At Last

The key word: "Champions".
No Championship Participation souvenirs this time.

What did Wisconsin learn from this?

1) Don't bet the dairy farm on a wide open shootout with the Ducks. Imagine if the Clantons brought a Gatling gun to the O.K. Corral.

2) Never, NEVER try to kill the clock with only two seconds left. It's already dead.

Playing fearless. I mentioned it last week. Coach Kelly talked about it in the postgame. (That's right. Kelly is as smart as me.)  Wisconsin's style and weaknesses played right into Oregon's hands so that every time the Badgers scored, Darron Thomas and Co. jumped off the bench like kids flying out of their beds and running toward a present-rich Christmas tree.

They couldn't wait to open another gift. "Oh goody. Another can of whoop-ass for Wisconsin!"

And after they scored, the offense just sat down and waited. With Wisconsin's customary high number of plays and time of possession, they waited for Alliotti's defense to exploit a mistake. In the second half, they got three.

Kiko Alonso was the defensive player of the game because before Monday, his most noticeable stat was the number of games he was suspended for alcohol related trouble. He was destined to watch the game from a couch somewhere next to Cliff Harris.

He took his punishment like a man and came back with great courage.


Great shot by Orange County Register just before interception.




It was a good pass. Kiko just "Wheatoned" it.



After game, Kelly can't say enough about how proud he is of Kiko.

The second mistake was what will forever earn Coach Kelly the name "Air Kelly". After Russell Wilson completed a 29-yard pass to Jared Abbrederis, Terrance Mitchell stripped the ball to watch it lay on the carpet for what seemed like an eternity. Michael Clay pounced on it, and a second Wisconsin drive was killed.

Kelly leaps as Michael Clay recovers fumble.

Below is what Duck fans know of as Oregon's "other" fight song featuring Air Kelly and the Fumblettes. Thanks to Mad Duck reader E.Z. for showing me this.


The third and final mistake, as mentioned before. Wisconsin tried to kill the clock and they killed themselves. What is Oregon's motto? Win the Day: Fast, Hard, and the most important, FINISH.

In the postgame, Badger QB Russell Wilson talked about losing three games this season in a total of about 40 seconds and just a handful of points. That's got to be harsh. Yet in this game alone, they can look at two pointless timeouts early in the second half to go with the clock-stopping blunder.

Finishing has to do with playing smart. And that partly comes with experience.  Looking for their first BCS win in three tries, I saw some very smart Oregon coaches and players the other night. Sure they had a couple of turnovers. But they didn't hurt themselves with stupid penalties, panic or mental blunders. They finished this thing.

What was that moment like for you when you saw Wilson spike the ball with 00's on the clock?
"It's over," I said to the other people in the room. But even after uttering the words I didn't believe it myself. This is the Rose Bowl after all -- the kind of game Oregon loses. They haven't lost yet. Shouldn't the football gods give Wisconsin one more chance to ruin it all?

The silence and chaos in the stadium transmitted through every TV in the nation. We were watching the most important official replay review in Oregon Duck history. Then the ref flipped on his mike.

"After further review . . . Prior to the spiking of the pass, the clock went to zero. The game is over."

This is what I saw and heard. The ref walked up and tapped on the TV screen, "Hey Killer Bee, the game is over. Pinch yourself. It's real. Your Ducks have just won the Rose Bowl."

The next sound I heard was from across the room -- a gasp from my wife. She was as stunned as I was. We just looked at each other forever. I walked over to her, still gazing into her eyes.

I can only think of two other moments when her eyes were that beautiful. Our wedding, and the Kenny Wheaton interception.

And right then and there, I pressed my lips to hers, and we just started making out wildly in front of seven other adults and at least one grandchild.

OK maybe it didn't happen exactly like that. And maybe the referee didn't say those precise words to me. But it was still that kind of moment. Real, yet unreal. True, but unbelievable.

The Oregon Ducks are Rose Bowl Champions.
The Oregon Ducks are Rose Bowl Champions.
The Oregon Ducks are Rose Bowl Champions.

Go ahead, say it three times. Then say it about 300 more. Don't ever get tired of saying it, because as a long suffering Duck fan like me, you've earned it.

Here's to us, Ducks.

Etta, get well soon. And could you sing that song just one more time while we peruse the following pics we've waited so long to see?

"After further review . . .The game is over."

D.T. was only sacked twice during the game,
 but numerous times after.



Barner



Offensive linemen aren't afraid to hug.


 

Duck Banatic?

Finally. Green and yellow confetti.



All season long, Darron Thomas said,
"Put the team on my back."

 



(Whew) Did the room just get warm?

DAT all smiles.



The Mayans predicted a Duck holding a Rose Bowl trophy
is the first sign of the coming 2012 apocalypse.
Sorry world. But, you know . . . priorities.



Letting the fans touch it.



Injured Carson York holds trophy.



--KB