Why so Civil?

[ I've been scanning the blogs for Oregon and Oregon State on this, the run-up to the War for the Roses -- one of the most significant Civil Wars in its 113 year history.   What am I seeing? Lots of razzing and ribbing? Low blows? Cheap shots? Rabid rivalry rhetoric? 

Not hardly.

I checked the Beavers' 'dam' site and was stunned to find an intelligent forum made up of several Ducks and Beavers having a friendly, respectful, intellectual discussion about the strengths and weaknesses of the Ducks and how the Beavers plan to attack them.

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WHAT A BUNCH OF CRAP!!!

Where are the jokes?
How do you get a Beaver off your porch? Pay for the pizza.

Where are the pics?

This is how we've been fighting the Civil War for 113 years.

Now look at what's happened.

Take a look at what I'm reading. After Oregon's win over Arizona, the Beavs started a thread on their blog called "Hate Week". Got it? 

"HATE WEEK". (Click link for full thread.)

That seems pretty self-explanatory. Sets the table nicely, I think.
So read these "hateful" tirades. The first one starts it off from the Beaver Host:
(Beaver posts in orange. Ducks in yellow. Props to the two main posters, VD Special of Building the Dam and dvieira of Addicted to Quack)
. . . .and I think our coaching staff needs to break this game film down and do EXACTLY what Arizona did. Contain Masoli, force him to make decisions, few blitzes, play good pass defense.
And he's backed up by a couple of his goons:
Crash the defensive ends and hit Masoli on every.single.play.
ABSOLUTELY
He showed good touch sometimes. But usually his balls were wobbly and he made bad decisions.
Whoa! Pretty mean words making fun of a man's wobbly balls.  But stupid words as well when we can argue that without Malosi's decisions, the Ducks lose that game. Never fear though. Here comes a Duck to put these clowns in their place.
I know Masoli gets some crap about being a questionable passer but you really don’t want to do this given your secondary. If anyone gets past the first level, it’s a broken tackle to the house. Also, even though we prefer to run, Arizona was giving us the pass all day and we made plays, especially Maehl. Masoli’s completing almost 60% of his passes. You don’t want to isolate in the box or we’ll throw WR screens and TE curls to the sideline all day.
OH SNAP! Did I just hear a Beaver butt bone breaking? That was a vicious kick. Do the Beavs have anything in the tank after that smackdown?
Well there’s no question that your offense is dynamic. Stats don’t lie. But given the options of forcing Masoli to throw and forcing him to run, I say contain him and force to throw. Obviously its a pick-your-poison sort of deal, but I don’t think anyone could argue with saying that Masoli is a better runner than he is a thrower.
Did you catch that? Beaver bastard used the 'D' word.  Thinks he's smarter than any Duck 'cause he can slip in a little 'dynamic' bomb and get away with it.

I HATE the word 'dynamic' -- especially after I read through 10 pages of want ads and see post after post saying: "Looking for dynamic individual to fill dynamic position for dynamic company." What the hell are they talking about? 'Dynamic' is full of hidden meaning. What they're really saying is "Our company and job suck in their own special way, and we're hoping you can suck with us."

It's overused to the point of having no real definition. You ask 100 people what the word dynamic means and 60 of them will offer different meanings. Forty will have the same answer: "I don't know."

And now this rodent licker dares to call the Ducks' offense 'dynamic'.
Give it to him Duck fan . . . . .
I don’t know. To me, it’s a simple matter of playing to your strengths. Your corners haven’t had the best year and putting them on an island against a spread is tough call. Yeah, Masoli may not be able to make all of the passes, but the ones he does are always going to be high risk for you. By taking your best players and crowding the box, you have to pray that the ball is thrown badly, gets tipped or your corner makes an amazing tackle.
Obviously you follow the Beavs more than Oregon so I may be stepping a bit over the line here, [OUCH. Below the belt with some condescending patronization.]  but it seems to me that the strength of Oregon State is their Linebackers and D-Line. Let those guys make plays and use their superior ability to help out on the passing game so you don’t get burned on the edge. What Arizona did effectively was put a spy (sometimes 2) on Masoli and keyed the rest of their front on LMJ. The problem is that Masoli made great plays on the rollout. Yeah, he got stopped a few times for loss more than he normally would, but the edges were open most of the time and even when they weren’t, our receivers made plays.

[(Sigh) OK this is what I'm talking about. These guys are just having a nice, respectful, and even informative conversation about how the Beavs solve the problem of Masoli. The Beav respectfully brought Masoli up. And the Duck is trying to help him out.

Last chance. Hey Beav, the Duck did condescend you in suggesting he knew more about your own team than you. Cmon. Give him a shot. Something about his mother. Anything. LET'S GET THIS PARTY STARTED!!!!

You're not stepping over the line. You're absolutely correct
Our strength at D this year is in the front 7. And our DBs haven’t the best year. But let’s face it, neither have your receivers. Outside of Maehl, nobody has really stepped up (not to say that there isn’t talent there, they just haven’t lived up to it). I’ve seen about 5 games this year, and all I remember seeing is dropped ball after dropped ball, and Masoli making some throws that his arm strength probably doesn’t allow. He gets away with it because often times the receivers are matched up one on one, so there isn’t much need to “thread the needle.” My point is, we want to make sure we stop the run first and force Masoli to pass. That’s our best option.
Snnnnorrrrrrrrre . . . Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.....
What is this world coming to? The biggest Civil War ever is going to be the friendliest? What's with all this . . . . this maturity and niceness. Can't we all just stop getting along?

What's next, peace in the Middle East?  This has a stench of Socialism. Somehow Obama has got to be behind this.

I've got these new neighbors on our block. Beaver fans. They are the cutest young couple -- just starting out their married lives. They got their little Beaver banners and they go to all the Beaver home games on Saturday and to church on Sunday. Nice. Friendly.

And I'll tell you, after reading this stuff it almost -- ALMOST, I said -- makes me not want to TP their house and yard with green and yellow streamers after the Ducks crush their hopes and dreams Thursday night.

Oh I'm still going to do it. It's my duty as a Duck. But I'll probably refrain from the classic crap-in-a-burning-bag-and-ring-the-doorbell maneuver. Like I said, they're new neighbors. I'll save that for next year.

But fine. If the new Civil War is to civilly discuss technical strategy here, then Beavers, if you really want to crowd the line and force Masoli to throw, GO FOR IT.

Some of his or James' best runs came when all the D were against the line,  the O-line opened one hole --just one, and the ball carrier hit it perfect. And remember, you still have to know who is carrying the ball.

Take a look at this pic of the Arizona defense you speak so highly of. This was a TD. Arizona had everyone in the box. They knew it was going to be a run. Look at the AZ defender on the left. He's flying in to tackle the Duck whom he believes is the ball carrier, only to feel a little silly two seconds later.

You want Masoli to pass?  To hammer the above Duck blogger's point a little harder, I give you the names Ed Dickson, Jeff Maehl, Jamere Holland, Lavasier Tuinei, Garrett Embry, NIck Cole, Rory Cavaille, D.J. Davis, Tyrece Gaines, David Paulson -- all of these guys plus a few others have been on the receiving end of Duck passes. And they agree with you. They would love for Masoli to pass more. YOUR STRATEGY is to hope they drop too many passes.

Stopping Masoli's running and forcing him to throw is kind of like breaking Darth Vader's light sabre and forcing him to only throw heavy objects in the room at you with his mind.

But we're all friends here. So I really mean it when I say:
Good luck with that.

Bathroom Humor

You've probably seen this already. The Beaver port-a-potty.  A Beaver friend sent these pics to me a couple of years ago. Someone on the Beavs blog site http://www.buildingthedam.com/ felt he should drag it out again this week like some tired old Christmas lawn decoration.

Very funny. Creative. Took a lot of work and pride, no doubt.  But I'll see your Beaver with orange toilet. . . . . .

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. . . . . and raise you a Duck with Photoshop.

You might recall Ben Siegert was the legendary Beaver football player who got caught

speeding through campus drunk with a . . uh-hum, test subject from the gay sheep lab

riding in the back of his pickup. His explanation of the matter was never quite clear.

C'mon Beavs. Give us something new.
Future posts to reach a higher intellect are coming, unless I am forced to reply to another Beaver shot.  

They were just NOT going to lose.

I firmly believe that any man's finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle - victorious.

--Vince Lombardi

Jeff Maehl celebrates clutch endzone catch to tie score and send game into second overtime.

Photos from Oregonian and Arizona Republic.
[They never gave up. They never stopped believing. Even as the Arizona students started pouring out of the stands to rush onto the field in the final minute, the Ducks knew they weren't done.

"I saw it and I actually smirked. It was kind of funny. I wasn't really worried about it."

-- Jeremiah Masoli on seeing red-clad Arizona students ring the sidelines ready to rush the field.

[Back in 2000, the Ducks went down to ASU and came back from a two-digit deficit to defeat the Devils 56 - 55 in 2 overtimes. It was the game where Joey Harrington earned the nickname "The General". I wondered at the time if we would ever see anything like that again.
Clearly, yes.
In this game, the Wildcats scored 24 unanswered points and led by 10 at one point in the fourth quarter. They had the Mo. But Oregon had Masoli.

"I was just resolved," Masoli said. "I'm just really happy with the result and really proud of our guys. They just played their hearts out the whole time." 

Above: Masoli runs for first TD.

Right: Maehl makes that tough catch for score.

Below: Dickson catches TD to tie score at end of regulation. 

[While Oregon's defense did all it could to keep Arizona from running away with the game. . . .

  Left: One of three sacks on Nick Foles.

Right: Arizona fumble recovered by Will Tukuafu in endzone.

Below: Now THAT'S A TACKLE by T.J. Ward.

. . . Arizona still played tough. And they in turn refused to let Oregon get away with any cheap explosion plays.
Every point, every yard that the Ducks earned were hard.

So that's how they played.

Hard. ]

Right: LaMichael James gained 117 yards, but hardly any explosion runs and no TD's.

Cliff Harris was in perfect position, but still couldn't block this TD pass at the end of the first half.








[Which brings us back to the Lombardi quote, and the play of this special Duck team, especially Jeremiah Masoli. He was not going to walk off that field without his win. He showed incredible grit and character.

The winning TD.

It was announced today that he earned the National Performer of the Week Award by the College Football Performance Awards. No doubt if you asked him about it, he would tell you it's nice, but all the same, he'd rather win the Civil War and Rose Bowl.

"We just have perseverance," Masoli said. "That's one of the characteristics of this team. Everybody on our team believed to the end."

Don't let anyone stop you, Masoli.

If you didn't see the game or wish to watch it again, ESPN declared it an 'Instant Classic'. Look for it this week either on ESPN Classic or ESPNU.

We'll talk about Civil War soon enough. I'm going to let the memory of this incredible win sink in just a little while longer.] --kb

Wildcats will Coug it.

[With apologies to Washington State fans (Only the Cougars can 'Coug it'!), I predict the wheels will fall off Arizona's wagon.

The Wildcats are hoping to have history on their side -- the history of Oregon losing their starting quarterback to injury. But the real history is that Arizona typically wilts under the heat of the Pac-10 race.

Sure they've pounced on ranked teams. They've scored upsets. But when the team they face has something to play for and is staring right back at them, we always see Stoopid's Wildcats do their historic faceplant.

Last week against Cal was a perfect example. In case you missed it, late in the game trying to regain the lead, their QB Nick Foles (or if you prefer his rapper name:
"2 Forward Foles") attempted a second forward pass on the same play.

The following video features a clip of the play. A defected pass comes back into his hands and he's running around looking downfield for a bonus throw. Look for the ref. I swear, he's already got his hand on his hankie thinking, "Don't do it, kid. Don't DO IT . . ."

After the game, Stoops is asked if they ever go over the two throw rule in practice (like maybe he writes it on a board, draws a circle around it, then a line through it). His answer is basically 'no'. Can you blame him? How much can you get accomplished if you're teaching things your players should have learned in POP WARNER?

But this is kind of typical of Stoops' teams year after year. They're tough. Disciplined. Prolific scorers. Brick-walled defense. . . . . right up until the time of the season when the games become critical. And no matter how much he yells at them, the mistakes start happening. The stupid penalties (By the way, these guys know they've taken out Oregon's QB's. And they say they want to "hit" Masoli. Watch for 'late hit' and 'roughing the passer' flags.).

Here's the video on ESPN's College Football Live. They talk to Foles. Then the analyst diagrams and praises Arizona's offense. But notice what -- and how quick -- his  answer is when he's asked if AZ will get past Oregon:



Below is an excerpt from a good Sports Illustrated article (I recommend reading it.) by Cory McCartney, who calls this matchup the game of the week:

 Can the Wildcats handle the pressure? The Stoops era has been a slow revival, tempting fans with upsets before confounding them with yearly collapses. But now, Stoops has Arizona three wins from its first Rose Bowl berth.

Still, concerns remain. Last weekend's 24-16 loss to Cal trimmed the margin for error and raised doubts over Arizona's legitimacy as a Top 25 team. Back in the rankings for the first time since the end of 2000, the Wildcats posted their lowest points and rushing totals of the season and budding star quarterback Nick Foles delivered his third straight sub-250 yard performance. And, reverting to their error-prone ways of old, they allowed three sacks after giving up just four through their first eight games. Things weren't much better on defense, as the conference's No. 2 unit wilted, yielding eight points in the final 4:46.

The loss cast doubts as to whether a group of players unaccustomed to being in the hunt this late can handle the pressure -- which increases tenfold with the Pac-10's top-ranked scoring offense and defense on deck. [That would be the Ducks.

Don't forget, ESPN College Gameday will be on site again at 7 a.m. (Check your local listing to be sure.) And the game will be televised on ABC. Will this help or hurt Arizona? That's a lot of eyes staring at them and hoping they don't choke.

I hope Oregon goes in with the attitude that THEY brought the national spotlight with them. And good luck to Arizona if they think they're going to shine under the lights too.

Finally, here is one more video of the 'Cats when they are faced with unfamiliar adverstity in uncharted lands. Consider this my prediction:



[Oh poor kitty.] --kb

Arizona can only watch on film what they can't recreate on field.

[This article from the Arizona Republic finds the Wildcats with a particular preparation problem . . .]

UA looks to slow No. 11 Oregon

by Andrew Bagnato - Nov. 18, 2009 05:20 PM
Associated Press

TUCSON - After Arizona conceded 55 points to Oregon last year, the Wildcats' coaches might be tempted to destroy the game film.

Instead, they're studying it with their players, hoping to find clues to stopping the 11th-ranked Ducks when they visit Arizona Stadium on Saturday night.

"There's a lot we can learn off of last year's game," Arizona coach Mike Stoops said. "We're going to need to."

It's a painful lesson.

Oregon's 55 points is the most allowed by Arizona in Mike Stoops' six seasons in the desert. But Arizona's coaches are breaking the game into two halves, if only to maintain their sanity as they brace for the Ducks' invasion.

In the first half last year, the Ducks scored 45 points. Only three teams - No. 1 USC in 2004, No. 8 LSU in 2006 and No. 8 California in 2007 - have scored that many points in an entire game against Arizona during Stoops' tenure.

In the second half, Arizona limited Oregon to a touchdown and a field goal. Down 48-17, Arizona rallied to within 48-45 before the Ducks salted the game away on a 40-yard touchdown run by LeGarrette Blount, who had yet to become a national household name.

"When you look at the first half of last year's game, they got us moving all over the place and really (we) got a little discombobulated in that first half," Stoops said this week. "And then we finally settled down. We didn't make any major adjustments at halftime. We just started to play with a little more focus and discipline."

Oregon's coaches are picking apart the film to try to figure out what Arizona might throw at them in the rematch.

"Are we going to see what we saw in the first half or what we saw in the second half?" Oregon coach Chip Kelly said. "That's the chess match that goes on with the game - what do they keep from last year's game and what do they add new?"

Arizona's coaches aren't tipping their hand. [Allow me to peek behind their curtain. They have a new quarterback, a stable full of hurt running backs. Their All-American tight end is out. They're coming off a disappointing loss to Cal that exposed all kinds of mistakes and weaknesses . . . ]

"I think we have to change some things up and not show them the exact same looks in how we defend them," said Arizona defensive coordinator Mark Stoops, Mike's younger brother. [He's the one who stands behind Mike and yells, "YA!" whenever the head coach yells at someone.]

The Wildcats will try to learn as much as they can from film because few teams can simulate Oregon's offense in practice. It's difficult for the scout team to run the scheme as efficiently as the Ducks do, or at the same speed. [Can't simulate the efficiency and speed, huh? I guess that makes this Saturday night a teachable moment.]

Arizona State discovered that last weekend, when its usually stout defense gave up 31 points in the first half at Autzen Stadium. The Sun Devils gave up only a touchdown and two field goals in the second half of a 44-21 Oregon victory. [You mean while Oregon's starters were standing on the sidelines, laughin' and high-fivin'?]

"Until you get used to it for a quarter or two, it's really hard," ASU coach Dennis Erickson said. "First of all, you have to gauge the speed of what's going on early in the game, because the speed of the game is different than in practice. And if you're out on the field very long, you get tired at the end." [Butt kickin's are always hard to get used to at first. Erickson learned that in the pros. Actually, I feel for him. He's a good coach going through some tough times right now. I can just picture him at his practices muttering to himself, "Damn.  'Picked a bad time to stop drinkin'."]

This much is obvious: the Wildcats have to do a better job of tackling quarterback Jeremiah Masoli, whose deft play fakes are the heart of the Oregon attack.

"Just hit him," Wildcats cornerback Trevin Wade said. "Let him know we're going to be there." [Good luck with that. You better hope he still has the ball when you hit him. Masoli has been looking really comfortable the last three games, even at Stanford. He floats in the pocket, keeps his eyes downfield. His decisions to throw, keep or give the ball have been solid.]

Masoli set the tone a year ago by breaking a 66-yard touchdown run on the third play of the game.

The Ducks tacked on another quick TD on Patrick Chung's 31-yard interception return less than a minute later, but Arizona answered quickly, and late in the first quarter Oregon led only 14-10.

That's when it all fell apart for the Wildcats.

Starting with Masoli's 44-yard touchdown pass to Terence Scott, the Ducks put up 34 points in a span of 17:39.

By the time that run ended, Oregon led 48-17 with 12:46 to go in the third quarter.

The game appeared over to everyone but the Wildcats. They reeled off four straight touchdowns - three by running back Keola Antolin - and whittled the deficit to 48-45 with 6:38 to play.

The Wildcats could come no closer. Blount romped for a score with 3:38 to go, and Arizona was finished. It was Oregon's fourth TD of 40 or more yards that day.

The Wildcats looked at the stat sheet and wondered what happened.

The Ducks had the ball for only 18:14. Arizona ran more plays (98 to 57), gained more yards (527 to 504) and had more first downs (30 to 18).

The game film provides plenty of clues to the meltdown. Mark Stoops said he saw many plays where the Wildcats had men in the right position only to miss tackles.

"What frustrated me last year in the first half of that game was plays we should have defended and didn't," Mark Stoops said. "That's what's so hard." [If only they had Beared Down some more.]

[Below are highlights of last year's game in Eugene posted on YouTube by madmike1951 of http://www.winesfamily.blogspot.com/

And looking at it, I have to say Stupes is right. It must have been frustrating. Zona's players were there to make the tackles. But fakes, jukes, and pure speed of the Ducks was frustrating the heck out of their 'D'. And that was without 'Little Train' James. 
I was scared of this next game going into this week. But the more I look at it, the more I like Oregon's chances.
By the way, so do the odds makers. Yesterday, Oregon was favored by 5. Today it's 6.] --kb

Can't stop to smell the roses yet. But Ducks can start reaching for them.

[OK Here's where I give you articles, pics and comments about the previous game.
Here's the article (R-G): http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/web/sports/23092355-41/story.csp

Here are the photos (Oregonian):

And here's the commentary: The Ducks played much better than the week before.

OK that's it. We don't have any more time to dwell on ASU. We've got to move on. If you don't believe me, just check with Coach Chip Kelly. . . . .

We've started becoming accustomed to Coach Chip Kelly's strict disciplined regimen. So it raises an eyebrow when he deviates from it.

He doesn't want to talk about Rose Bowls or championships. He only wants to talk about the team his Ducks are playing that week.  On Saturday night he lets his team reflect on that game, then they focus on the next team starting Monday.

So his reply was a surprise when during the press conference after the 44-21 win over ASU, he was asked about Arizona -- next weeks opponent:

“Our guys, I’m sure they’re already getting ready for it and geared up,” Kelly said. “We’re in the stretch run, and you’ve got to be a good football team in November if you’re going to be a champion.”

Whoa, Kelly! "Already getting ready for it"? "Be a champion"? What are you trying to do, jinx the season?

Or is he in fact seeing the task ahead? Beating ASU was a necessary step. It was expected. It was accomplished. Oregon needs to be satisfied with that win for about five minutes then move on.

Next? Two huge games for all the marbles -- taken one at a time of course.  Win these two games, and the Ducks are Rose Bowl bound Pac-10 Champions. It's close enough now, he can bring that talk into the conversation. The players can see it. They can play for it.

But preparing for one team at a time is still the mantra, as Kelly reminds us in an excerpt in this article from the R-G]

No room for OSU in Kelly’s mind

A successful trip to Arizona tops the Civil War on the Duck head coach’s to-do list

By Rob Moseley

The Register-Guard

Appeared in print: Monday, Nov 16, 2009

The rest of the state of Oregon may already be peeking ahead a week to a Civil War for the Rose Bowl, but UO football coach Chip Kelly wasn’t having any of that Sunday. [I'd love to talk about the Rose Bowl right now, but Coach says 'No'.]

“Our thoughts are on Arizona,” Kelly said, looking ahead six days and only six days. “We’re not talking about that, have never talked about it all season long.”

While something of a buzzkill, there’s obvious merit to that attitude. The Ducks (8-2, 6-1 Pac-10) and Beavers will play for a trip to Pasadena on Dec. 3 assuming both win this week, which requires a UO victory Saturday in Arizona at 5 p.m. PST. [Lots of irony appearing for this Civil War. I'd go into more detail but Coach says 'No'. ]

The game will be televised by ABC, and ESPN’s College GameDay crew will broadcast from Tucson, despite a Wildcats loss to Cal on Saturday that prevented this from being a matchup of one-loss Pac-10 teams.

“They’ve got a great homefield advantage with their crowd, and obviously with GameDay being there and it being a national game, it’s going to be a great environment down there,” Kelly said.

While the Wildcats (6-3, 4-2) are coming off a loss that dropped them from the national polls, Oregon took care of business this past weekend, beating Arizona State 44-21 on Saturday. The Ducks moved up to No. 11 in all three major human polls Sunday, as well as the updated BCS standings.

Oregon’s only real hope for a BCS bid remains the Rose Bowl, which would mean a matchup with Big Ten champion Ohio State. The next hurdle in that path is the Wildcats, whose losses have come at nationally ranked Iowa, on a fluke interception at Washington and Saturday’s 24-16 loss at California. [I've got something to say about Ohio State but . . . . you know. . . .]

Arizona has an athletic defense that ranks 18th in the country in yardage allowed, and quarterback Nick Foles leads an offense that combines passing out of the spread with the kind of power rushing sets that have given the Ducks fits in November.

“Their diversity on offense is the first thing that jumps out at you,” Kelly said.

[More on Arizona, only Arizona, and nothing but Arizona later . . . . . . . . . . . OK, maybe one more comment about ASU. I was looking at this one pic . . . .]

The last time ASU RB Jamal Miles saw that many yellow 'O's around his head

was when a wicked hangover had his face plopped into a bowl of Cheerios.

Felt about the same, too.

[kb]

Let's hope Masoli, receivers worked to eliminate those dropsies.

[LeGarrette Blount's return to the team may be a moot point. ASU leads the league in rushing defense, but according to this report from the AZ Republic they've suddenly become thin in the secondary.

ASU thin at CB after suspension

by Doug Haller - Nov. 10, 2009 08:30 PM
The Arizona Republic

Arizona State's defense suddenly has become dangerously thin at the cornerback position.

Coach Dennis Erickson announced Tuesday that senior Terell Carr has been suspended indefinitely for violating team rules. Carr, a starter for seven games, had 28 tackles through nine games and had broken up a team-high six passes.

Erickson also said Omar Bolden's knee injury will sideline the junior cornerback for the rest of the season. Bolden hasn't played since Oct. 3.

"He just hasn't come back from that thing," Erickson said. "It's just not healing well."

Redshirt freshman Deveron Carr (no relation) and senior Pierre Singfield likely will start at cornerback Saturday at Oregon. Deveron Carr has just one start on his resume, but it came last week against Southern California.

Sophomore Josh Jordan and junior LeQuan Lewis will serve as backups, although Jordan was slowed Tuesday by a sore ankle.

"Hopefully, he can play," Erickson said. "If not, we're down to three corners."

Asked if he's concerned about starting younger players at such a late date in the season, Erickson said sometimes a coach doesn't have a choice.

"You just got to do it," he said. "They're all on scholarship. They got to step up and do what they're supposed to do. This happens all over the country, so I don't think we're unusual."

[Despite scoring 42 points, Masoli's receivers dropped a ton of passes at Stanford. If they are to capitalise, they'll have to knock off that silliness. ]


Sullivan on ice

Senior quarterback Danny Sullivan had an ice pack on his right biceps, which was sore from a recent hit. He took part in running plays but didn't do much throwing.

Freshman Brock Osweiler, who played the second half of Saturday's loss to Southern California, filled in. Erickson said he will announce Saturday's starter after Wednesday's practice or Thursday.

That place is LOUD

Senior linebacker Mike Nixon said he delivered this advice to those who have not played in Oregon's Autzen Stadium: [Curl into a fetal position and cry?]

"Just be ready to play without being able to hear." "Our offense obviously has to go silent count," he said. "Two years ago, our punt team had to go silent count, and that's really adjustments we've never had to make.

"Even when they're on offense, the place can get a little bit loud, especially after big plays. On defense, we've got to be able to use hand signals to make sure we're on the same page."
[And to add to the ambience, it's going to be cold and rainy. 
 What's the hand signal for "I want a warm blanky on my lap and a Norah Jones lullaby on my ipod for the plane ride home."?] --kb

BLOUNT REINSTATED

Here's the story from the R-G below. Read it and take the poll on the left.

Blount reinstated to UO football team
Nov. 9th, 2009
The Register-Guard

LeGarrette Blount has been reinstated to the Oregon football team and will be available to play Saturday when the Ducks host Arizona State at Autzen Stadium, coach Chip Kelly announced Monday morning.

Blount was suspended by Kelly after the senior running back punched a Boise State player in the moments after the Ducks’ season-opening loss in Boise.

On Oct. 2, Kelly announced a plan that would allow Blount to return to the team, provided he meet the conditions laid out by Kelly.

Blount has missed the last eight games but has remained with the Ducks as a member of the scout team.

“I’m grateful to coach Kelly that he cares enough to offer me this second chance,” Blount said in a statement. “Now it is up to me to prove to people that their lasting impressions of me are not what they saw in Boise.

“When I am ready to address this further with the public and the media, I will do so,” Blount added. “Until that time, I feel my actions can speak louder than anything I could say. I just want to help my teammates who have been supportive of me.”

In a press release, Kelly emphasized that Blount would continue to be held accountable to those conditions for the remainder of the year.

Kelly said he forwarded his recommendation for Blount’s reinstatement to Oregon athletic director Mike Bellotti Sunday night, who in turn passed it along to University President Richard Lariviere and Pacific-10 Conference Commissioner Larry Scott.

“After a thorough review of the situation, I am convinced LeGarrette Blount paid a significant and appropriate price for the mistakes he made on the field, and that he has learned important life-long lessons,” Scott said in a statement.

Bellotti said he learned, approximately the time the UO men’s basketball game ended Sunday night, that the Pac-10 had approved reinstating Blount. He said he’d been optimistic about obtaining that approval.

“We all feel very comfortable,” Bellotti said Monday. “This was a well-orchestrated, supervised situation. LeGarrette’s done everything that’s been asked of him, and we’ll continue to do that the remainder of his time.”

Bellotti said Blount “had some grades come due and papers last week, and I think there’s a comfort zone that he’s not only doing all the steps, but doing it in a proper manner.”

Bellotti said he’s reviewed the reporters by two athletic department officials charged with overseeing Blount’s progress, football academics coordinator Tim Bruegman and assistant athletic director James Harris.

“There were real markers or steps that LeGarrette had had to do or had to perform,” Bellotti said.

Overall, Bellotti said, “I’m pleased. I think it was handled in a manner that makes a very serious statement about Oregon athletics and what we expect of our athletes. At the same time, there was a human element to giving him a second chance and giving him the opportunity. But he earned that opportunity to get back on the field.”

Bellotti emphasized that Oregon’s decision was not influenced in any way by boosters, donors or lawyers.

A small bump in the road.

Oregon still controls it's destiny
[Oregon had a loss to give. Thanks to their win over USC, and with Arizona still on the schedule, Oregon can still win the championship if they win out.  The only thing that's changed is that Oregon now probably HAS to win all of it's remaining games.

Both Arizona and Stanford still have the toughest parts of their schedules ahead of them. Arizona still needs to beat Oregon and not lose at Cal, at ASU, and at USC.
Stanford  -- with two losses but now with the tiebreaker over Oregon -- also needs to play at USC and at home against Cal.

Oregon is home against ASU, at Arizona, and home for the Civil War.  Arizona is the must worrisome. Ya I know, don't discount OSU. But at Arizona, it's going to be tough.  Their running back Nic Grigsby is hurt. But their QB Nick Foles is proving to be (say it with me now) "the toughest quarterback the Ducks will face". 

What happened today?
Oregon scored 42 points and lost. No other team has dropped that many on Stanford and lost this season. But honestly, it wouldn't be fair to hang this on the defense and suggest that they're suddenly bad.

Stanford had two weeks to prepare for this game. And they didn't spend that time working on beating Oregon. They focused on being a better Stanford. Running, blocking, throwing, catching. The Cardinal did it all superbly today, just like Oregon did  last week. The Cardinal could've beaten anybody today.

The good things to take from this game is that 1) the Rose Bowl is still there for Oregon. 2) The offense still works, although they sure could've done without all those dropped passes today. 3) Toby Gerhart is behind them. 4) They can regroup at Autzen next week.

More later, ] --kb

Best of Luck to you, Stanford.

Ducks call Kellen Moore, Joey Elliott, Terrance Cain, Kevin Riley, Kevin Prince, Jake Locker, Matt Barkley,  Andrew Luck the best quarterback they'll face
[They've been saying it every week. And I understand Oregon's coaches have to approach each QB as if.  But they're serious. Here's a piece of John Hunt's  story from the Oregonian quoting defensive secondary coach John Neal.]

Andrew Luck
"He's [Stanford QB Andrew Luck] unbelievable,'' Neal said. "I think he's the best quarterback since, I don't know, Brett Favre.'' [Brett Favre? (scoff)  He's Tom Brady, inside a John Elway, wrapped in a Troy Aikman!]

It isn't just coaching hyperbole. As the Cardinal (5-3, 4-2) try to prepare for the Ducks' speed and tempo on offense, the Oregon coaching staff are dissecting film of what could be the most talented passer this team - coming off meetings with Washington's Jake Locker and USC's Matt Barkley - has faced this season.

Luck will put his league-leading passing efficiency (16th in the nation) against an Oregon pass defense that not only leads the league but is also giving up a paltry 5.1 yards per pass. 


Luck can run, too. His 215 rushing yards are the most by a Stanford quarterback since Don Bunce's 248 in 1971. [Wow. Masoli has more than twice that. He's the only QB amongst the top 10 league rushers. But if you say 215 like were supposed to say wow, then OK. Wow. That's over 26 yards per game. Wow.]

[The numbers don't lie. But they don't tell the whole story either. Glance at the pass efficiency ranking of Pac-10 quarterbacks below. . . . .

PASS EFFICIENCY Team Cl G Att Cmp Int Pct. Yds TD Eff.

------------------------------------------------------------------

1. Luck, Andrew........ STAN FR 8 196 114 3 58.2 1825 9 148.5

2. Foles, Nick......... ARIZ SO 6 191 138 5 72.3 1399 11 147.5

3. Canfield, Sean...... OSU SR 8 273 188 4 68.9 2039 11 142.0

4. Barkley, Matt....... USC FR 7 199 118 6 59.3 1727 9 141.1

5. Riley, Kevin........ CAL JR 8 227 126 2 55.5 1805 13 139.4

6. Masoli, Jeremia..... ORE JR 7 160 97 2 60.6 1127 6 129.7

7. Locker, Jake........ WASH JR 8 280 158 8 56.4 1968 12 123.9

8. Sullivan, Danny..... ASU SR 8 262 142 7 54.2 1658 8 112.1

9. Prince, Kevin....... UCLA FR 6 167 92 4 55.1 1052 4 111.1

[Sure 'nuff. There's Luck at the top. But what do the top three quarterbacks have in common? They haven't played the Ducks yet. Who was at the top last week? Matt Barkley. After Oregon, he's fourth.
Same goes for their running back. Toby Gerhart leads the league in rushing ahead of Quiz Rogers and LaMichael James. Again, the top two rushers in week nine have yet to play Oregon. I don't think that's a coincidence. 

Let's get the headline straight:
Ducks are the best defense Luck will face.

Don't get me wrong. Stanford's a good team. They are better than the Ducks in some stat categories, and only a little worse in others -- except for one area, the most important: Scoring.
Oregon leads the league in both scoring offense and defense. Stanford: third and fifth respectively. Not bad.
But the real difference is inside the 20's. Oregon ranks first in both Red Zone offense and defense. Stanford? Ninth and tenth.  And remember, they haven't played Oregon yet.
Here's where I'm getting my stats: http://www.pac-10.org/sports/m-footbl/stats/2009-2010/confldrs.html

The popular feeling is that Stanford, with their week off, will be ready for Oregon. They'll bedazzle the Ducks with a sound offense and tight defense. . .
. . . for a half.
Then Oregon will make halftime adjustments, pick up the pace of the no-huddle against Stanford's big ol' Hos linemen, and start scoring like they're running down a ski slope.
How are the players preparing for Stanford? Are they worried about a let down, a slip-up, a November surprise?  Here's Ed Dickson from that same article:

 Oregon tight end Ed Dickson got an early start on his Stanford preparation this week. He stopped over at the Casanova Center, got some lunch and watched film of the Cardinal on the team's normal off-day. He came away impressed with Stanford's work ethic but still confident.
"I just wanted to see the character of the team, see how we can break their will, so to speak,'' Dickson said. "They play very hard, but if we match their toughness, they'll fall.''
Wow. ] --kb

Colin Cowherd weighs in . . .

[Colin Cowherd is one of my favorite sports talking heads. Formerly the Channel 8 sports announcer in Portland, he is now doing quite well with his on syndicated national talk show on ESPN -- The Herd.

Monday, he talked at length about Oregon's win over USC -- particularly the mastermind of it, Chip Kelly.

In his praise of Kelly, he backhands Mike Bellotti. I don't agree with everything he says. And I don't think Chip Kelly would either. But it's still very thought provoking.

I took the time to transcribe his four-minute conversation on the topic rather than just leave you with the link to sort through the entire 15-minute radio segment. (The thankless things I do for you readers. . . . . ). ]--kb

Speaking of USC: When USC loses in the Pac-10, the team that beats them never gets any credit. The whole story is “USC lost. They’re terrible”.

Folks, Oregon is good. Since Chip Kelly took over the Oregon program two years ago, they’ve averaged 49 points in two bowl games and 50 points in bowl games and bye weeks.

They are the most progressive offense in the country. In . . . . 2007 they scored 53 points in a bye week in October; and scored 56 in a bowl game.

Last year in a bye week they scored 54 at Arizona State, then 65 on a bye week against rival Oregon State, then 42 against Oklahoma State. That tells you that they run a very progressive offense. Give them a little extra time and they’re amazing.

Now this week they didn’t have any extra time; but . . . you know . . . . its not that USC is terrible. Other than Florida, I don’t think anyone in the country goes into Oregon and wins that game. I mean they’re just really exciting . . . . really progressive.

I thought there was a moment . . . . in that football game that completely jumped out to me. When right before half, this totally. . . to me, was an indelible moment that’s etched into my mind.

Did anybody notice Chip Kelly of Oregon, leading by seven against USC at home? Most coaches in this country would be happy with the lead. They had momentum and the lead.

A minute left. USC had the ball. . . . . He’s calling TIMEOUT! He wants to get the ball back with 40 seconds and score on USC.

That bleeds over to the players. The Oregon coaching staff didn’t have the ball with a minute left in the half. They’re calling timeout.

“We want the ball back. We want the ball back. We want the ball back. We want to score again, and again, and again, and again.”

Chip Kelly to Pete Carrol before game:

"I'll make you a deal, Pete. If we beat you by two, . . .no, make that three touchdowns, you have to promise never to step outside the coach's box again.

That kind of leadership, that kind of progressive and aggressive leadership bleeds over to the players.

And it’s great because Oregon is a very touchy-feely state. It’s a very “Every kid gets a ribbon” state. I mean they named their football field after a coach with a sub-500 record.

They need a kick-arse East coast guy. And Chip Kelly’s a kick-butt, pedal-to-the-metal, rub-it-in-your-face, drop 70 on ya, never apologize . . . .

Oregon’s been dying for this for years.

Mike Bellotti coached there for 15 years. They could never seize the number two position in the Pac-10. Chip Kelly’s been there for two years, they are clearly the number 2 school in the Pac-10. CLEARLY. Clearly the number 2 program. . . . took Chip Kelly two years.

I always said, with Phil Knight’s money, there is no excuse they’re not the second best program, easily, in the Pac-10. For 15 years they just meandered around, they were nice and everybody got a ribbon.

And Chip Kelly will spit on you, score 80, never apologize, out-recruit you. Call a timeout, bury USC.
“Don’t be happy. We’re gonna crush you. In your face. We don’t take second place.”

I LOVE it!

I used to live in that state. And it’s so touch-feely, and “Don’t be mean” and “Give everybody a trophy.”

SCREW THAT. The crappy kids sit on the bench. The good kids play. Who cares if they go home and cry? They’ll come back and be tech-nerds and make millions. ##

[I love it too. What Duck fan wouldn't? When he suggests Bellotti failed to make Oregon the #2 team in the Pac-10 (USC being #1 if you hadn't figured that out), the knee-jerk reaction might be "Wait a minute, we finished second several times in Bellotti's tenure. How many Holiday bowl trips, three, four? But that's not where Cowherd's coming from.

He's saying , "Ask any college football fan in the country, 'Who is the best team in the Pac-10?'." The clear answer should be USC. Who is the second best? Cowherd's point is that Bellotti never could make Oregon the obvious answer. Never mind making Oregon better than USC. That's a tall order for any team. But to make Oregon consistently and clearly better than the remaining eight teams . . . that's what Kelly is doing.

Cowherd lost me, however, with his "The crappy kids sit on the bench. The good kids play. Who cares if they go home and cry."

He's Chip Kelly, not Mike Stoops. He loves his players and motivates the "crappy" players to be good. He fills them with belief, confidence, and self respect. Otherwise, these underclassmen wouldn't be filling in marvelously for LeGarrette Blount, TJ Ward, Walter Thurmond III, Willie Glasper, Jeremiah Masoli, and any other starters who didn't play for one reason or another. The last time we lost that many key starters at those positions, the Ducks went 6-5.

I just don't want anyone to feel hurt by Cowherd's words. Still, I think he did a fine job and deserves a ribbon.] --kb