Pics from the Oregonian
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| LaMichael James felt full weight of LSU defense Saturday night. |
George Schroeder: The gap between college football’s good and great just got bigger
By GeorgeSchroeder
Register-Guard columnist
Published: (Sunday, Sep 4, 2011 04:25AM) Midnight, Sept. 4
ARLINGTON, Texas — The familiar chant started quietly, just a few guys wearing purple and gold in the west end zone.
It quickly spread, though, into a full-throated taunt from all over the stadium — until it dissolved into a louder roar celebrating one more touchdown.
It was LSU 40, Oregon 27. And you didn’t really need to hear it from the Tiger fans — “SEC! SEC! SEC!” — to recognize an essential truth.
They’re better.
Nah, this isn’t about conference superiority, though you won’t get much argument here. It’s about the gap between Oregon and college football’s very best programs.
Wrap your mind around what happened Saturday night on a huge stage at Cowboys Stadium. We watched a beatdown applied to an illusion.
The flashy uniforms. The fantastic plays. The fast. It all combines to create an aura for Oregon football that feels formidable — and is absolutely fun.
But once again, the hype got stuffed by a superior opponent.
LSU was better. Just like Auburn. And before that, Ohio State.
And we’re left with this stark reality:
It’s not that the Ducks weren’t ready for the big stage. They’re just not good enough to own it.
[Now one may argue, "Wait, if our freshman RB doesn't fumble twice on their end, we're still in that game."
True, but once they got that lead, did you see how easily they could just hand off and run downhill? Did you see how easily their offensive line could push our defense straight back for big gains up the middle? Oregon didn't have the muscle to fight back.]
Don’t misunderstand — Oregon is good. I think the Ducks will win their third straight conference championship, which would be a huge accomplishment.
They deserve kudos for taking on the high-risk, high-reward challenge. Also, I know. They hurt themselves.
They gave away a couple of touchdowns with critical turnovers. They committed unforced errors and blew assignments and made enough bone-headed mistakes to make a coach cry. Coaches made ’em, too.
“I think everybody, myself included, is gonna be better,” Chip Kelly said.
I’ve no doubt. But we also saw Oregon’s speed negated. The Ducks were stifled by an opponent that was bigger, stronger and at least as fast.
Maybe faster.
We’ve seen that show before. And fair or not, until the Ducks win a high-profile nonconference game, their domination of the Pac-12 looks like a romp through a league weakened by the decline of USC.
When Oregon has played the best from the SEC and the Big Ten, the results haven’t been good. (Wait, what’s this we hear about inviting the Big 12’s very best into the Pac-12?)
I asked Kelly the difference between the Ducks and those big-boy programs they can’t seem to beat.
“They’ve got a little bit different athlete running around out there right now,” he said.
Specifically, the coach pointed to the Tigers’ defensive line, which dominated the line of scrimmage.
LaMichael James averaged 3 very tough yards on 18 carries, and we can put away the Heisman thoughts. Darron Thomas didn’t pass well, but he didn’t have much time, either.
Yeah, Oregon’s offensive line is a new group. But the “common trait,” Kelly said, about the defensive lines of LSU, Auburn and Ohio State is this:
“Standing next to them on the field, they don’t look like a lot of the guys we see.”
Or a lot of the guys the Ducks have.
We talked about this after Ohio State and the Rose Bowl. And also, last January after the loss to Auburn.
Nothing has changed in eight months.
I’m not sure whether LSU can overcome mediocrity at quarterback (even if Jordan Jefferson returns) or Les Miles’ quirks. But the Tigers are better than Auburn was, more than talented enough to win it all.
No one should be surprised if Miles lifts the crystal football in January in New Orleans and screams “Wa-HOOO!” again. If not the Tigers, then Alabama. Or maybe Oklahoma finally breaks the SEC’s death grip on the BCS championship.
Sorry, the Ducks haven’t quite reached that level.
Where they are isn’t such a bad place to be. It’s just not where we thought they were — where you wanted them to be.
Also, it’s not the end. The season is not over just as it’s getting started.
“It’s one game,” Kelly said. “It’s a long, long, long, long season.” And also: “We’ve been knocked down, not knocked out.”
He’s right. The Ducks could conceivably climb the rankings, and with a lot of help they could get back into the BCS title race. Just don’t count on it.
The voters aren’t going to forget Saturday’s beatdown. And although the Ducks will certainly get better, there wasn’t much to inspire confidence that the Ducks could run the table.
Well, other than this: They’re done with the SEC.
Another good argument is that Ohio State, Auburn and LSU all had at least a month to prepare for the Ducks. Michigan and Tennesse only had a week. Look what happened to them.
That's true. But the reality is those are likely going to be the only way Oregon will meet these teams. They're not exactly beating down the door to play home-and-home series that will put them in Autzen.
The Ducks need to have the same focus they had through last year. Concentrate on winning the Pac 10/12, and leave the BCS to the voters and computers. Oregon was the last champion of the Pac-10. They could become the first champion of the Pac-12, or even it's only champion as rumors of a Pac-16 are flying faster than you can say "Aggies are looking for a new home.".
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| Cliff Harris turning things around. Is now paying speeding tickets faster than he's getting them. |
Other News:
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| LB Kiko Alonso: DUI and burglary, but not on the same day. |
Text message to Chip Kelly: "Coach, forcing Cliff Harris and Kiko Alonso to sit down and watch that game was great punishment. I'm sure they learned their lesson. How 'bout letting them play now?"
Stay classy, Louisiana!
I've come across more than one comment on LSU fans' sportsmanship and behavior. Below are two tweets:
supwitchugirl Brian Michael Jamie
Honestly, 95% of #LSU fans were homophobic, sexist, rascist..I could keep going. Rudest people I've ever met. Glad to be a Duck. #GoDucks
And LSU themselves show no shame in this tweet . . .
LSUfball LSU Football
Old videoboard trick, showing #LSU fans followed by #Oregon fans. Oregon is being booed quite extensively. #LSUUO
I think we should cut LSU fans some slack. They were probably just grumpy knowing that once they left this victory, they would have to go back to storm drenched homes and shovel mud out of their living rooms.
"Good luck with that, Tiger fans. Love to help ya out, but, . . . you're kinda like . . .you know . . . . . . A-holes, so . . ."
Finally, Oregon played a lot of freshmen and first time starters on Saturday. And the seasoned veterans admit they didn't have their best game. Now it's time for them to come home and face the only team to have beaten Boise State in the past two years.
Darron Thomas approached the LSU game like it was the most important game of the season; that the season was lost if Oregon lost.
The Oregonians article, "Oregon's Season Far from Done", starts out,
EUGENE – Curiously, the Oregon football team returned to practice Monday.
Curiously because last week quarterback Darron Thomas said a loss to LSU would mean a "done season."
Thomas on Monday after practice stood by his statement and then applied it to this week's home opener against Nevada at Autzen Stadium, as well as every other game on the schedule.
"Same thing, every game," he said. "This game, this next game, we lose this game, it will ruin our whole season. Each game. Game by game."
The most important game of the season is now definitely Nevada. Move on. Win the day.
--KB
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