SCOREBOARD, BABY!!!

Darron Thomas and Josh Huff display the number after they connect for a TD.

Fifteen seconds. That was about the length of time from the referees whistle to end a play to the moment the center's hands were on the ball to run Oregon's next play. By comparison, UCLA was averaging a typical 25 to 30 seconds to trash talk, huddle, take a few deep breaths, break and then line up.
   Sometimes QB Darron Thomas was able to rush it as fast as 10 or 11 seconds. Once when it was about 22 seconds, you could see Coach Kelly on the sidelines yelling to hurry up. But he smiled after that play when Thomas threw a touchdown pass.
   Oregon isn't putting on a clinic. They're starting a revolution. Their game against UCLA Thursday night symbolized 21st vs. 20th century football. The Ducks made one of the greatest teams of last century look like a slow, sad, decaying relic.


Richard Brehaut's numbers:
16-23, 159 yards. 1 interception, 3 sacks.
It could've been worse.



Terrell Turner demonstrates a safe sack on Brehaut.
Don't helmet-butt his head. Just squeeze it hard til it pops off.

UCLA RB Derrick Coleman probably wasn't surprised
that Alliotti's defensive plan was to stop the run.

   The word is Oregon practices even faster than they play. Once they've finished practicing all week at a turbocharged pace, the football game seems a little slower to them. Many times you saw the offense standing in position waiting for the referees to place the ball and blow their whistle. Oregon didn't score 60 points in the game, they scored 60 points in only 21 and-a-half minutes of possession.
   Oregon's defense too, after going against their offense at a frenetic pace all week, gets what must feel like vacation time waiting for slower teams to regroup between plays. This is the new advantage in football. Viewers, announcers and the media are marveling over this change to the game, and that's just when the clock is stopped.

   Oregon's offense has traditionally been labeled a spread option. Lately I've watched several teams claiming to run the so called spread, and they look very different. Some pass more. Some hardly spread at all (hence I think they're fooling themselves). Some just don't work. Coach Kelly recently said in comparing the spread to UCLA's pistol offense that you can run any system successfully as long as you have good athletes to make it work.  He demonstrated that Thursday night.
   The Bruins had not yet figured out how to stop Oregon's traditional set-up, when suddenly the Ducks emptied the backfield, and for a quarter they started executing what looked like a classic run-and-shoot offense. Then after scoring a couple of TD's off of that, LaMichael James walked off the field and behind Thomas comes TWO running backs to run the triple option!
   Kelly and his heroes refused to say more than two words about being and defending their #1 status through the week. But when the lights turned on, ESPN's 3D cameras started rolling and the Ducks took the field, they didn't just talk.
   They showed off.

Game-by-game, QB Darron Thomas' passing is improving.
He was phenomenal Thursday with 22-31, 308 yards, 3 TD's, no sacks. 

UCLA "held" LaMJ to 123 yards on 20 carries
 and two TD's in three quarters.

The offensive line opens a lane as wide
as an airport runway for Remene Alston Jr.
to leap through for a score.

Neuhoser with his back
to the scoreboard.

   The title to the Oregonian story said it best: "Compute this, BCS". And what better witness could they present their case before than ol' Mr. "Scoreboard, Baby" himself, Rick Neuheisel?
    Oregon's favorite villain, humbled and wowed, was left no choice but to say things like, "Well they were terrific tonight," and "That was impressive," and "Overwhelming," and "Dominant."
   The rest of the nation took notice as well. George Schroeder, in his postgame story in the R-G, said:

Right now, and helped along by what happened Thursday night, the common perception is that Oregon is very, very good. Here, a couple of tweets from college football writers, watching (on TV) and riffing:

“If UCLA has a pistol offense, then Oregon’s is some kind of flesh melting ion bomb.”

Or, with 137 characters to spare: “Wow.”

That's it!  Let all the rest of the teams have their spread option, pistol, run-and-shoot, triple option, or whatever offenses. Only Oregon has the FLESH MELTING ION BOMB offense.   


Watching the game in 3D was great.
It was like we were actually there!