Last week in Pullman, WSU led Colorado -- which was considered the worst team in the Pac-12 at the time -- by a score of 31 -14 with around eight minutes left in the game.
The Cougs lost 35-34. With an elegant style and grace all their own, this young Coug team, led by their new and exciting coach Mike Leach, added their own glossy and glittered page to the historical annals of "Cougin' It".
Before knowing the score or story of the game last Saturday, I came across a tweet from a WSU fan that said "This is the worst game I've ever watched sober". I knew right then that there was trouble in the Palouse.
After watching the highlights, my answer to him and all Coug fans is don't be too hard on your team. It actually looked like the best game they've ever played drunk!
In the article, he offers a great analysis as to how and why the Cougs proved so capable of blowing that lead. Below is an excerpt:
At Texas Tech, [Coach Mike] Leach built a winning program that culminated in a bowl game each of the 10 years he coached the Red Raiders. As his teams ascended to the top of the national rankings, his “Air Raid” offense became national recognized for its ability to gain yards and score points in bunches.
The only problem, if you are familiar with the game of football, is that incompletions stop the clock. When your quarterback throws 60 passes and 28 of them are incompletions, like Halliday did Saturday, it is hard to run time off the clock while attempting to maintain a lead.
Coach Leach might have been able to get away with that all day any day at Texas Tech. But he's in Pullman now -- where good leads go to die. If there is any way to lose a game, you'll find that way in Pullman. Consider it the curse of the Palouse, where the white man probably screwed over the natives at one time or another.
When in Seattle . . . This game will be in Seahawks Stadium in Seattle. It counts as a home game for WSU because they ain't no fools. They know that they can get far more Duck AND Cougar fans in Seattle (Read that: Ticket revenue.) than at Martin Stadium. This isn't the first time they've done this. And Duck and Coug fans are learning to love the pregame tradition of joining arm in arm, crossing flags in a rainbow of red, green, grey, and yellow, and shouting in one unified voice: "HUSKIES SUCK. HUSKIES SUCK ......."
And after the game when Duck fans walk out of the stadium into the parking lot to join Coug fans who already left the game two quarters before to seek the comfort of their grills and beverage coolers, they can all raise their brews and agree once again, "HUSKIES STILL SUCK. HUSKIES STILL SUCK....."
It's a beautiful thing.
SPEAKING OF THE HUSKIES
Husky fans storm field after beating No. 8 Stanford 17-13.
Why did Dawg fans storm the field after the game last night? Because they won a trip to the National Championship? The Rose Bowl?
No. They just won, period. They beat a ranked team, which these days is cause for great celebration in Dawg Nation.
Oh how the mighty have fallen. There was a time in Washington when beating Stanford was like a trip to the grocery store. You get what you need. "Thank you. Have a nice day." Then move on.
But these days, any better-than-average win is cherished. Last night, Dawg fans made it official: Washington and Oregon have completely switched places.
If he were dead, Don James would roll in his grave. In fact, this should make James want to kill himself just so he can roll in his grave.
And now, from CREEDENCE COUGWATER REVIVAL
Keep on Cougin’ it.
Keep on Cougin’ it.
Keep on Cougin’ it.
Cougin’ it,
Cougin’ it, Cougin’ it, Cougin it.
Maybe you don’t understand it.
But if you’re a Washington State man,
You drop the ball and run out of time
And that’s what I call Couuuugin’ it.
Up by a score. Give up that score.
You gonna Coug it tonight
Lead goes ker-blewie, home crowd starts booin’.
They gonna Coug it tonight.
Dee diddle doodle, diddle doo da dah Dee diddle doodle, diddle doo da dah Dee diddle doodle, diddle doodle, diddle doodle, diddle do da da dah
(Repeat two more times) DWOP. DWOP. DWOP. DWOP. Dwaa daa dwaa daa dwaa daa dwaa daa DWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP
“God bless ya. Thank youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!!!”
(Editor's note: The hardest part of this whole post was interpreting and writing down Southern Fried Rock electric guitar. You can sing the above words right along with John Fogerty because fortunately, like Dylan and Springsteen, he sings with that special quality of completely unintelligible lyrics. But it is Fogerty live, nevertheless. So you must crank it. Get the whole office dancin'.)
Oregon at Washington State in Seattle gametime: Saturday night @ 7:30 on ESPN2. Tired of the night games? Afraid they're still coming. Next week against Washington is at 7:30. Then at ASU is an "early" game at 6:00 pm.
Right now, Kelly has himself one-half of a Top-5 football team. The pollsters will be fooled by the blowout final score. The computers will be fooled by the outcome. But anyone who saw the defense dominate, and the offense rely on two first-half drives of 17 plays and 16 plays that resulted in, ack, the first two field goals of the season knows what I'm talking about. There were bad snaps, and crucial penalties, and a failure to convert open opportunities. All that, washed away by a defense that might not ever play a more complete
game.
Maybe we ought to accept this victory, no questions. Take what you can get, especially given the chaos in the Top 10. Maybe the Ducks defense will be enough this season to make the offense not matter so much. So many maybes, but also that 4-0. But I suspect Oregon knows, down deep, it has a more complete game in it than the one it played on Saturday.
When I read this story, I had to chuckle. How far the Ducks have come that fans and writers these days would criticize them after beating a 22nd ranked conference foe by a score of 49 to zip.
I get it. A lot of mistakes were made. And now Oregon has moved up to the #2 spot. What if the Natty were held today and Oregon played Alabama? Ya, definitely not ready. Better to continue testing their wings against Washington State.
'Zona was expecting the Reggie Bushesque DeAnthony Thomas. Instead they got a big dose of Toby Gerhart-like pounding from 6'5", 240 lb. Colt Lyerla. Move over, DAT. Put Lyerla on the cover of S.I.
Arizona was the first serious competition of the season. Despite the score, I think they're a good team. They made a ton of mistakes. Their QB Matt Scott injured his hip in the first quarter, limiting his ability to keep the ball and run, which shut down down a third of their options. But they're on the right track.
Coach Richard Rodriguez called their inability to score with six chances in the red zone "embarrassing". To Oregon's defense, it was a badge of pride for hard work and preparation.
Rose Bowl hero Kiko Alonzo snags this blocked field goal attempt. It was one of Arizona's six failed scoring attempts in the red zone.
Aaron Fentress wrote in the Oregonian:
Defensive tackle Wade Keliikipi blocked a 31-yard field goal attempt. Ekpre-Olomu intercepted his first pass of the night off Arizona Scott at the Oregon 12. Defensive end Tony Washington stopped Scott for a one-yard loss from the Oregon two on fourth down. Oregon made similar tough stops in a win over Fresno State.
"Our coaches prepare us so we know what we have to do in every situation," said Oregon cornerback Troy Hill, who added a 29-yard interception return for the touchdown.
If not for such performances, Oregon easily could have lost this game. The offense had zero explosion plays until the third quarter.
In another article, one of Oregon's players said the D's preparation includes practicing having to defend a short field after a turnover. Definitely came in handy.
This is critical because it won't be the last time this season when the D is called upon to save the day while this young offense works game-by-game to clean up it's act.
But alas, Arizona is now someone else's problem. Have fun USC when you go to Tucson. And congratulations, Trojans, on your underwhelming 27-9 win over the "tough" Cal Bears.
Next, we ask the question: Could this be the Coug-iest Coug team in the history of Cougdom?
If you've been able to watch all three of Oregon's games this season, you noticed something. Nobody huddled. All three of Oregon's opponents have adopted a no-huddle, with some of them spreading their offense more than others.
Tennessee Tech's coach Watson Brown said they changed their offense after seeing Oregon's last year. Teams in high school, college and even a couple in the pros are dabbling with this Oregonesque style offense because it works and it's fun to watch.
But where did Chip Kelly get the idea? When Arizona comes to town, we will be introduced to their new head coach Rich Rodriguez -- the Socrates to Kelly's Plato. The Yoda to Kelly's Obi-Wan. The Carson to Kelly's Letterman. The Bruce Lee to Kelly's Jackie Chan. The Amana Radar Range to Kelly's Sharp Carousel. The Diet Coke to Kelly's Coke Zero. The iPhone to Kelly's iPhone 4S. The Viagra to Kelly's Time-Released Cialis. (Hey, I'm just having fun here kickin' back with the TV on, letting these float into my head......) The Jack Nicklaus to Kelly's Tiger Woods. (OK, I'll move on now.)
Kelly got the idea for his offense when he was in New Hampshire and he visited Clemson where Rodriguez was running this offense as their O. Coordinator. The two of them tell the story in an excellent Oregonian article by Aaron Fentress.
Click the above link for the whole article. The following pargraph sums up the gist of the story.
Rodriguez didn't invent the spread, zone blocking, the no huddle or the option. But his use of all four together helped start a revolution in college football. Kelly has taken it a step further by running similar schemes faster than they'd ever been run before for an entire game.
Who will prevail, Socrates....
...or Sharp Carousel?
It is for this that we thank Rich Rodriguez, Chip Kelly, Urban Meyer, and all the other coaches who are revolutionizing football. This will be the fourth consecutive Duck game without seeing a huddle. And this may be the fastest paced spread team to play Oregon yet. Bottom line, its going to be an entertaining game.
.....what Kelly has done here hasn't just changed Oregon. He's changing football. I don't want to just see Oregon continue to play this way. I would love to see ALL teams play this way. I want to see huddles and automatic punting on fourth down go away with other 20th century dinosaurs like the pay phone and the fat box tube TV.
It appears we have more teams playing huddle-free football today than ever before. I realized how much I did NOT miss huddles and other boring elements of football when I didn't see them anymore. Now I'm turned off by any team that still huddles.
Why? It's been proven unneccessary. It represents an older and slower form of communication. I think it's beneath the sophistication of today's kids. Finally, second-for-second, it just takes up a huge amount of time in a football game.
Additionally, I roll my eyes when a team faces 4th and 2 on their opponent's 40 yard line and opts to punt. Kelly showed us that given the average punt return, your odds are good to take the chance on the down and go for it. The new century is the perfect time to ask "Why do we still do it this way?" Coaches like Kelly and Rodriguez have been asking that very question, and football is better for it.
And now for your viewing entertainment pleasure, I present Stephanie Powers, Powers Boothe, Betty Boop, Honey Boo Boo, Bebe Rebozo and Mukhalmood the Wonder Camel in the Cinimagraphic classic that's setting the world on fire: "No Time For Muslims."
With empathy for Duck fans on the east coast, gametime is Saturday night, 7:30 Pacific on ESPN. Gonna be another late one.
Thought of another: The Regis Philbin to Kelly's Michael Strahan. --KB
This would look good over the fireplace. By the Oregonian's Bruce Ely.
I wouldn't say this game had no drama. Tennessee Tech scored first, so it was technically a come-from-behind win.
TT did their part and served as a good sparring partner. The Ducks' real competition was themselves and their own mistakes. They improved in some areas. Got worse in others.
These are the best looking of the new helmets. Apologies to those who called me a "pansy" for caring too much about the uni's. But there just isn't much to say about the actual game.
The first string offense and defense both played better than in weeks past. The backups were much better. Mistakes were made, no doubt. Bryan Bennett threw a terribly ugly interception. So did Mariota. DeAnthony Thomas fumbled another punt. He also slowed down and was coasting into the endzone for what would've been his second TD when he was stripped from behind. His offensive lineman recovered in the endzone.
And what was with all the penalties? Lots of late hits and roughings of the passer. The offensive line kept illegal proceding. I have a feeling the team was getting bored with beating up on weaker foes. Once they feel challenged in the second half, they'll hopefully tighten up.
Yes, you've got your Mariota, your Barner, and your DAT. But the make or break of Oregon's success this season will rest on the large shoulders of D-linemen like Dion Jordan.
Still they can't score 63 points without doing something right. Mariota was 21 for 28, 307 yards and three TDs. DAT had over 200 all purpose yards in rushing, receiving and punt returns. One interesting DAT stat: In three of the last four games including the Rose Bowl, he has scored a TD the first time he has touched the ball. And none were one-yard hops across the goal line. They were all jail breaks from midfield.
NEXT YEAR, DAT WILL BE THE SLACKER
Funny thing though, the big talk around the Oregonization was about a Duck running back who is still in high school.
Thomas Tyner is a firm Duck commit and a senior at Aloha High School near Portland. He is ranked as the 2nd or 4th prep running back in the nation depending on who you ask. That is, he WAS ranked as such before last Friday when he ran for 643 yards and 10 touchdowns.
Understand, those aren't his current season stats. That was ONE GAME. For the season -- which so far only amounts to three games -- he's run 1243 yards and 18 touchdowns, according to the Oregonian. Word of his performance was spread by ESPN and Sports Illustrated.
Tyner is bigger than DAT at 6-0, 207 pounds. But the video below shows a speed gear much like DAT's. Looking like a man amongst children, his red zone starts around the 50 yard line. Following are highlights of all of his 18 TD's to date.
The future looks bright.
TRAVELER STUNNED TO DEATH
Matt Barkley stayed for his senior season at USC because, as he said it, he and the team "have some unfinished business". Well last Saturday evening on The Farm, their business was finished. No. 2 USC played like a big stinky steaming pile of number 2 as they looked downright mediocre to Stanford's defensive pressure.
Losing 21-14, the Trojans fell out of the sky from their #2 perch and crashed to #13. Stanford was rewarded for their gritty win and jumped from #21 to #9. The upset raised Oregon to #3.
Barring any more upsets, November 3rd is setting up to be a very interesting date. While Oregon will play at USC on that Saturday, #1 Alabama will be squaring off with #2 LSU. If Oregon wins, and one of them loses . . . . . . Naaa. Let's not go there. Too many things can happen between now and then. And who's to say Georgia or Florida State might not leapfrog Oregon by then?
Besides, as Coach Kelly would say:
"Killer Bee, what are you doing? You know we don't look ahead. We don't care about the polls. Next week is our Super Bowl. Win the day. We can't change what we can't control. If you're nervous, you're not prepared. If you get it, see a doctor and get rid of it. "
If you haven't already heard, Oregon lost two players for the season to knee surgery. Safety John Boyett and guard Carson York, two talented senior starters, each announced within a day of each other that they played their last games as Ducks. Story here.
Those who didn't have access to the new Pac-12 network couldn't watch this game. Fortunately DISH Network agreed to carry it Saturday morning so I could watch and record it. Furthermore, those who could only see 30 seconds of highlights did not get the full story of how Fresno State came out in the second and proverbially punched the Ducks in the mouth before finally giving up the game. Turnovers, sacks, tackles for loss, Oregon suddenly looked terrible in the third quarter. Text messages and tweets of panic flew up and down the Willamette Valley, "What's wrong with Oregon?"
Ken Goe wrote about the rough going in the second half. I'll let him tell the story while I interject my thoughts in green. Editors note: All of this is done completely without Goe's permission, let alone knowledge ... until now.
Putting the ball in DAT's hands -- Sometimes its just not fair.
Goe: Ducks beat Fresno State despite stumbling through an ugly second half on offense
Published: Saturday, September 08, 2012, 9:39 PM EUGENE - Oregon scored six touchdowns and beat Fresno State 42-25, but the final score doesn't begin to describe how unimpressive the fourth-ranked Ducks were in the second half Saturday in Autzen Stadium.
The Ducks’ only score in the final 30 minutes came late in the fourth quarter after Fresno State had improbably rallied from a 35-6 halftime deficit to within 35-19.
It's not as if anybody in the announced crowd of 55,755 thought the Bulldogs were going to come all the way back, but the fans were restless.
The vaunted UO offense completely lost concentration in the second half, fumbling away possession three times, once giving Fresno State the ball on the UO 22 and another time on UO 12.
Redshirt freshman Marcus Mariota, for all his marvelous athletic gifts, was responsible for two of the lost fumbles and often looked like a quarterback making his second college start. The Bulldogs sacked him three times.
The Bulldogs were constantly in Oregon's backfield the moment the ball was snapped. Mariota always had a defender in his grill. The ball carriers struggled to spring through the line as they were constantly getting pulled down from behind.
Nice stiff arm. But the Bulldogs' pursuit frustrated Barner and Co. for much of the second half.
The Ducks, who usually execute on offense like a finely tuned machine, seemed more like ‘73 Gremlin, misfiring and leaking oil. I once owned the Gremlin's cousin, a '75 AMC Pacer. It generally had more oil on the outside than the inside of the engine. My college friends liked to borrow it -- especially the ones with girlfriends. In fact a couple of you are reading this right now.
They would pay me $20 to let them take it to the coast for the weekend. I never knew what the big attraction was with my car until I figured out that when you tilted the seats back, you had LOTS of room in the interior. It all became clear to me when I found barefoot prints on the inside of the windshield.
Anyway, what were we talking about? Oh ya, Bulldogs were hammering on the Ducks for a short while.
“We knocked them off schedule,” Fresno State defensive coordinator Nick Toth said. “They tried to go fast, and our kids said: ‘OK, bring it fast again.’ And we knocked them off schedule again. …
“We’re not one of those teams that’s going to fall down and fake injury. I wanted our kids to fight their way out of it.”
The alarming thing for Oregon is they almost did.
The following from another Oregonian article further tells the story.
Oregon, after rushing for 279 yards in the first half, managed just 23 in the third quarter on 14 carries.
Mariota fumbled twice in the second half as the Bulldogs hemmed him in for much of the day. He completed 16 of 24 passes but for just 146 yards and one touchdown. He was sacked twice and had 65 yards net rushing.
Those turnovers resulted in 13 points for the Bulldogs and UO led 35-19 with 9:40 remaining.
It was a perfect storm of several factors that went against Oregon at the start of the second half. 1) The Bulldogs came out with a clear game plan. Obviously, their defensive coordinator applied one of the top two rules a defensive coordinator must follow -- the first being never let the offensive coordinator get the better parking spot. The other one is: If your opponent's QB is a redshirt freshman playing only his second game, then you treat him as such. He ain't no Barkley or Luck -- at least not yet. They loaded up the box and blitzed. They shut down the running game and side screens and forced him to throw down field. But Mariota stubbornly refused, opting instead to fumble, get sacked or handoff for no gain. The result was ugliness. 2) The Bulldogs are good. Their defensive speed is impressive. They strung out so many of Oregon's runs to the edges.
3) Obviously, missed assignments and poor blocking were factors. It's early in the season and those things take time.
4) (Danger. I'm about to get wonky and boorish with technical offensive sets here.) Oregon's offense basically sets up with 5, 6, or 7 linemen. In this game, they had their best luck when the tight ends were in to give them seven blockers. In the second quarter, DeAnthony Thomas's score on a 4th and 3 from mid-field came with the help of seven linemen. In the third quarter, Kelly had them stick with six linemen to get an extra receiver. But it came at a time when Fresno State decided to disrespect Mariota's ability to avoid their pass rush and make the right decision with the ball. The Bulldogs were getting the better of that chess match through much of the second half. The Ducks were five-touchdown favorites, playing a Fresno State team that had won four games in 2011, then fired the head coach.
The Bulldogs had lost their previous 14 games against ranked opponents, a streak dating to 2004.
They were supposed to be pushovers in a three-game stretch of visiting, nonconference patsies that included a romp last week over Arkansas State and another next week over Tennessee Tech.
For a half, the Bulldogs played their part. But while Oregon went to sleep between halves, Fresno State came out with something to prove.
Suddenly, it was Oregon’s blur offense that was off balance.
“When they get a 10-yard gain or a five-yard gain or whatever, they try to speed the tempo up,” Fresno State safety Phillip Thomas said. “They feed off of it. But when you get a tackle for loss or make a big play, they slow it down to see what the defense is going to do. They adjust to what we’re doing.”
Which is as good a way as any to explain why the Ducks were so out of sync in the second half.
Give the UO defense credit. While the offense was in limbo, the defense twice forced the rallying Bulldogs to settle for field goals.
The Ducks came after Fresno State quarterback Derek Carr with a clever variety of pressure and blitzes. Carr often was off-balance and antsy in the pocket, sometimes throwing off his back foot. They sacked him three times.
Carr completed 29 of 47 attempts, but most were short. The Bulldogs basically abandoned the downfield passing game.
UO defensive coordinator Nick Aliotti won’t like that Fresno State running back Robbie Rouse rushed for 115 yards.
But Aliotti’s guys stepped up Saturday while the offense stumbled and bumbled through six possessions before senior running back Kenjon Barner locked away the victory with a 16-yard scoring run with 3:51 left in the game.
This final TD came when Mariota managed a 11-play, 77 yard drive with Kenjon Barner doing most of the work. The drive looked like the ones in the first half. No problems. The difference was Oregon went back to seven blockers, and that took away Fresno States' ability to control the line.
Barner rushed for 201 yards on 34 carries. He is fast, tough and experienced – but still a 5-foot-11, 192-pound scatback. He won’t last the season carrying that kind of load. And sophomore De’Anthony Thomas, for all his play-making sizzle, isn’t a 20-carry back.
For Oregon fans, the good news is that none of this was fatal.
The Ducks won by double digits. They have overmatched Tennessee Tech next week, followed by Arizona at home and struggling Washington State in Seattle.
On paper, it’s hard to see a significant challenge before Washington rolls into town on Oct. 6. And even then. The Huskies really embarrassed themselves against LSU. There is plenty of time to get Mariota game experience, find Barner help and iron out the kinks.
Oregon is 2-0 despite sleepwalking through the second half of both games. Sure, the Ducks had a big lead early in both and, perhaps, second-half letdowns were unavoidable.
But letdowns don’t fit in with the “Fast, Hard, Finish” mantra UO coach Chip Kelly preaches.
It would be best not to make them a habit.
There will be tougher tests ahead.
So it would be natural for us reactionary Monday morning quarterbacks to yell, "Hey Kelly, keep seven men on the line at all times!" But the truth is, Oregon had a big lead. Kelly may have kept that 6-set because Mariota could use the challenge and adversity. And there will be times when six or five linemen will be the better answer.
Beyond the 'W', the real prize of this contest was lots of game film. Mariota and Co. will get to see a whole bunch of things they did wrong. And it's better they learn against Fresno State than any Pac-12 team. Because you and I both know that EVERY team will test Mariota. They'll bring the heat, and he'll have to prove how good he is week by week -- especially to himself.
One more note. Give Fresno State a ton of credit. After so many years under Pat Hill's long tenure that slowly degraded into "We'll lose to anyone, anytime, anywhere", new coach Tim DeRuyter has them joining the parade of teams switching to a no huddle pace. They showed grit and toughness for a half. I think they have the ingredients for a great season, and have a good chance at beating Colorado next week.
AND HOW ABOUT OREGON STATE?!?!? Oregon State 10, Wisconsin 7. A tremendous win. And it's kind of nice feeling for both schools beating the same foe.
Well ....OK.....Technically, Wisconsin was the same school. But the absence of some key personnel from the Badger team that Oregon battled in the Rose Bowl appeared to be kind of significant. They were the same, but . . . not really.
I'm not saying it was a cheaper win. . . . Did I say that? . . . NO!!
A win is a win. And a win over a traditionally tough Wisconsin team is something to be proud of. The Beavers ferociously fought Wisconsin . . . a much weaker Wisconsin team . . . but Wisconsin nevertheless. Good for them.
I have the write-up of the game below . . . \/ \/ \/ \/ \/
WASHINGTON -- The creature knocked Lillian Peterson off her feet as she was climbing out of Lake Barcroft after a swim. The 83-year-old woman twisted around to see what attacked her and noticed one thing: large, orange teeth.
A 35-pound, 24-inch rabid beaver had bitten her on the back of the leg and would not let go, sparking an ordeal that lasted more than 20 minutes Tuesday evening. The Falls Church woman and a friend battled the animal with canoe paddles, a stick and bare hands as it came at them again and again. . . . . . .
Ha ha ha. I am so funny -- Making fun of the Beavs' win over a weak Badger team at the expense of some poor old lady. Actually this really is quite a frightening and unbelievable horror story! Click the title to link to the rest of it.
Thirty minutes before kickoff, Arkansas St. coach Gus Malzahn gave his credit card to a player and told him to run into town and buy as many cheap sunglasses as he could. ....
.... It was his desperate solution to help his team and staff face Oregon's "Lightning on the Sun" helmets. (Game photos from Oregonian)
After that quarterback performance, we are left to wonder what the controversy was all about. Marcus Mariota did more in one half than what many QB's can do in an entire game. One in particular comes to mind. More on him later.
Completing 18 for 22 passes for 200 yards and three touchdowns and rushing 4 times for 24 yards in less than two complete quarters, Mariota showed an amazing grasp of the offense. He looked relaxed, comfortable, and seemed to know where all players on the the field were at all times.
Marcus Mariota has come out from behind every one's shadow to take the reins of this team.
With fast decisions, accurate passes and quick sprints, Mariota was more than just a quarterback. He was a computer-aided onfield football management machine.
If this is a quarterback....
...this is Marcus Mariota. Although granted, this illustration doesn't work with AT&T customers. They'll tell you this is barely a phone.
Did you see him throw a perfect TD strike with his right hand as he ran left? Did you see him place the ball exactly in the receivers' hands again and again? Did you see him juke tacklers out of their shoes with a little fake flip of the ball and then blow past them? After three years of building and recruiting, this is the guy Kelly has been looking for to master his system.
And then there's DeAnthony Thomas. Scouts of other teams will say to keep a spy on him. But it's clear already that Kelly plans to make that a very hard task. Where will DAT line up play after play? Outer strongside receiver? Outer weakside? Inside slot? Running back? I'll bet Kelly will even put him at tight end just to blow D-coordinators' minds.
Where is DAT? He's in the endzone with the ball.
The Ducks were by no means perfect. Once the starters were pulled, they got outscored. But that's what these games are for. Lots of film to review. Lots of time to practice and get it right with the goal of being a more complete team game-by-game.
But for now, when the front line takes to the field, is there anybody better in the nation? I don't know. But I do know this. Down in L.A., USC celebrated every touchdown and their win over Hawaii like it was a bowl game -- probably because after two years, they finally get to play for one.
And while it took Oregon just the first half to score 50 points, USC celebrated all 49 points they scored in four quarters. In fact leading 42-10 in the fourth, 4th and 3 on Hawaii's 11-yard line, Matt Barkley (Yes, he was still in the game.) threw his final pass into the endzone. Stay classy, Trojans.
Furthermore, (Ya, I'm not done yet. USC is pissing me off.) Hawaii was not allowed to do an onfield walk through in the Coliseum before the game; and that goes for every other team that will play down in Trojan Land this season. USC says something about the risk of "messing up the field".
Calling all Pac-12 teams who host the Trojans this year. Do the right thing and flip this crap right back. When USC arrives at their hotel in your city, inform them that they won't be able to practice on the field before the game. Tell them you just repainted the field. It's a new brand of paint -- F.U. Brand -- and it takes an extra day to dry.
And another thing! We have just learned of another cash/car scandal at USC. It happened back in 2009 while all of their other hooliganisms were occurring before USC's wholesale change of their athletic department and football staff . So it kind of falls under the NCAA's original punishments. But it only came to light recently. So now what is the NCAA supposed to do?
You know what it's like? Picture a few school-age boys on a farm back in the old days. They play with matches and burn down the barn. Pa hollers at them, tans their hides, yells at them some more, whips them so more. He grounds them for the summer, takes away their toys and doubles their chores.
Then as he is cleaning up the charred remains of his barn and preparing to build another, he looks over, only now, to discover that on that same infamous day, the boys also tipped over the outhouse.
Now what is Pa supposed to do? He's already punished them just about everyway he can. The next step would be to sell them to a Gypsy family. But this is just stupid icing on the dumbass cake.
The football world would suffer if the Trojans were given the death penalty. I say if USC doesn't want another bowl ban, all athletic department staff and players have to forfeit their cars for a year -- even it they own them free and clear. Walk. ride a bike, and while they're at it they can clean all the toilets on campus.
