Facing Their Kryptonite

ARIZONA
Richard Rodriguez has outcoached Mark Helfrich two times in a row now. While we point with pride at Chip Kelly as the one who changed college football with the no huddle spread, others remind us it was Rich Rod who was the original architect of the system.

QB Anu Solomon is young but good. RB Nick Wilson is very dangerous. When they play Oregon, those two have been flawless. And every Nick Wilson runs over 100 yards, the Cats win.

Oregonian writer Ken Goe, who sent me a court order to never mention his name, said in his own video blog that Oregon has to stop Arizona's run. Period. Pac-12 talking head Rick Neuheisel laid out in the this well done video just how hard that has been for Oregon. It's scary to watch.

" 'Gonna bust you up."

Scooby Wright is the general of Arizona's 3-3-5 defense -- a formation that Oregon has yet to solve. No other defense has been more successful at befuddling Oregon's O-line and humanizing Super Mariota.

Neuheisel goes on to say that the mental game is a factor as well. Arizona is not going into this game a-hopin' and a-prayin'. They've beaten Oregon. They know they can beat Oregon. They're getting ready to do it again.

OREGON
Marcus Mariota.

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The cocky fan in me wants to stop right there. But this game is everything. Better keep it real.

Something changed in Mariota after that humiliating loss to Arizona back in October. After that knockout he transformed himself into the legend that everybody was already pegging him to be. For the first time, he seemed to put on the Super Mariota suit and act the part.

His reluctance to all the attention was gone. I can't say what happened exactly, whether someone talked to him, or maybe he just stood in the shower for an hour and thought about things. But he came out at UCLA determined to be Oregon's hero.

Today's Mariota will not be the same Mariota Arizona saw before.

Mariota before Arizona. He spent most of his
time in the pocket taking sacks like Clark Kent.
 

Mariota after Arizona. He was literally
flying to the Endzone.

Rolls Royce Freeman. What planet did this freshman phenom come from? He was still tying to find himself in October. Everyone still thought Thomas Tyner was going to be the guy (I still think Tyner will do great things. I hope he still believes it too.) Byron Marshall was still taking handoffs and was only flirting with the receiver thing.

But now all of that is sorted out.

The offensive line -- it's like after the Arizona game, they had a meeting and decided to be better?!?!?  Who does that? And they're healthier too, with or without starting center Hronis Grasu.

Oregon wouldn't have a chance going into this game if they were the same team they were in October. Hell, they wouldn't even be in this game.

That thumping by the Wildcats was probably the best thing that could've happened to them. The Ducks today, they are leaner. They are meaner. They have that look in their eyes.

"Go for it."
(Editor's note: The earring is a little much isn't it?)

To win, the whole team has to be better. But ultimately it comes down to one man.
Super Mariota. We're calling on you once again to be our reluctant hero.

Our humble Superman.


Oh and one other key to the game, Ducks.
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Lose the pink.

Pac-12 Championship game. 6pm Pacific on FOX.
--KB