The Full Gameday Experience

My search for a good Bloody Mary in Eugene brought me to Sixth Street Grill, downtown on . . . . . . uhh, where was it? . . . . . Oh ya, 6th Street. It's just across from the Incredible Hult Center.

Excellent tomatoey body, not too watery like so many BM's are. Superbly spiced. They could afford to be bolder on the vegetables and other fixin's. But plenty bold on the alcohol. This beverage is heavily fueled!

While there, I discovered a new viable pregame routine thanks to Oregon grad and longtime Eugene resident Vance Naegle, who asked to remain anonymous for this story. The Hult Center parking structure is free on weekends as long as no events are scheduled. And I doubt they would be fool enough to schedule an event during a game.

The Sixth Street Grill, as I said, is right across the street. It's split in half -- kid friendly dining room on the right and minorless bar on the left. Great food. Not a huge place. But the idea is to park free at the Hult, pre-function at the Grill, then bus to the stadium, which isn't that far.

At the game, we enjoyed the usual . . .

Eric Dargan intercepts.

IT'S A FUMBLLLLLE! Oregon steals it. 

And then, THIS guy again! Or as he is called these days: "Cover Boy". 

"Cover Boy". For the third consecutive
year, Mariotta dons the cover of SI.
Let's just hope this year he shakes
off the curse and takes Oregon all
the way.

Some of us got to hang with Da Duck:

This was the best dressed Duck fan. 

Duck in Bobo Fett helmet.
"Bobo Duck"?

Then we walked back towards campus and enjoyed one of the funnest experiences for an Oregon fan or grad.

After a successful game at Autzen, this is Oregon fans' victory cigar.
Don't bother with foo foo artichokes and basil goat cheese here.
Just order yourself a damn pepperoni pizza and be prepared
to have your eyes roll back into your head. 

If you're going to spend 50, 80, or 100 bucks for each game ticket these days, you gotta mix in those other venues that fill you with the great memories.


SPEAKING OF MEMORY
Does anybody remember when was the last time Washington State had a winning season? Would you believe it was over 10 years ago?!?  In the 2003-2004 season, they capped off a brilliant 10-win season with a win over Texas in the Holiday Bowl. Since then, they've been generally terrible, mediocre at best. 
In all this time, they've had trouble getting a coach to capture the imagination of players and new recruits to rebuild the team. And the jury is still out on whether Mike Leach is that guy now.

He's trying. But before they beat Portland State last week, he was talking of his team's "culture of losing". This excerpt from AP sources:

"There is nobody on our team that has won in college football, and so we have to take that step and that's why it's so important that we're strong internally," Leach said. "There are no players on the team that have won."
The Cougars remain a young team, with plenty of underclassmen and walk-ons seeing playing time. They have already had 12 players make their first career start this season.
"We're younger than nearly everyone we've played," Leach said.
That includes the rapidly improving offensive line that protects quarterback Connor Halliday, the nation's leading passer. The line is made up of walk-ons and first-year players.

Let's get something straight. Connor Halliday is the nation's leading passer for one reason. The Cougs don't run. They just don't. In their win against Portland State, they threw for a whopping 630 yards and ran for 76. Nearly 3/4 of their plays were pass plays. 

Can you think of a team who passed 75% of the time and won the National Championship, or a major bowl, or won their league, or even finished high in league standings? I can't. Those teams are few and far between, and probably had a super QB and at least one gifted receiver. In other words, a fluke. A novelty.
  
So I'm confused about Leach talking about getting beyond this "culture of losing", all the while having his team play a one dimensional system that is doomed to fail. 

Oregonion writer Ken Goe is a football genius (at least for this week) because he's thinking what I'm thinking. Here are his thoughts posted yesterday:

My first exposure to what would become the "Air Raid" offense came in 1990 when a young, cocky coach named Hal Mumme brought his Iowa Wesleyan team in to play Portland State.

Mumme was just beginning to develop concepts he refined into the Air Raid at Valdosta State and Kentucky.

Mike Leach, currently running the show at Washington State, was on Mumme's staff at Iowa Wesleyan, Valdosta State and Kentucky, and part of the offensive brain trust.

On Saturday, Leach will pilot the Air Raid against Oregon in a 7:30 p.m. game in WSU's Martin Stadium.

Here is a good ESPN.com story on Mumme, which traces the evolution of his career and the offense.

While he and Leach were at Kentucky, I visited a practice prior to the 1999 Music City Bowl. I asked if there were any rules for reporters at practice. The response? Don't get run over.

After practice Kentucky quarterback Dusty Bonner broke down some of the Air Raid's concepts for me.

As Bonner explained it, the Air Raid is all about matchups. The quarterback comes to the line of scrimmage and examines the defense. Because of the Air Raid's spread formations, it's hard to disguise defenses and coverages. So, Bonner said, he just looked it over, found the matchup he wanted to exploit, took the snap and exploited it.

Because the quarterback usually determines his receiver with the pre-snap read, he gets rid of the ball quickly. This makes Air Raid quarterbacks very difficult to sack.

There is a well-designed method to the madness.

My problem with the Air Raid is two-fold:

-- It's difficult to stop until it gets into the red zone. When it's close to the opposing goal line and space compacts, those quick passing routes don't work as well.

-- In this offense the running game is an afterthought. It's another reason the Air Raid isn't as effective in the red zone. And the lack of a running game makes it difficult to protect a lead late in the game.

It's a stat-friendly scheme for quarterbacks and receivers. But unless an offense can translate yards into points, it's not an offense you win championships with.

So there you go, long suffering Cougar fans. Fun. Exciting. But don't expect a whole 'lotta success. Are you OK with that? 

Gametime: Saturday evening at 7:30 Pacific on ESPN.

--KB

Cal Throws Caution to the Wind, Gets Blown Away.

Photos from Oregonian, San Jose Mercury News, and Getty.

A busy night for Marcus Mariota.

Cal holds Kenjon Barner to only 65 yards rushing? Fine . . .

Oregon rushed for 426 yards two weeks ago against USC. Last Saturday, Cal worked to shut that down.

They successfully stopped Oregon's powerful running game, limiting the Ducks to 180 yards -- barely half their average.  No one loaded up the box and shut down Barner this year better than the Bears. But they only dulled one edge of Oregon's sword. And suddenly, the downfield was Marcus Mariota's paradise.

. . . So Oregon will Huff . . .

. . . and Huff . . .

. . . and Huff.

Mariota threw, completing 27 of 34 for 377 yards, six TD's and no interceptions. Nine receivers caught at least one pass. DeAnthony Thomas and Josh Huff both received for over 100 yards. Seven of Oregon's eight TD's were pass receptions. Huff had three.

"Cal just filled the box and gave us an opportunity to throw," Mariota said. "I had a lot of fun throwing it around."

One announcer noted that any Stanford players watching the game must have felt pretty giddy about their chances when they saw Cal's early success against the run. But then no future opponent of Oregon's must have felt too good when they saw Mariota light it up like a southpaw brawler suddenly landing right-handed haymakers.

"After what they did last week to USC, I thought we did a good job (defensively) in the running game," [Cal Coach Jeff ]Tedford said. "But you've got to pick your poison against these guys."

The real drama was with Oregon's defensive line -- not a starter among them. Injuries and perhaps other things kept them all either on the sideline or back home in Eugene.

Cal frightened the beegeesus out of Duck fans as they looked like they were going to have as much success moving the football as USC did last week.

From the Oregonian article: Freshmen Arik Armstead, DeForest Buckner and Alex Balducci shore up Oregon's D-line . . .

Oregon's D-line has been hit hard by injuries recently. Dion Jordan (shoulder), Isaac Remington (ankle), Ricky Heimuli (knee) all suited up, but did not play. Wade Keliikipi (injury unknown) was not in uniform, leaving the Ducks without four regulars on the D-line. Taylor Hart left Saturday's game with an unspecified leg injury, though Oregon coach Chip Kelly said after the game that he was doing fine.

Alex Balducci had to shed his red shirt. Buckner and Armstead looked a little lost out there at first but started putting more pressure on Cal's QB in the second half.

And then manchild Arik Armstead will blow your house down.

So how good are these Ducks when Cal shuts down their bread and butter, so they simply switch to cake and cream cheese? And to add insult, the Bears could only ring up 17 points at home against a defense half patched together with second and third stringers. Don't forget, Oregon lost another safety too. Avery Patterson will miss the rest of the season with a torn ACL.

WELL I'LL BE DAMNED, ALABAM!!!
Look what happened to you! With your stunning loss to Johnny Football and the A&M Inbreds, things just got much more difficult for Nick Saban.

You may recall that Saban was on a mission to protect America's children from the harm that might befall them should this wicked and ungodly no-huddle/spread-option movement catch on and spread from Oregon -- the most unchurched state in the Union!

"People might get hurt," he said. Now who is going to stop them if not you, Saint Nick?


HELLO KANSAS STATE, YOU NEVER RETURNED OUR CALLS, BUT THAT'S OK. WE'LL JUST FIND YOU . . .
KSU's longtime coach Bill Snyder, who nixed the contract to play a home-and-home against Oregon this year and last, is now facing the real possibility of facing those same Ducks on the biggest stage . . . . just like he planned it, I'm sure.

In the BCS, KSU is first, Oregon second, and undefeated Notre Dame is third. The next two weeks buzzes with a thick plot line.

Notre Dame's coach, Brian Kelly (or as Oregon fans refer to him: Imitation Coach Kelly) made his case at a news conference that the Irish deserve to be in the Natty because his team has the lowest scoring defense in the country.

Doesn't he know that when you pitch your case for a particular bowl game in front of a microphone, it looks pathetic and merely demonstrates that you definitely do not belong in that bowl? Aside from that, he makes a compelling case.

Not since 1987 do I recall the #1 offense meeting the #1 defense for the championship when Penn State played Miami in what was billed as the unstoppable force meeting the immovable object.

Oregon and Notre Dame? I'd love to see it, never mind that Penn State's immovable defense won that day, 14-10.  

BY THE NUMBERS
The AP and Coaches polls love the Ducks, #1 in both, with the majority of first place votes. Sentient beings with anatomical eyes attached to organic intuitive intelligence centers clearly see the Ducks are the best team in the nation.

It's the silicon based entities that still have trouble recognizing Oregon. The stingy BCS computers just want to know two things. Who have you played? Who have you beaten?

Simply put, despite skipping Oregon this season, Kansas State has played more ranked teams. So has Notre Dame. But that is about to change.

With two weeks of the regular season left, the schedules of these three teams go like this:

Kansas State plays unranked Baylor, then finishes against 15th ranked Texas.

Notre Dame plays unranked Wake Forest, then travels to L.A. to play 18th ranked USC. By the way, that means N.D. and Oregon will have both played Stanford and USC this year. Everyone will be eager to see how both teams fared against these common opponents.

After these two weeks, both K. State and N.D. are done, having just played one ranked team each.

Oregon, meanwhile, starts off against the highest of all the ranked opponents in #13 Stanford. Then they play the Civil War against #16 Oregon State. OSU may be ranked even higher by then assuming they get past Cal this Saturday -- which brings up a little message I have for them.

Hey Beavs, is it too much to ask that you try not to suck so much this Saturday?  I mean, what do I have to say?  You know how you usually are? Try not to be that way against Cal. OK? Have your QB's tape up their ankles, rub some dirt on it and get back out there. Take a PRIDE pill, Beavs. Take two. They're small.

But here comes the kicker. After those two games, the Ducks will have the Pac-12 Championship against one more likely ranked team. Right now it's looking like UCLA or USC, currently ranked 17th and 18th respectively.

Even #4 Alabama's remaining schedule is weak. Next week they host the Western Carolina Catamounts. Regardless of the score, they should drop in rank just on the general principle of scheduling such a patsy so late in the season. The following week they play the surprisingly very very unranked Auburn Tigers. The SEC Championship follows; but will it be too late by then?

The bottom line is this. Oregon will play three likely ranked teams while the other Natty hopefuls will face one at best. So the question I have should Oregon win out: What would keep them from not only playing in the Natty, but also passing Kansas State to #1 by December 1st?

IS THE TRUTH LEACHING OUT IN PULLMAN?
What is going on at WSU? From the Oregonian story:
Marquess Wilson, Washington State's career-leading receiver suspended by the football program last week, issued a letter Saturday afternoon saying he's done at the school and alleging "physical, emotional and verbal abuse" by Mike Leach's first-year coaching staff.


WSU hired Mike Leach about two years after he was fired from Texas Tech. A Huffington Post article explains the back story . . .
Leach was fired from Texas Tech after the 2009 season for an incident in which he was alleged to have ordered a player with a concussion to sit in a storage shed during practice. Leach disputed the allegation and it was not proven. Leach has sued Texas Tech, contending he was fired so the school could avoid a large payment due him at the end of the year.

Washington State hired Leach late last year to revive a moribund program, paying him more than $2 million a year. The hire energized the fan base, but it has been a tough initial season, as the Cougars are 2-8 with two games left.

Leach has raised eyebrows with his comments lambasting his team after some games. He has said some of the seniors display an "empty corpse quality," said the team's performance in a loss at Utah resembled a zombie convention, and said the play of his offensive and defensive lines in that game "bordered on cowardice."

Leach appears to be the kind of person who runs on the theory that sometimes a coach has to be a prick to be effective. But what if your team is 2-8, sliding on a six-game losing streak? Apparently he's not being effective. So what does that leave? He's just a prick.

More about next foe Stanford later.

--KB

Keep on Cougin' It!

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!

"Looks like I picked a bad day to quit drinkin'."

Jeff Twining of Saturday Blitz wrote up an excellent history and definition of the concept we call "Cougin It".  He recalls memorable "Coug" moments going back to 1975. Must read.

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.

chorus

Bleeeeeeeee wuwuwuwuwu..Deena dinna dinna daa daa daa
Doo wah wah wah Doo wah wah wah Doo wah wah wah
Da deedle diddle doo wah
Dohhhhh wah wah wah, Wah Wah Wah, WAH WAH WAH

( harmonica)

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.