of great running backs. Jermaine Kearse and Devin Aguilar are dangerous receivers. This group will have a thorough look at how conference doormats Arizona State and Washington State moved the ball at will on the Oregon defense, and they will be bent on proving the Ducks are just not that good. Remember '94, the Kenny Wheaton year? The roles are reversed now. Washington wants to begin their resurgence, their climb back to the glory of '91. A win over the Ducks would be a watershed, the picture on the front of next year's media guide. No team outside of Corvallis wants a win versus Oregon more than Washington. The Ducks will have to stay on the right side of that fine line between confidence and complacency. They may have walked out of the tunnel at Martin Stadium on the wrong side of that line, but managed to outrun their own arrogance.

In the same way you can make a case for Cal, or Arizona or Oregon State. Every team left on the Oregon schedule has stars. Most have a winning record and bowl hopes. All of them are dangerous, and want a piece of the school on top. They each have an embarrassing loss they can pin on the bulletin board as motivation and a call to pride. If the Ducks couldn't stop Deantre Lewis or Jeff Tuel, there's no reason to think they'll have an easy time with Shane Vereen, Nick Foles, Jacquizz Rogers or Ryan Katz. Every remaining game will be a battle and a cause for worry. Chip Kelly's "win the day" mantra makes a lot of sense, simply because our systems can only withstand so much worry before they shut down altogether.

Here's another possible answer, in the words of the immortal Rod Serling, submitted for your approval:

None of them, because the Ducks have depth and maturity, and will be ready every week. Oregon has had fast starts and implosions before, but this team feels different. They have two capable quarterbacks and eight fast linebackers and they play ten people in the secondary. Mike Bellotti used to say, "respect all, fear none" and that is the best approach. Of course, Bellotti had a couple of teams that started fast and finished 5-6 or 7-6, and looked bad doing it. This year's team is highly likely to avoid that fate, however, because of solid senior leadership and their "win the day" focus.

Oregon will beat UCLA, because they are deeper and more talented and playing at home. They will beat USC because they have far more to play for than the demoralized and poorly-coached Trojans. Washington's defense can't keep up with Oregon's offense, and Autzen stadium will be rocking for Jake Locker and the Huskies. Cal has given the Ducks trouble in Strawberry Canyon over the last few years, but this year's Bears haven't harnessed their considerable ability. Contain Shane Vereen and you contain the Cal offense. Tedford's team is 1-1 so far in conference play, and before the showdown with UO they have road games at USC this week and at Oregon State on October 30.

If the Ducks are 10-0 by the time they meet Arizona on Friday night, November 26, the frenzy will be to a level the surpasses anything we can imagine now. The Wildcats will come in with a gunslinger quarterback and a tough defense, but they are coming to Autzen on national television. The Wildcats will be coming off a bye after games earlier in November versus Stanford and USC. If they have survived their PAC-10 schedule with just the one loss to Oregon State, this will be an epic game. But there is no way Chip Kelly is losing to Mike Stoops in Autzen Stadium.

Oregon State in Corvallis poses a special challenge. Rivalry games are the ones where unknowns rise up, where games take unpredictable turns and trick plays are dusted off. But the Beavers have one Rodgers brother on crutches, and the Ducks have bowled them over in the last two. Likely to be a night game on December 4th, the weather becomes a more important factor, and bad weather games favor the team with the muscle to grind it out. Oregon wins their third Civil War in a row.

But who am I kidding? I'm always worried. I worried about Portland State and New Mexico. I worried in fall camp and summer workouts. I pace the floor on every penalty and swear at every turnover. The can go undefeated and win the national championship, but I'll worry about every play and every opponent. They're kids. They have no idea how rare this is, how precious, and how fleeting. They expect this to happen. We're always worried it will go away, like a perfect dream when there's an alarming noise in the kitchen.