Bummed VolWhen Tennesseeans crawled out and looked around after all the thunder, lightning, and pounding rain (Oh by the way, the weather was bad too.), they realized what they had just experienced.
Oregon's lightning pace -- which comes from all the conditioning and preparation to maintain that pace -- was just too much for the Volunteers as the day wore on. If only that 70 minute storm delay had come later in the second half to give them time to catch their breaths, then they might've had a chance.
Counting between snaps, sometimes Darron Thomas was able to get the next play off in as little as 10 or 11 seconds. Successful or not, the Ducks jumped up from the last play, ran back into formation and were ready for the next. That hustle is Oregon's routine in practice.
For conventional old school teams like Tennessee, they only move that fast as punishment when they've made the coach mad. How is any team not used to that frenzy supposed to mimic it just the week before? |
| The Tennessean newspaper's caption for this photo actually said: "Tennessee's Justin Hunter (11) breaks up a pass intended for Oregon's Cliff Harris (13) during second half action Saturday." In all fairness, Vol QB Matt Simms at times looked like his intended targets were Oregon's defensive backs, especially Harris, who returned one for a score. |
Ducks felt Vols getting tired
By Mike Griffith
http://www.govolsxtra.com/
Posted September 12, 2010 at 1:08 a.m.
Oregon coach Chip Kelly said he felt it would only be a matter of time before the Ducks' superior conditioning kicked in.
"We pride ourselves on our conditioning, and that's something we felt we could take advantage of,'' Kelly said. "Our guys at halftime said, 'Coach, I think they're dying, we need to really pick up the tempo and go.' "
Oregon (2-0) did just that, breaking open a 13-13 tie by outscoring Tennessee (1-1) by a 35-0 margin in the second half of the 48-13 win before the crowd of 102,035 at Neyland Stadium on Saturday night.
The Vols had jumped out to a 6-0 lead when the game was delayed 70 minutes on account of lightning.
"I actually asked the officials if we could start the game over,'' Kelly said. "They had taken advantage of some things with the unbalanced (line).''
UT tailback Tauren Poole rushed for 140 of his 162 yards in the first half before the Ducks' defense was able to adjust to the Vols' run game.
"They had a great plan and a great running back, and they got us with a couple quick counts,'' Oregon safety Eddie Pleasant said. "They ran a lot of flop (unbalanced) and we had to settle down and adjust to it.''
The Ducks' offense, meanwhile, felt itself hitting stride in the second quarter.
"On one of our scoring drives in the second quarter you could tell they were getting tired,'' Oregon tight end David Paulson said.
Running back LaMichael James said even through the game was tied 13-13 at the half, the Oregon players knew they had hit a rhythm.
``We didn't make any adjustments in the second half,'' James said. ``It comes down to tempo. Once the tempo gets going, it's hard to stop. Once those guys got tired we kept rolling.''
"In the second quarter we knew we were in the flow and sensing we were getting ready to break,'' James said. "They were doing a lot of talking and rah-rah before the game. . . I heard them in the pre-game saying 'you aren't that fast.' " [Oh ya? Well Elvis wasn't that great!]
Forty two unanswered points and 447 total yards, Oregon scored like they were running downhill. They put up three points in the first quarter, ten in the second, 14 in the third, then 21 in the fourth.
This was a convincing win for the Ducks. They convinced the AP to rank them 5th in the nation. But they had better forget about this one and move on.
Next up for Oregon: PSU.
OK, maybe it's Portland State, not Penn State. But this is no time to get cocky!
Five minute hilite reel of game from goducks.com.
--kb
3 comments:
Come on Kill Bee where are the cool polls and voting you give us on your blog. Your blog is the only reason I even turn on my computer at work.
My apologies. I was trying something new this year. It's called HAVING A LIFE!!
Obviously it's not working. I'll get'cha your damn polls and schedule.
Thanx for the new polls Killer Bee. I voted for Bristol Palin he's a good RB.
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