IT'S HIS HEISMAN, MAN.

WELCOME WISCONSINNERS
Before I start, I want to welcome two new subscribers, P.M and J.M., from Wisconsin. To make them feel a part of our blog family, I'd like to talk a little about two of their very favorite teams on the rise.

The Green Bay Packers and Wisconsin Badgers. Both of these teams have taken the lead in their respective conferences and control their own destinies.

Watching these two teams last weekend, I noticed five common traits. One of the more interesting . . .

OK that's enough welcoming.

TO BE HONEST, BEAVER ROADKILL IS KIND OF SAD


I mean what can you say? Marcus Mariota immortalized himself by jumping over a hapless Beaver while pushing down on his head like a rude boyfriend. He did a Heisman pose as he was serving a Beaver a face-load of his junk.

That's not even funny. It's just pathetic.

In the first game of the season, Oregon State fell behind Portland State at halftime. They looked terrible. It looked like the season opener the year before when they were stunned by Eastern Washington. They eventually won, but that first half had Beaver fans everywhere with their faces in their palms.

At the time, I put up a Facebook post: "Beavers, I used to laugh at you. Now I just pity you." And immediately I got an angry retort from a Beaver fan that it was too soon to be that cruel.

So I didn't say another word about the Beavers for the rest of the season.

Until now.

Beavers, take a look around and ask yourself if you're happy with your team. Did that effort look . . . . . . .even like effort? Are you still OK with Coach Riley and his "Aww Shucks, Gee Willickers" apparent settling for mediocrity?

Heh heh...haw haw...I mean...
WOW! Was that a trip to the woodshed or what?
My britches are still burnin'....
Whoo boy .... Heh heh....

After watching the Beavers fall to 5-7 for the season, the real question to be begged is, How in the world did they win five?

When I look at the Beavers, I see uninspired players struggling with a boring and predictable playbook. How much longer will they put up with this?

Another Beaver humbly prays
at the Failing Wall of Reser Stadium.

IT IS NOW A BONAFIDE NOBRAINER.
Traditional voters for the Heisman are now saying that the race is pretty much over. And Teddy Mitrosilis of FOX Sports is even calling for a unanimous vote for Mariota. Here is an excerpt:
Mariota went 19-of-25 for 367 yards and four TDs (no picks), while adding another 39 yards and two TDs on the ground.
This stat is insane: Mariota now has 47 total TDs to only two interceptions on the season. TWO! He also leads the country in yards per attempt at 10.4 and is completing 68.6 percent of his passes (sixth in the nation and about 2 percent better than Jameis Winston last year when he ran away with the Heisman).
He’s playing quarterback as well as it can be played, and no disrespect to Melvin Gordon, who’s had an incredible year at RB for Wisconsin, but Mariota should become the first unanimous Heisman Trophy winner of all time. He deserves to get every single first-place vote.

This is an unreal experience for Duck fans. Sure, players in the past have been mentioned as Heisman candidates, a couple even took the trip to New York. But to see one of our own play at such a high level and most importantly, stay healthy (KNOCK WOOD!), to reach this pinnacle is truly amazing.


Also, Marcus Mariota was just named Pac-12 Player of the Year. His sidekick, RB Royce Freeman was named Pac-12 Freshman of the Year.

NEXT POST: "Of course you realize . . . ."

The Ducks have a return engagement with Arizona. Whenever any reporters were able to get Oregon players off to a corner to ask them who they REALLY wanted to play in the Pac-12 Championship, there was no two ways about it. Mariota and Company are getting exactly the opponent they wanted.

Oh we are awake. Yes sir.
WE. ARE. A. WAKE.
And you are going to RUE THE DAY
that you jostled our crib!!!

 

More on Arizona later.

--KB

 

Get out of the way, Beavers.....

CIVIL WAR KEYS TO THE GAME:

OREGON
The keys for Oregon will be to distribute the ball evenly amongst all their offensive weapons -- their three running backs including Byron Marshall coming out of the backfield to receive passes; their corps of tight ends even without Pharoah Brown; their endless supply of excellent receivers; and of course the one who makes it all happen, Heisman front-runner Marcus Mariota.

On defense, they need to watch out for the Beavers two weapons, the long passes down the center, and Coach Riley's patented tool -- the always dangerous, tried, true, and traditional Fly Sweep.

NO. NOT THE FLY SWEEP!!!

OREGON STATE
The keys for Oregon State will be to run fast, jump up and down, flap and wave their arms, and gosh dang it, just try their darndest to be the best they can be and work really hard to believe in themselves. As long as they show good sportsmanship, their moms will be proud.

On defense, they need to feel privileged that they have front row seats to view the best offense and single best football player that they have ever had the honor to be on the same field with. It'll be a great story to tell the grandkids. 

"Gee Wally, That Marcus Mariota sure is good."
"Ya he's really nice too. He saw me crying as
he ran by me to score and said 'Sorry'."

PAC-12 TITLE PICTURE
Oregon will play for the Pac-12 Title December 5th regardless of what happens tomorrow. Their opponent will be decided as UCLA hosts Stanford and Arizona State travels to Arizona. Both games start at 12:30 today.

UCLA, a 4-1/2 point favorite, will go to the Pac-12 Championship if they beat Stanford. If they lose, the winner of Arizona - Arizona State meets the Ducks.

The Ducks aren't concerning themselves with who wins. They are completely focused on just taking care of their own business to get to the big dance. The Beavers are an obstacle. The Pac-12 South Champ is an obstacle.

SEC CRUMMY OPPONENT OF THE WEEK AWARD WENT TO...
Last week it was #1 best-in-the-nation Alabama's turn to host a crummy opponent in late November as the playoff polls get more critical.

Two weeks ago you'll recall we had SEC teams scheduling a church (Ole Miss vs. Presbyterian) and a labor union (Missy State vs. UTM) . Last week Alabama played against Western Carolina.

OK now they're just making teams up. You got North Carolina and South Carolina. There IS NO West or Western Carolina. Yet there they were, from the WTF league I guess. The Catamounts, they call themselves.

Here we are in late November,
and the #1 team in the nation
played this team:
The Catamounts.

This coming Saturday is no exception to SEC teams scheduling cupcakes. Florida will be going up against what I am convinced is the most overrated team in the nation, Florida State.

Last week Florida State squeaked by a mediocre 6-4 Boston College 20-17 at home with a last minute field goal. This can't last. Eventually they will come up against a complete team capable of playing a full 60 minutes and get blown out.

It'll be a shame if it doesn't happen until the playoffs and locks out a more worthy #5 team, whomever that may be.

ALOITTI SHOULD TAKE THEIR MONEY
This story from The Oregonian's John Canzano last week:
 NFC East teams try to hire Nick Aliotti as consultant to combat Eagles
Former Oregon Ducks defensive coordinator Nick Aliotti said on Monday that he's been contacted by NFC East teams that want to hire him as a consultant to help them solve the Philadelphia Eagles' offense.
Not an NFC East team -- every one of the NFC East teams.
"I have been asked by everybody in the NFC East ..." the retired Aliotti said on Monday. "The Giants asked me to come back when Chip got the first job. I didn't feel right doing that. Some teams have called when they're getting ready to play the Eagles and they call and have certain questions on the thing. Unless I know the guy and he's a good friend, I don't get involved with that."
The Eagles (8-3) are tied with the Cowboys (8-3) on top of the NFC East. [Dallas got crushed.]
Aliotti, who coached alongside Eagles head coach Chip Kelly, saw the offense every day in practice. He turned down the requests, he said, but Aliotti said he's talked scheme with some of his coaching friends such as USC defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox, who played under Aliotti.
"Sometimes it's about scheme, sometimes it's about how you handle what's going on with a situation," Aliotti said. "I have quite a few good friends ... mostly it's X's and O's or how you handle a situation or a player."

I think Nick Aliotti should set up a Pay Pal account and take their money. Once the transaction clears, he could give them the following valuable information. . . . .

1) You need to condition your defense to be ready for snaps every 17 seconds for an entire game. If you start conditioning now, you may be ready for the Eagles in 2015.

2) Because the Eagles QB is just letting the movements of your defensive players decide where the ball is going, you need to have all your men play straight up and honest. Don't lean to the right or left. Don't cheat up or back. Play your position, mind your own gap and territory. If you don't have 11 players on the field that can handle their own for the entire game, Kelly will exploit your weakness. And so your best chance is to just find better players in the next draft.

Really, do you think Chip would care if
Nick offered his opponents some "secrets"?
I think they both would just laugh.

In short, there's no trick. No scheme. No gimmick. If you're worried that Kelly's Eagles are going to shred your defense, you need a better defense.

That's it. Thank you for your business. Good luck.

--Nick Aliotti.

Civil War game time Saturday, 5pm Pacific on ABC.

--KB