Weathering Desert Storm

I've been checking the local and national weather forecasters for Eugene on Friday. They all say it'll rain. Temps are guestimated anywhere as high as 46 and as low as 34.
    I'm going to the game, but make no mistake. I'm not wishing for crispy comfy fall football watching weather.
    I want it WET. And I want it very VERY COLD.  For Arizonans, a wet 40 degrees should feel like 10.  But I want it colder. Forget home field advantage. I'm hoping for home planet advantage.
    The Wildcats are never easy. They never give up.  Against them, every play is critical. Their tenacity is scary. Dennis Dixon ended his career against 'Zona. So did Kellen Clemens. 

    But it swings both ways. Last year Arizona was ready to go to the Rose Bowl. With a minute left, their fans were leaping over the wall ready to charge the field. Oregon and Masoli smiled at the spectacle, then took it all away.
    These two teams have smashed each other's dreams like a hammer to a light bulb more times than either side would care to remember.
    And now, with a sophomore starter and no experienced backup at QB, Oregon is number 1 and in a unique position where a Rose Bowl berth would be a disappointment.

Oregon's light bulb this season is literally made of Waterford Crystal.

Sears BCS National Champ Trophy
That ain't recycled bottle glass.

    Friday night, I want the skies to pour. I want the air to freeze. I want the awesome Autzen noise to open chasms in the earth and send mountains into the sea, so much so that the Wildcats will say, "Screw this. Let's just jump on the plane with pillows and warm blankys and get the hell out of here."
    The Ducks are preparing for the Wildcats like they've prepared for everyone else -- Winning one day at a time. Fast. Hard. Finish. The Lord loves a workin' man. No 'I' in TEAM. Just here to support the ball club. . . etc.
    Duck fans are nervous because that win in Cal was a little scary. And for two games in a row now, the prolific Ducks have been shut out in the first quarter.
    Legitimate worries or insignificant nit picks?  We'll know Friday.  For what it's worth, Arizona beat Cal this year 10 to 9. So hey, it happens.

The following from the R-G speaks to the current health situation of the Ducks:
Oregon football: Duck RB tougher’n an old boot

LaMichael James vows to play against Arizona

By Adam Jude
The Register-Guard
Published: Monday, Nov 22, 2010 05:01AM

Oregon star running back LaMichael James was back on the practice field Sunday, eight days after leaving California’s Memorial Stadium on crutches with his left foot in a boot.

The nation’s rushing leader and Heisman candidate was not listed on the team’s official injury report Sunday, but he was limited to non-contact drills during Oregon’s first practice after their closed bye-week workouts.

James vowed that nothing would stop him from playing Friday, when the No. 1 Ducks (10-0, 7-0 Pac-10) play host to No. 20 Arizona for a 4 p.m. kickoff at Autzen Stadium. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.

“He’s a tough sucker,” UO coach Chip Kelly said. “He’ll be ready to play.”
[Everyone is saying LaMJ is looking good. He didn't practice Tuesday. But Kelly said he'll get enough reps in for the week, and it's good to rest him and give his backups Kenjon Barner and Remene Alston Jr. more touches. I would love to see both of them more involved.]

It seems far more unlikely that another regular starter on the UO offense, receiver Lavasier Tuinei, will be able to play against Arizona (7-3, 4-3).

Tuinei suffered a left shoulder injury in Oregon’s 15-13 victory over Cal on Nov. 13, and he had his arm wrapped in an armband Sunday.

“I’m just day-to-day,” Tuinei said. [You know that Oregon never has any official details on the injury. But the unofficial word that came out was a cracked clavicle.]

The 6-foot-5 junior from Arcadia, Ind., is second on the team with 33 catches this season, with two touchdowns.

He is also considered one of the team’s best down-field blockers, which has been integral in the success Oregon’s ground game.

Josh Huff, a versatile reserve as a true freshman, took Tuinei’s place with the first-string offense Sunday.

“It’s very frustrating,” Tuinei said of not being able to practice. “I love just going out there and practicing with the boys, but I’m just out there helping the younger guys. Josh Huff is going to be taking my spot, so I’m just helping him out.”

[True freshman Josh Huff has proved to be an excellent athlete. Having run the 100 meters in just over 10 secs in high school, Huff is the fastest of the receivers.  Kelly was afraid he would miss Tuinei's blocking abilities, but word out of Tuesday's practice is that Huff is making it his mission as he maintained a block and pushed a guy into the sidelines.]

During the first half against Cal, Tuinei was injured while running a crossing route and colliding with defensive back Marc Anthony. Both players stayed down momentarily. Tuinei did not return to the game.

“I was just supposed to distract him, but we got tangled up a little bit,” Tuinei said.

Kelly is typically tight-lipped about injuries, and he too termed Tuinei “day-to-day.”

Another regular on the UO offense, junior tackle Darrion Weems, was held out of practice with an unspecified leg injury.

The Ducks remained No. 1 in the three major polls on Sunday and in the BCS standings, with Auburn right behind at No. 2. Victories over Arizona and at Oregon State in its final two games would put Oregon in its first BCS national title game, and having a healthy James can only help that cause.

“I feel OK,” James said. “It really is big for me to get back out here with my teammates. I’m going to play injured, hurt, whatever.

“I’m going to be with my teammates regardless of what the situation is.”

James said he was injured late in the third quarter of the Cal game when a defender’s helmet landed on his foot and ankle. He left the field during Oregon’s game-ending 9 1/2-minute drive, and backup Kenjon Barner came in for six carries.
[The other dimension that Barner provides is as an excellent receiver. If Oregon is to do a better job of passing than their effort against Cal, Barner can help big time.]

James returned for five consecutive rushes, his last a seven-yard run on third-and-five that allowed the Ducks to take a knee and run out the clock.

James said he rehabbed twice a day during Oregon’s bye last week.

“It still is (in) a little bit (of) pain,” he said. “But in a couple days I’ll be fine.” [Again, this was Monday.]

Barner, one of James’ closest friends on the team, said he had no concerns about his fellow running back.

“He’s been good,” Barner said. “LaMichael’s been LaMichael — the same funny dude week in and week out. That doesn’t change.”

One thing James hopes does change this week is Oregon’s effort in practice.

The Ducks were held to season lows in almost every offensive category against Cal — they hadn’t scored fewer than 42 points in their first nine games — and James said he thinks he knows why.
“We need to practice better — that’s the big key,” he said. “Practice is everything. We practiced hard for Cal, but we probably didn’t practice as hard as we should. We gotta pick that up.”

[Not just practice harder, but practice the right things. What really broke down for Oregon at Cal was the long ball. Cal's Dbacks kept cheating up close to the line, and Darron Thomas could not make them pay for it often enough. Too many drops and overthrows when Cal's line was NOT in his face.

Kyle Arps of the Tucson Citizen helps make that aspect even more apparent as he admittedly contradicts himself in this excerpt from his story.]

Arizona’s defense needs to return to how it played at the start of the season. They were dominating, destructive, and ruthless. [Against Toledo and The Citadel.] The defensive line is going to be a huge factor in this game because they need to stop the run and force Oregon to beat them through the air, but the problem is, teams have beaten us through the air. [We have them right where we want them . . . if only they weren't there.]  The defensive backs are going to have to step up as well and not get beat on deep routes. Oregon is going to pull A LOT of play action, and fakes because the Wildcats DB’s have bitten a lot this season.

[He's right. But not completely right.  Oregon doesn't have to throw a ton to win. It's going to be hard enough with the weather. They only need to connect enough times and threaten the rest to keep Arizona's secondary out of the running box. That will allow Oregon's downhill running machine to wear down the "Bear Down" Wildcats in the cold driving rain.]

When Arizona has the ball, speculation has them starting QB and awesome passer Nick Foles, but rotating in the more mobile Matt Scott when needed.
    If Oregon can jump on an early lead and then stop the running duo of Nic Grigsby and Keola Antolin, they can force Arizona into a one dimensional passing team. That's where the weather and Autzen crowd can come into play.
    And uhh. . . . . oh ya, Cliff Harris will be out there too.   As they say, the oceans cover 2/3 of the earth. Cliff Harris covers the rest.

OTHER THINGS TO WATCH: Coach Stoops vowed that his team wouldn't stoop* so low as to fake injuries when Oregon has the ball. We'll see.
*Did you catch that? I made a punny.

OREGON ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT DECLARES THIS GAME BLACK AND YELLOW-OUT DAY with odd sections in the stadium wearing black and even sections wearing yellow. Or is it the other way around? I don't know.
   Hey listen. I love the black and yellow combination. It's totally Killer Bee-ish. And as I am going to this game, you'd think I'd be all geeked up about color coordinating.  But it's late November. And there's a difference between buying a $12 T-shirt of the proper color and buying a storm shielding $120 coat for the same purpose. 

It's warm. It's dry. And it's green.
Get over it.

   I have a thigh-length Nike coat that is just lovely. It's insulated, it's dry, and it's mostly GREEN. It's very special because it was given to me by a good friend and Nike employee who personally yanked it out of a 12-year old child worker's hands on the assembly line in Indonesia. And he brought it home and gave it to me.
    I discovered I'm not the only one sighing over this directive from Casanova Headquarters. Tweets and blog comments abound as people reply to Hans and Fronk or whoever is in charge of interior decorating at Autzen: "Hey guys, give us a break. It's going to be cold and wet. We're wearing what we're wearing and it'll be fine."

Gametime Friday, 4pm Pacific on ESPN.
Everyone have a great Thanksgiving. --KB