The Dramatic Finish

One of the things I love about sports is when they take on the form of artful drama. A plotline develops to create suspense.

Ready for the Ducks to meet Alabama, I was so prepared to draw out the plot on top of subplot built around character development. Nick Saban, on record for not being a fan of the hurry up offense, would meet the fastest offense he had ever played against (Everyone can stop saying that Auburn is faster because they're not.) Saban and Alabama represented the SEC. The antichrist of college football, placed on their perch of power by the false prophet, the BCS.

We know today it was false because on December 7th when the four playoff teams were set, they ran the pseudo BCS matrix alongside the present program. The BCS had Florida State and Alabama ranked as the respective 1st and 2nd highest teams in the nation.

Those two teams are gone now. And it makes us wonder about every previous season dominated by the SEC. What if they were asked to play just one additional game before the championship?

Anyway, I digress. Where was I? Oh ya. Alabama. Saban. Antichrist.

I was more than ready to make a prediction of an Alabama/Oregon contest based on a highly technical X and O analysis.

GONNA RIP OFF THE TIDE'S ARMS AND LEGS
AND THEN BEAT THEM OVER THEIR HEADS WITH
THEIR ARMS AND LEGS!!!
(I like Hulk Duck. Think he might stay around awhile.)

But alas, Saban didn't have to face the Ducks speed. Ohio State's offense was plenty fast enough.

Now we have Oregon and the Buckeyes -- two teams that get each other, even appreciate each other. Urban Meyer liked and bought in to Chip Kelly's "Win the Day" mantra. He has his team training fast and hard. Unlike Saban, Meyer embraces the changes in college football. Where's the drama in that? 

The Bucks are good. Cardale Jones, their THIRD STRING quarterback, is scary good. This is only his third start. Yet, up to now he seems unflappable. His passes are deadeye perfect.

Ohio State has its routine roster of top level players. And these guys are all buying in to Meyer's version of Win The Day.

To pick apart this contest, I've arrived at the following:

WHEN THE BUCKEYES HAVE THE BALL
They're going to score. (As the brilliant and wise Jameis Winston would say, "We all just need to sit down and be real with ourself about that right now.") They have the players. They can move the ball. Oregon's job will just be to make them score fewer points than their own offense.

One thing the Ducks definitely have in their favor is turnovers. D-coordinator Don Pellum's thing has been to up the number of take-aways. His team was doing well enough through the season, but they really came on in the post season.

Ohio State is down three in give-aways to take-aways. Oregon is plus 11, making them the best in the country.

WHEN OREGON HAS THE BALL
Below is a highlight video of the Sugar Bowl. I invite you to see it and see if you see what I'm seeing.  In this and other Buckeye videos I have seen, I've noticed that when the opposing quarterback goes back, Ohio State's defensive ends seem to get real eager for a sack.

They will press inward and collapse hard on the pocket. And what you'll see is a lot of green pasture on the outside. I look at that and I say, "Hmmmmm. . . . . I wonder if Mariota is noticing that same thing when he's studying film?"


Ohio State can watch all the film they want of Mariota. But until it happens, they have no idea of the third degree scorching MM will give them on second and five or fourth and one when he pulls the ball out of the RB's hands and swings outside.

Be watching for that.

Getting back to my enjoyment of a dramatic plot. I was having trouble finding one . . .

AND THEN SOMETHING STUPID HAPPENED
Oregon WR Carrington fails drug test, ineligible for title game vs. OSU

Say it with me. STU-PID...STU-PID...STU-PID...STU-PID
STU-PID...STU-PID...STU-PID...STU-PID...STU-PID...STU-PID.....

These are teenagers, mind you. And teenagers are often stupid -- not that adults are much smarter. It's just a shame that it ended up being the most successful receiver in the Rose Bowl.

Combine the loss of Carrington with the loss of Devon Allen in the Rose Bowl, TE Pharoah Brown, Heisman winner Marcus Mariota suddenly has fewer targets to throw to. His brilliant throwing ability is only as good as his capable corps on the receiving end.

But if you were to ask the Ducks about the loss of Carrington, like so many reporters did at the latest press conference, you'd find that they don't even blink.

A couple of excerpts from this Oregonian article. . . .
"Nothing in our preparation has really changed because of the tempo of our practices, we probably rep eight guys each practice,"[Receivers Coach Matt] Lubick said. "A lot of guys who are redshirting even take reps with the ones and twos just because the tempo and the number of plays we get."

In some ways, the limited depth at receiver has helped Oregon because it's developed a need for versatility. Every receiver knows how to play each position, freshman Charles Nelson said, enabling a seamless season of plug-and-play.

"There are parts and pieces that everyone can put together to do what (Carrington) does and has done," Nelson said. "With him out we're just going to throw somebody else in there and make plays as always."

Oregon has Keanon Lowe and Dwayne Stanford back from injuries, add Nelson, BJ Kelly, Chance Allen, Jonathan Loyd and Bryon Marshall -- all of these guys are playmakers. Nelson isn't kidding when he says they can just throw somebody else in there.

Meanwhile, back in the land of nuts, this headline appeared from USA Today BEFORE news of Carrington was learned. . . .   
Ohio State secondary believes it's the first key to success vs. Oregon
In that story . . . .
Mariota also will be the third consecutive Heisman Trophy finalist that the Buckeyes have faced. They've shut down the other two (Wisconsin's Melvin Gordon in the Big Ten title game and Alabama's Amari Cooper in last week's Sugar Bowl) and now face the Heisman winner himself.
"Marcus Mariota, the man is smart," says Ohio State safety Tyvis Powell, who grabbed the interception against Alabama in the game's final seconds. "He makes the right throws. … I feel like the game will be won or lost in the secondary."

They were already planning to battle against Mariota's arm. But what of this glorious news of the moral weakness and failure of the will of one of Mariota's finest receivers?

OHIO STATES REACTION ON HEARING CARRINGTON WAS INELIGIBLE


To the Buckeyes credit, I believe they are entering this game eyes wide open. They respect Oregon, unlike Florida State ("We can handle Oregon. We played Georgia Tech.").

Even though they train in a similar style, they still know that Oregon's speed and pace is legendary. I laughed at this quote from Buckeye linebacker Raekwon McMillan about the irrelevancy of exactly which players are playing at Oregon's relentless pace.

"They like to run around you and make you tired and hit you when you're least thinking about it," McMillan said. "When your mind is going and you're thinking about your fatigue they'll hit you on deep balls and stuff like that. "We have to keep our composure and just not think about fatigue."

Hey McMillan, when you say "not think about fatigue", you're thinking about fatigue. The game hasn't even started yet and you're already thinking about fatigue. So don't think about fatigue. I said don't think about fatigue. You know fatgue? Ya, don't think about it . . . . . fatigue, I mean.

FIRST WE SING. THEN WE BATTLE.
Over the years, I have often found and posted a motivating video with images of hard hitting, charging Ducks to the tune of some pulse pounding music.

Now the Ducks have arrived at this first true and legitimate National Championship. And this time, they're not just happy-go-lucky and glad to be here. This time, Oregon is the team of destiny. We can see how every victory and defeat of the past has led to this moment. Dan Fouts, Chris Miller, Bill Musgrave, Danny O'neal, Joey Harrington, Kellen Clemens, Dennis Dixon, Darrin Thomas . . . . They all gave their lives for this moment. . . . . . .

What? . . . . Oh sorry. I was watching a movie about medieval knights attacking a castle while writing this.* Too much drama perhaps.

Where was I? Oh ya, the perfect song. I found this.


NCAA National Football Championship. Oregon vs. Ohio State
Monday, January 12, 2015. 5:30 Pacific. ESPN

Go Ducks. Let's do this. Get the championship.
We'll talk on the other side.

--KB

*I know what you're thinking, and you're wrong. The movie was NOT Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

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

Dawgs and Saban -- A Week of Goons and Clowns

Knowing the Ducks were flat out better, the Huskies tried to
  rip Oregon's helmets off so they would have to sit out for a play.

Washington gave Oregon their best shot, but only after the Ducks scored three touchdowns. And then that shot was cheap.

Like the Don James teams of old, the Huskies resorted to gooniness to make some kind of "tough" statement. Face masks, illegal blocks and head spearing accounted for much of their 102 yards  in penalties. Freshman linebacker Travis Feeney earned the "Goon Ball" for the game when he pulled Marcus Mariota out of bounds and threw him into the benches on the Husky sidelines. 

As he was making his way back onto the field, the normally calm and cool Mariota turned around and offered the Dawgs his newly reassessed opinion of them.

He said afterward:

"They had a couple of guys that were kind of standing over me," Mariota said of the incident that occurred after a run for no gain with Oregon leading 35-7. "I'm never the kind of guy that if you disrespect me or if you disrespect my teammates, I'm not going to just let that kind of go. There's situations where you can keep your head and there's situations where you're going to say something. And I felt that at that point in time, they were getting a little chippy. I felt I needed to say something. That's usually not in my character."

What can we say, Marcus? We could've told you that the Huskies have a way of pricking at your dark side.  But like all of us Duck players and fans before, you just have to discover it for yourself.


This Husky tackles a big armload of air
as DAT sprints 16 yards to a first quarter TD.

Mariota and the rest of the team did infinitely better than so many Oregon teams of an earlier generation of rising above the Dawg's sh*t and playing good football. Talk to them at their sideline?

Amazing. 240-pound Colt Lyerla skies for this TD catch.

 No. Talk to them from their endzone.

The Ducks couldn't have picked a better opponent to play their most complete game yet. Even columnist John Canzano, who earlier complained that the Ducks can't play a complete half or a play well on both sides of the ball, now complains that the Ducks are boring as they steamroll over their opponents. Ain't no pleasin' some people.

Same song, second verse:
"Price throws to the side and INTERCEPTED, INTERCEPTED.
Avery Patterson has intercepted . . . . And Avery Patterson
is gonna SCORE! Avery Patterson is gonna SCORE!
20...10...TOUCHDOWN, AVERY PATTERSON!!!!"

Jerry Brewer of the Seattle Times began his article, Ducks Serve Up More Humiliation, like this:

The little girl, dressed in Oregon colors, held up a sign and scowled.

It read: "I wasn't born the last time UW beat Oregon."

Yes, it has gotten that bad. Daddy's little girl is now the Dawgs' little devil.

The Ducks don't just refer to their youth by age anymore. They introduce them according to how many Husky beatdowns they've experienced.

All children age 8 and under born with a silver swoosh in their mouths don't remember when this was a competitive rivalry, let alone that the Huskies used to dominate the matchup. Every year, you keep waiting for the momentum to shift, and every year, Oregon grinds a foot into Washington's throat.

 As Whintey Houston sang, "I believe the children are our future. Teach them well and let them lead the way."

I encourage everyone to sit down with their kids this week and remind them of the "Dark Days of the Purple Haze" when children hid, mothers trembled, and fathers cried. TEACH THEM WELL about how far we've come to provide them a Husky-free Northwest. Let them not take for granted their freedom from Dawg goonery and purple-shirted oppression.
_________________________________
Shhh, Shhh. Quiet everybody. Nick Saban has some wonderful words of wisdom he wants to share with us!!!

What the hell is the "Amazin' Saban" flappin' his yap about this time? He said last week:
"The way people are going no-huddle right now, that at some point in time we should look at how fast we allow the game to go in terms of player safety. The team gets into formation and you can't substitute defensive players. You go on a 14-, 16-, 18-play drive and they're snapping the ball as fast as you can go, and you look out there and all your players are walking around and can't get lined up, and that's when guys have a much greater chance of getting hurt when they're not ready to play."

Nick Saban, you're so wise and
all-knowing, you should wear a
big pointy hat and live in Italy.

This election year is a bad time for the Alabama coach to tell us of his "concern for player safety" that a no-huddle offense OBVIOUSLY threatens. We the people on both sides of the political fence have all gotten our fill of disengenous, alterior-motived speeches and sound bites lately that we can smell his BS a mile away.

I was panning Canzano earlier for never talking too nice about the Ducks. But in this linked story, Nick Saban's transparent attack on the Oregon Ducks is laughable, he shows that the Ducks are his meat. And he doesn't let anyone like Saban get away with talking this crap. Excellent read.

Currently 'Bama is ranked #1, Oregon is #2. Let those numbers stand. You know the whole nation wants this matchup to see if Saban's warning rings true and speed really kills. Or will it merely humiliate, which is what Saban is REALLY worried about.
___________________________

No Duck game this Saturday. Ducks down in Tempe Thursday after next.

You still got that Whitney Houston song in your head, don't you? Sorry about that. Maybe this will help:



--KB