Making the football gods proud.

 Well if that wasn't a case of separating the wheat from the chaff . . . . This win had as much to do with UCLA showing their true selves as Oregon finding theirs.

The Oregonian's Ken Goe said so much when he commented in his video blog:

-- For most of Oregon's 42-30 victory over UCLA on Saturday in the Rose Bowl, the Ducks looked like they did during their 2010 run to the BCS Championship Game.
They had UCLA's defense on its heels. They ran the ball with authority and passed on their terms.
The opportunistic UO defense bent a little, but compensated with big plays.
If the Ducks keep playing like that, they have the inside track to the Pac-12 title. Win that, and they have a shot to make it into the first College Football Playoff.

Hundley lays ball on the carpet.

-- UCLA didn't look like a contender, leaving me to believe the Bruins have been severely overrated.
I don't think UCLA quarterback Brett Hundley bears much resemblance to a first-round draft choice either.
He is a big guy with some sizzle as a runner. But when he looked to pass, I thought it was advantage defense. If I were advising Hundley, I would suggest another year at the college level.

No doubt the Ducks played better this week than last week against Arizona. The running backs ran with purpose. Mariota ran more (Was he healthier? Did UCLA's defense allow him more running opportunities than 'Zona's? Hard to say.).



Whenever Pharaoh Brown is
in the picture, others are sent flying.

But one thing behind this sudden turn around was that the offensive line got back a key injured starter in Jake Fisher. And they doubled down on their training to improve as a unit, albeit a patchworked injured one. The offensive line played better, and magically that makes everything better.

To prove that point further, one only had to watch USC at Arizona later that evening. USC, without any special tricks or gimmicks, went to Arizona and flat out-footballed them. And probably the biggest difference for the Wildcats between that game and their victory in Eugene was that USC's offensive line was quite healthy, deep and sizeable.

The Trojans have probably two of the biggest offensive tackles in the league. All night they were blowing 'Cats off the line. Arizona played about as well as they did in Eugene, but they couldn't stop USC's running game. They couldn't touch USC's quarterback. Are USC's running backs and QB's any better than than Oregon's?

HELL NO!

But they certainly performed better behind that solid offensive line.

The same could be said for Oregon's performance at UCLA. You can say that Mariota and the RB's performed better. But that wouldn't have been possible had the offensive line not significantly improved.

It's looking at games like these that make me realize coaches like Vince Lombardi and Knute Rockne are still right all these years later. It begins and ends with your linemen.

They would've been proud of Oregon last Saturday.

What is it?

"Some kind of probe.
They definitely know we're here."

Wonderful, Joyful, Lovely Hate Week
This is the week when we gather our children and loved ones together to share stories of our hatred and laughter of our dominance of the Huskies.Ten years in a row, we have kicked their asses.

Of the ten, which victory was my favorite? Oh such a question. That's like asking which is your favorite child. To me, they're all very special in their own way.

We'll celebrate the hate more later in the week. But for now here's a photo album of each of those precious wins.

More later.
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OUT TAKE

Ken Goe doesn't do his video blogs from his back deck too often
because he has a weird neighbor (He calls himself Iron Duck) who
constantly photobombs the shot.

--KB