There's a scene in "Knute Rockne All American" where Rockne and his sweetheart Bonnie are at the beach on Lake Erie and he's staring out at the lake with a faraway look in his eye. She looks at him with sweet, dreamy eyes and asks, "Knute honey, what are you thinking?" You know, the way women do, when the only right answer is, "I'm thinking about you and how happy I am."
But Rockne is a future football coach through and through. He looks down at his future wife and says, "I'm thinking about the forward pass and how it's a weapon that could change football forever."
At least he didn't say she looked fat in that swimsuit. No halftime speech would have got him out of that conversation.
The year is 1913 in the movie, and Rockne is right about the forward pass. That was the summer before the original Rock's senior year at Notre Dame, and his coach Jess Harper had gotten him and quarterback Gus Dorais summer jobs working as life guards at the lake. They saved a few swimmers and Rockne met a girl, and on the beach they worked on perfecting their passing connection, a new-fangled thing in football that hadn't caught on among the big powerhouses of the East, like Harvard and Army.
That fall Dorais torches Army for 14-17 and 243 yards and two tds, Rockne on the receiving end of several. The pass had been used before but never with such devastating effectiveness, allowing a much smaller team to beat a heavily favored opponent.
You know the rest of the story. Rockne marries Bonnie, gets the job coaching at his alma mater, and gets Ronald Reagan elected President. But it all started with the forward pass.
Which is why I brought it up. From the beginning the pass was a great equalizer, and it still is. The Washington State Cougars are outmanned and heavy underdogs, but they have one thing going for them: they have a quarterback who can sling it, and a wide receiver who can cover 25 yards in three mississippis. On the other side they have another wide receiver who is 6-4 with glue-fingered hands, the perfect skillset for those fade routes on the goal line and down the sideline that give certain cornerbacks so much trouble.
The Ducks will probably win. They'll probably win big. But the one way they could lose or get embarrassingly close to losing is to go to sleep on the Cougar passing attack, which is the real deal. Jeff Tuel can throw, and his leading receiver Marquess Wilson has already caught 25 passes for 458 yards in the first five games of his freshman year. Opposite him Jeff Karstetter has caught 23 for 255, and along with slot receiver Jeff Solomon, they give Washington State a passing combination as good as any of the top teams in the conference.
Look back on every one-sided or unexpected loss in Oregon history, and they all started with a good athlete in another uniform having a career day. Remember Rueben Mayes and Mark Rypien? Remember Jake Cookus? Joey Harrington probably does. In 2006 5-5 Arizona came to Autzen a double-digit underdog, and some tailback named Chris Henry ran for 191 yards and two touchdowns, and the Ducks lost by 27 at home on their way to losing four in a row to end the season. They started 4-0 that year, and felt pretty good about themselves.
The point is, Chip Kelly is right. The opponent doesn't matter. What matters is preparing the right way and playing the right way and playing your best football every Saturday. Washington State does not have a good record and they do not have good stats, but the key to winning is to approach each game like it's the only game on your schedule.
And be sure to be ready for the forward pass.
Duck fans have two goals tomorrow. They'll want to see the team play with effort, execution and focus (which is really all one thing) and incur no major injuries. This has thus far been a blessed year in the injury department, and starting fast and taking control of the game early allows them the luxury of using the whole travel squad. Get LaMichael James in for 15 efficient carries, carve out some holes for him, and pressure Tuel. He throws off his back foot under pressure, and the ball floats. Like always, they can't let him get started or get comfortable.
It's homecoming at Martin Stadium, so the Cougars are likely to come out with a burst of emotion, but that never lasts. Emotion can't be sustained much beyond ten minutes, especially at the pace Oregon plays. WSU, even more than the rest of the conference, doesn't have the depth to stay with the Ducks. They wore down at UCLA, and the Bruins are nowhere near as explosive and fast-paced as the UO offense.
The Cougs play hard, and move the football in spurts, but can't keep up as the game wears on.
Preducktion: Oregon 52, Washington State 13
But Rockne is a future football coach through and through. He looks down at his future wife and says, "I'm thinking about the forward pass and how it's a weapon that could change football forever."
At least he didn't say she looked fat in that swimsuit. No halftime speech would have got him out of that conversation.
The year is 1913 in the movie, and Rockne is right about the forward pass. That was the summer before the original Rock's senior year at Notre Dame, and his coach Jess Harper had gotten him and quarterback Gus Dorais summer jobs working as life guards at the lake. They saved a few swimmers and Rockne met a girl, and on the beach they worked on perfecting their passing connection, a new-fangled thing in football that hadn't caught on among the big powerhouses of the East, like Harvard and Army.
That fall Dorais torches Army for 14-17 and 243 yards and two tds, Rockne on the receiving end of several. The pass had been used before but never with such devastating effectiveness, allowing a much smaller team to beat a heavily favored opponent.
You know the rest of the story. Rockne marries Bonnie, gets the job coaching at his alma mater, and gets Ronald Reagan elected President. But it all started with the forward pass.
Which is why I brought it up. From the beginning the pass was a great equalizer, and it still is. The Washington State Cougars are outmanned and heavy underdogs, but they have one thing going for them: they have a quarterback who can sling it, and a wide receiver who can cover 25 yards in three mississippis. On the other side they have another wide receiver who is 6-4 with glue-fingered hands, the perfect skillset for those fade routes on the goal line and down the sideline that give certain cornerbacks so much trouble.
The Ducks will probably win. They'll probably win big. But the one way they could lose or get embarrassingly close to losing is to go to sleep on the Cougar passing attack, which is the real deal. Jeff Tuel can throw, and his leading receiver Marquess Wilson has already caught 25 passes for 458 yards in the first five games of his freshman year. Opposite him Jeff Karstetter has caught 23 for 255, and along with slot receiver Jeff Solomon, they give Washington State a passing combination as good as any of the top teams in the conference.
Look back on every one-sided or unexpected loss in Oregon history, and they all started with a good athlete in another uniform having a career day. Remember Rueben Mayes and Mark Rypien? Remember Jake Cookus? Joey Harrington probably does. In 2006 5-5 Arizona came to Autzen a double-digit underdog, and some tailback named Chris Henry ran for 191 yards and two touchdowns, and the Ducks lost by 27 at home on their way to losing four in a row to end the season. They started 4-0 that year, and felt pretty good about themselves.
The point is, Chip Kelly is right. The opponent doesn't matter. What matters is preparing the right way and playing the right way and playing your best football every Saturday. Washington State does not have a good record and they do not have good stats, but the key to winning is to approach each game like it's the only game on your schedule.
And be sure to be ready for the forward pass.
Duck fans have two goals tomorrow. They'll want to see the team play with effort, execution and focus (which is really all one thing) and incur no major injuries. This has thus far been a blessed year in the injury department, and starting fast and taking control of the game early allows them the luxury of using the whole travel squad. Get LaMichael James in for 15 efficient carries, carve out some holes for him, and pressure Tuel. He throws off his back foot under pressure, and the ball floats. Like always, they can't let him get started or get comfortable.
It's homecoming at Martin Stadium, so the Cougars are likely to come out with a burst of emotion, but that never lasts. Emotion can't be sustained much beyond ten minutes, especially at the pace Oregon plays. WSU, even more than the rest of the conference, doesn't have the depth to stay with the Ducks. They wore down at UCLA, and the Bruins are nowhere near as explosive and fast-paced as the UO offense.
The Cougs play hard, and move the football in spurts, but can't keep up as the game wears on.
Preducktion: Oregon 52, Washington State 13
***********
Oh, and the forward pass? It might have changed history in one other way. Dwight Eisenhower and Omar Bradley were on the Army bench that day, and the importance of air power in changing the outcome of a contest against a massed force may have made quite an impression on the class of 1913, which included several other of the leading generals of World War II.
It's amazing how a day at the lake can reverberate through history, how a legend can resonate in the fabric of time.
Dale, that was a very well written post. I am duly impressed.
ReplyDeleteBarring 5 Duck turnovers in the shadow of their own goal posts, Oregon will come at WSU in waves.
There once was a game at ol' Wasssou;
No one was watchin, 'xceptin me and you;
Their quarterback was tough,
And made things quite rough;
But in the end he got the ol' Duck Tattoo.
Thanks BP, I always appreciate your visits, and the Duck limerick reminds me of Ogden Nash, who once wrote,
ReplyDeleteLife is not all roses and romance-ski
for a center named Dick Syzmanski.
He blocks and tackles and does amazing feats,
and what gets photographed?
His cleats!