Ducks are Back. LSU is Long Gone.

How is it Oregon can look like a Natty Natural this week while getting manhandled just a week earlier? It mostly has to do with the difference between LSU and Nevada. Nevada couldn't catch Oregon's ball carriers from behind like LSU could. Their linemen were weaker and less skilled.
Let's be clear, Nevada is a good, well coached team. So it was heartening to see Oregon dispatch of them soundly.
Now we can just hope that Oregon can beat each team on the schedule one game at a time, and then be better ready for an LSU, Alabama, or Oklahoma-type team in the post season regardless of which bowl they're in.

Backup QB Bryan Bennett assures Oregon is solid at that position.

Another positive was the debuting of so many super talented freshmen and redshirt freshmen who will dazzle us in the future. No disrespect to Darron Thomas, but I think backup QB Bryan Bennett will do even greater things when his time comes to lead the team. Also, how exciting was it to see future receivers including Eric Dungy make his first catch as a Duck? And then there's #6 . . . .
(Photos from Oregonian)


Who DAT?!?!?
DeAnthony Thomas, that's who. His first carries last week made him the goat as he fumbled twice and allowed LSU to run away with the win.
This week he made another mistake. He was supposed to block. But credit the cool head of Darron Thomas and DAT's incredible speed to make it all work out.
George Shroeder of the R-G explains it below. . .

A nice win, a big answer — and in De’Anthony Thomas, what a freshman

By GeorgeSchroeder
Register-Guard columnist
Published: (Sunday, Sep 11, 2011 04:25AM) Midnight, Sept. 11

The gasp was audible, a very sharp, involuntary intake. And it came from all of us, anyone and everyone inside Autzen Stadium.

You figure that included the Nevada sideline. And the defensive back who waved helplessly as De’Anthony Thomas abruptly changed course on his way to the end zone.

Wow.

Which is only to say, super-nice rebound, kid. And the rest of you, too.

It was Oregon 69, Nevada 20 on a smoky Saturday afternoon, and the takeaway is this:

Welcome back, Ducks. Nice to see you again.

Let’s get this out of the way: No one is going to mistake Nevada for LSU. Or even, say, for last season’s Nevada.

So let’s not overvalue this rout against a hopelessly overmatched opponent. Asked afterward whether he learned more about his team in Week 1 or Week 2, here was Chip Kelly’s succinct reply: “I don’t know.”

But Saturday was never about Nevada. It was always about Oregon. After what happened last week, it was a chance to get right again.

The Ducks did.

Darron Thomas threw. LaMichael James ran. This new kid was spectacular. The Duck did a bunch of push-ups. And if that’s all it was, the familiar blur of fun, it would have been important, and cathartic for the Ducks and their fans.

I do wish Darron Thomas would run more. So does this Nevada player
as he decides to take a seat to better enjoy Thomas's beautiful jukes.

I suspect we’ll look back later and realize it was something more. An affirmation that this team, while not ready to contend for the BCS championship, remains capable of big things.

There’s stuff to quibble over, including 516 yards by Nevada. But leave that to the coaches. Here’s a pretty succinct analysis of the performance:

“We were always moving forward,” Kelly said. “We’ll build from this.”

Now kids, let's let the Heisman candidate demonstrate the proper
way to hold a football. LaMJ scoring another TD.

Mostly, what we came away with was a good, long look at the newest building block.

De’Anthony Thomas brings something, huh? He’s still getting the hang of this college football thing — but man, is he fast and fun with the football.

Against LSU, he showed a little flash but fumbled twice in consecutive touches. LSU punched in two touchdowns and pulled away for the win. And so the question for Saturday was simple:

How would the freshman respond?

Well, he fumbled once, on a kick return — but scrambled to recover. Mostly, he produced highlights:

A 62-yard run in the first quarter. A 24-yard touchdown catch. And in the third quarter, a 69-yard TD highlighted by that stupefying shimmy.

Yeah. I’d say he bounced back.

“We bounced back,” De’Anthony corrected — and he’s right.

After LSU, this was a very nice rebound, and an important statement. But let’s bounce back to the freshman, because if we learned anything, it was that De’Anthony is an emerging star.

He played so much because Kenjon Barner was out with a bad ankle. But De’Anthony is not going to spend a lot more time on the sidelines.

Though he played exclusively at running back, the plan is to use him at two other receiver positions, too. And you have to figure Kelly salivates as he dreams up ways to plug-and-play the kid, to get him on the field with James.

His future is right now. If you doubt it, remember the gasp.

They froze for an instant in the Oregon coaches’ box, too. Not because of the move; they’ve already seen enough of De’Anthony in practices to expect something special.

No, see, the freshman was not supposed to be out for the pass. His assignment was blitz protection.

Instead, he allowed the outside linebacker to come free. But uh-oh for Nevada, that also left Thomas free.

Catch. Juke. Zip. Touchdown. Wow.

[If future opponents are smart, they will look at that film and never ever blitz anyone past DAT leaving him uncovered.]

He celebrated. And when he got back to the sidelines, Kelly met him.

“You know you missed your block,” he said.

“I gotcha coach,” came the reply.

And the takeaway is there’s plenty of room for improvement, but given the dazzling results, they’ll take it and run away happy. As offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich said, grinning wide, of the mistake-turned-touchdown:

“Just how you draw it up.”

That went for the entire afternoon.



Look at DAT.
His feet don't even touch the ground!


[DeAnthony Thomas had originally given a verbal commitment to USC, then he signed with the Ducks. The big joke last week was that USC didn't feel bad at all after DAT's fumbles against LSU. Who's laughing now?]





Next week: Misery State. No really, they look pretty bad.
-KB