Oregon Loss First in Wild Week?

Will this be one of those blow-up-the-top-ten weeks of college football? The potential carnage began with Arizona's upset of Oregon last night. The Ducks did not look like a top five team, but who has this year? After one month of spotty scheduling whereby only one maybe two of the top teams gets tested, this weekend features one tough game after another. Add in the fact that it is early enough for us to not even know how good some teams are and the potential for higher ranked teams falling to lesser ranked ones is greater. Clear the day and sit back. Should be fun. As for the game last night, Arizona impressively kept the pressure on Ducks QB Marcus Mariota--as we knew they, and everyone playing Oregon, would, but their offense impressively took what the D gave them and did not panic. When facing an explosive team like Oregon some offenses wilt under the pressure of having to keep pace but the opposite is always better. Take your time. Arizona scored four TDS and the shortest of the four drives was 71 yards and that one took a whopping 15 plays. Short passes, tough runs and the occasional Oregon penalty was all that was needed. And anyone questioning an Arizona offense built around freshman QB Anu Solomon, especially on the road in a tough environment, should remember that coach Rich Rodriguez has done this before (Pat White). As for the conference the game, and USC's win over Stanford, may be a sign that the power is shifting from the North to the South but it is only October 3. And on October 11 Tucson will be the place to be as the Cats host USC. You'll need to clear your evening for that one.

Pac 12 Update

I am looking forward to tomorrow night's Oregon-ASU game as it is the first time this season that the Ducks are not double digit favorites (okay, it's 9.5).  Oregon has won seven straight in this series, and four straight in Tempe, but the Sun Devils can be buoyed by a gutty performance last season in which they led the Ducks by 3 in the 2nd half before losing by 14.  They also seem to have the offensive weapons in hand to fully implement new coach Todd Graham's offensive system.  They are 3-0 at home, with routs of Northern Arizona, Illinois and Utah.  With a daunting November schedule (at USC, at Cal, home vs Stanford, at Oregon State) awaiting them, the Ducks cannot afford to stumble here.  And since they have been away from the headlines due to a weak first half schedule, the Ducks could drop a spot or two without a strong performance.  As for ASU, this game is huge.  They sit in first in the Pac 12 South with a 3-0 record and an upset of Oregon will not only give them an extra leg up over second place USC but will force voters to not only rank the 1-loss Sun Devils but put them firmly into the top 20.  As for a pick, I'll take Oregon especially if I can get the 9.5 number.
I must admit I have a tough time dealing with Oregon's recent success.  I did root for them against Auburn in the BCS Title game as I felt the Tigers cheated and did not belong there, but the days of Oregon being a little guy challenging Southern Cal ended with the NIKE takeover of the sports department in Eugene.  They also seem to be bending, if not breaking, recruiting rules, but more on that subject when the NCAA finishes their investigation.
The Stanford-Cal hate-fest is the best Pac 12 match-up of Saturday.  The Bears have won two straight conference games but have lost two straight in the series.  The 115th edition of The Big Game should match last year's contest in excitement with both squads needing a win badly.  I will pick Cal in an upset as Stanford has had an emotional four-game stretch (win over USC, loss to Washington, OT win over Arizona, loss to ND) that has to be taxing.

The 2010 Party is Finally Over

Although I have problems with Auburn winning the national title, based on my belief that Cam Newton should have been ineligible and that I am getting tired of the SEC, the better team did win. And while Dyer's not-totally-down run was huge, they were driving and would have positioned themselves for a longer FG that Bynum would have nailed. Oregon's defense did yeoman's effort to keep Ducks in the game but they easily could have lost by two TDs. Then again, if they call Cliff Harris's near INT in 2nd Q an INT (Auburn scored TD after retaining ball)and Lavasier Tuinei does not get tripped up heading toward end zone in 4th Q (Ducks ended up with 0 points on that drive), Oregon wins. It was that close.

What's next for these programs? Auburn takes a step back in terms of star power as both Newton and Nick Fairly depart, but they are recruiting well and will be strong for years to come barring any possible sanctions (nothing brewing but NCAA did say investigation was not over). As much as I want to say that they will take a step back, Alabama lost a lot of studs early to the pros, Arkansas is losing Mallett, LSU may have to deal with a coaching change, etc. Oregon needs to figure out a way to play their BCS game in mid December. The Ducks have lost four games total in the past two years but three have come when their opponents--all powerhouses--have had multiple weeks to prepare for their offense. All three of those schools, Boise State, Ohio State and Auburn, get good play from their D-lines and have athletic linebackers. But Chip Kelly will tinker and his QB will gain more experience. They are what they are and played hard. They will be the Pac 10 favorite next season.

View From Bennett Avenue

With the amount of space given to debates over the legitimacy of the BCS--and at Sports Illustrated and The New York Times that discussion trumps all--college football journalism has failed to present accurate coverage of the sport. And if there is a modicum of space left for game previews and write-ups, the subject matter always centers on the stars of the game. That is true in all sports of course, after all how many articles or televised pieces centered on Matt Ryan of the Falcons compared to those focused on Brett Favre?

And so we are left with a BCS Title Game featuring Cam Newton and Nick Fairly of Auburn squaring off against Oregon's LaMichael James and, well, I guess Jeff Maehl. Maybe Casey Matthews. To be honest Oregon does not get much attention behind a "boy do they play fast" critique. But TE David Paulson and C Jordan Holmes joined Maehl and James on the all Pac 10 first team offense while CB Talmadge Jackson joined Matthews on the first team defense. CB Cliff Harris also made the first team for his punt returning and second team for his defensive play, while QB Darron Thomas, OT Bo Thran, DT Brandon Bair, DE Kenny Rowe and special teamer Bryson Littlejohn all made second team. Does anyone east of the Rockies say boo about these players? But before we blame East Coast media bias, the great majority of Auburn starters are unknown to the general football fan despite playing in the big, bad SEC. OT Lee Ziemba (pictured) and C Ryan Pugh joined Newton on the first team All SEC, while G Byron Isom, DE Antoine Carter and LB Josh Byrnes all made second team. And this is not to slight the other starters and contributors who all helped make these two teams undefeated.

The problem is that the media and the fans grew fat on some combination of USC, Texas, LSU, Ohio State, Oklahoma and Florida making the BCS game every year. There are too many FBS teams, so the coverage went to the presumed best every year, which of course helped them stay on top. With a number of stars departing for the pro ranks in recent years and the media firm in its conviction that a lack of a playoff system is on par with some horrific atrocity plaguing third world countries, the amount of space for the Spencer Paysingers and Darvin Adams is nonexistent. Last year we had stories on the BCS being bad, Urban Meyer, Nick Saban, Colt McCoy and Tim Tebow. This year it's the BCS being bad, Urban Meyer and Cam Newton.

It was not always this way, of course, and I am not talking about the glory days when college football ruled the sports pages. Take the 1981 Clemson Tigers, who won the title without even being ranked in preseason. They were 6-5 the season before and played in western South Carolina for a little-known coach. But before they played Nebraska in the Orange Bowl at the end of that season, the regular college football fan knew who QB Homer Jordan was, and that his favorite target was WR Perry Tuttle. The Tigers won on defense and regular fans knew the names of stars such as Jeff Bryant, Jeff Davis and Terry Kinard from the stop unit. And fans of the sport certainly knew that big William Devane helped clog the middle for that defense and that Cliff Austin, Chuck McSwain and Jeff McCall led a balanced running attack. But again, these players and their games were fully covered by a media that did not have to worry about a BCS or potential playoff. They, more or less, focused on the play on the field. We have lost something very important.

Pac 10 Update

Oregon's offense is good. Real good. Their defense? We need more evidence.

The cumulative record of the seven Oregon victims to date: 16-28 (11-27 if we take out Stanford). So let's not get too ahead of ourselves with the Ducks, who still have Washington and Arizona at home and road games against USC, Cal and Oregon State this season.

Also, can UCLA go back to their normal uniforms? We have given up on Oregon and their ever-changing but always ridiculous Nike efforts. But the Bruins?

View From Bennett Avenue

I had hoped to use the usual late spring down time on the college football schedule to continue my series of salutes to the recently elected members of the College Hall of Fame. But there has been so much news lately that I have to post on all of it and get back to the celebration of past greats as soon as possible.

With the NCAA finally coming down on Southern California today and the talk of BCS powers moving from one conference to another I thought I would quickly touch on some news from earlier this week before it disappeared forever, buried under an avalanche of bigger news. Perhaps the most significant story from the recent past concerns former Oregon quarterback Jeremiah Masoli, whose one-year ban from the squad was made permanent after he was arrested for the second time in 2010. Earlier this year Masoli was nailed for breaking into a fraternity and walking out with some stuff that did not belong to him. The current situation involved his being stopped for driving through a stop sign and then resisting arrest. He was then found to have some pot in the car. At the very least, Masoli has unbelievably bad judgement. At the worst, he is bad guy who cannot stop himself from breaking the law and until he wises up we will see his name on police blotters in the future.

Of course Masoli is also very talented and perfectly fit to do damage to opposing defenses in the Oregon offense. But Oregon already began to move on due to the one-year suspension Masoli was given after crime number one. They have veteran Nate Costa and youngster Darron Thomas competing for the starting quarterback job. That is one of the biggest differences between the college game and the NFL. Because college players can only give a program four good years--and many do not do that--we, the national college football fan--do not get caught up in individual player situations but in the team as a whole. Oklahoma and Texas will play this year without either Bradford or McCoy. The game will still be hugely important and should produce a national title contender. Florida fans are sad to see Tim Tebow move on, but still expect the Gators to compete for the SEC crown and therefore have a shot at a national title. BYU won their sole championship, in 1984, despite losing Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young and the same happened to Tennessee, who despite needing to replace Peyton Manning, went on to become title holders in 1998.

Contrast that to the situation in Pittsburgh with the Steelers, who did not have to boot quarterback Ben Roethlisberger for good. The individual player in this case is getting too much bad press in a way that is detrimental to the team as a whole. The Steelers cannot move on the way the Ducks did with Masoli as the pro quarterback, especially one with two Super Bowl rings, is the franchise. They are in bed with ol' Ben (willingly in their case) and must win with him, despite all of the off-the-field distractions. And the Steeler faithful has been let down by their quarterback. The Oregon faithful are angry in that Masoli's stupidity may have cost them a shot for a title, but the situation is a less personal one. There are no Masoli jerseys to discount or pictures to take off of city zoo press campaigns.

Pac 10 Update

It will be a tale of injured QBs at the Rose Bowl this weekend for the marquee Pac 10 match-up. UCLA (0-1; 3-1) QB Kevin Prince returns to the starting lineup after breaking his jaw in game two of the season. Prince’s play is crucial for UCLA’s chances as he can better exploit a banged up Oregon (2-0; 4-1) D secondary which has lost DBs Walter Thurmond and Willie Glasper for the season and is hoping to get back injured S T.J. Ward for this game. CB Anthony Gildon will need to step up as he began the season third string before moving up thanks to injuries to Thurmond and Glasper. The Ducks have not faced a QB who could exploit this issue and have to pressure Prince so that he does not have a big game. For the Ducks, QB Jeremiah Masoli is also hurt and sub Nate Costa—himself returning from torn ACL suffered in August of 2008--gets the start. Oregon goes through multiple QBs on an annual basis and Costa is a good one so look for the Ducks to remain aggressive on O with Costa running less than Masoli but throwing downfield more.

Forecasting the playing future of suspended Ducks RB LeGarrette Blount became a bit easier this week as coach Chip Kelly opened the door for a Blount return. In September he and Costa formed an awesome scout team combination. By November we might be saying the same thing about Masoli and the team’s leading rusher LaMichael James.

After Midnight

Last night’s late games in the West included close calls for Utah and Oregon State and a thriller in Eugene, Ore.

The Utes, working on a 15-game winning streak, fell into a defensive struggle with San Jose State which went into the fourth quarter at 7-7 until Utah QB Terrance Cain pitched a 51-yard TD pass on the third play of the last quarter to help put away a 24-14 win.

Oregon State fell behind UNLV 21-20 in the fourth quarter until its late drive resulted in Justin Kahut’s winning 33-yard field goal with seven seconds left to play.

Duck Thriller

The biggest outcome to be decided after midnight in most of the country was Oregon’s come-from-behind 38-36 victory over a very tenacious Purdue team.

The Boilermakers faced warmer than usual conditions at Oregon that turned into spurts of heavy rain, but the crowd in Eugene seemed more into the battle than the embattled Oregon Ducks. Purdue outgained Oregon by nearly 100 yards and led 7-3, 14-10, and 24-17. It took a pair of defensive TDs by the Ducks to even keep them in the game: DB Walter Thurmond ran back an interception and S Javes Lewis returned a fumble, each for a touchdown. A blocked extra point in the fourth quarter kept Oregon ahead 31-30 and immeasurably helped the Ducks at game’s end.

Coming off a school record rushing effort in his first start in Week 1, Purdue’s under-sized but tough RB Ralph Bolden scored three TDs, and although QB Joey Elliott hasn’t nearly the talent of predecessor Curtis Painter he has plenty of desire. After Purdue’s WR Keith Smith-to-WR Aaron Valentine fourth down TD pass with a minute to play, Elliott just missed the tying points when he fired a two-point pass caught inches past the end-line by TE Kyle Adams.

What did we learn from this outcome? Oregon showed a meager running attack until its freshman-committee of backs sparkled on its last TD drive, and that Bolden is going to be a star of a Boilermaker team that could be far better than anyone expected.