Can we start this season now?



This would look good over the fireplace. By the Oregonian's Bruce Ely.


I wouldn't say this game had no drama. Tennessee Tech scored first, so it was technically a come-from-behind win.

TT did their part and served as a good sparring partner. The Ducks' real competition was themselves and their own mistakes. They improved in some areas. Got worse in others.

These are the best looking of the new helmets.
Apologies to those who called me a "pansy" for
caring too much about the uni's. But there just isn't
much to say about the actual game.

The first string offense and defense both played better than in weeks past. The backups were much better. Mistakes were made, no doubt. Bryan Bennett threw a terribly ugly interception. So did Mariota. DeAnthony Thomas fumbled another punt. He also slowed down and was coasting into the endzone for what would've been his second TD when he was stripped from behind. His offensive lineman recovered in the endzone.  

And what was with all the penalties? Lots of late hits and roughings of the passer. The offensive line kept illegal proceding.  I have a feeling the team was getting bored with beating up on weaker foes. Once they feel challenged in the second half, they'll hopefully tighten up.



Yes, you've got your Mariota, your Barner,
and your DAT. But the make or break of Oregon's
success this season will rest on the large shoulders
of D-linemen like Dion Jordan.

Still they can't score 63 points without doing something right. Mariota was 21 for 28, 307 yards and three TDs. DAT had over 200 all purpose yards in rushing, receiving and punt returns. One interesting DAT stat: In three of the last four games including the Rose Bowl, he has scored a TD the first time he has touched the ball.  And none were one-yard hops across the goal line. They were all jail breaks from midfield.


NEXT YEAR, DAT WILL BE THE SLACKER

Funny thing though, the big talk around the Oregonization was about a Duck running back who is still in high school.

Thomas Tyner is a firm Duck commit and a senior at Aloha High School near Portland.  He is ranked as the 2nd or 4th prep running back in the nation depending on who you ask. That is, he WAS ranked as such before last Friday when he ran for 643 yards and 10 touchdowns.

Understand, those aren't his current season stats. That was ONE GAME. For the season -- which so far only amounts to three games -- he's run 1243 yards and 18 touchdowns, according to the Oregonian. Word of his performance was spread by ESPN and Sports Illustrated. 

Tyner is bigger than DAT at 6-0, 207 pounds. But the video below shows a speed gear much like DAT's. Looking like a man amongst children, his red zone starts around the 50 yard line. Following are highlights of all of his 18 TD's to date.

The future looks bright.


TRAVELER STUNNED TO DEATH

Matt Barkley stayed for his senior season at USC because, as he said it, he and the team "have some unfinished business". Well last Saturday evening on The Farm, their business was finished.  No. 2 USC played like a big stinky steaming pile of number 2 as they looked downright mediocre to Stanford's defensive pressure.

Losing 21-14, the Trojans fell out of the sky from their #2 perch and crashed to #13. Stanford was rewarded for their gritty win and jumped from #21 to #9. The upset raised Oregon to #3.

Barring any more upsets, November 3rd is setting up to be a very interesting date. While Oregon will play at USC on that Saturday, #1 Alabama will be squaring off with #2 LSU. If Oregon wins, and one of them loses . . . . . . Naaa. Let's not go there. Too many things can happen between now and then. And who's to say Georgia or Florida State might not leapfrog Oregon by then?

Besides, as Coach Kelly would say:  



"Killer Bee, what are you doing?
You know we don't look ahead.
We don't care about the polls.
Next week is our Super Bowl.
Win the day. We can't change
what we can't control. If you're
 nervous, you're not prepared. If
you get it, see a doctor and get
rid of it. "

Next: Arizona.
--KB

USC Ranks

The votes keep coming. While USA Today gave USC a third place preseason ranking, The AP and other polls have put USC at the top. Numero Uno. The logic being that with the much ballyhooed Heisman candidate Matt Barkley returning for his senior season to a team loaded with talent on the offensive side -- the same team that beat Oregon last year, no less -- how can you NOT rank them #1?

I share Mr. Burns' sentiment as he would say:  

"Ex-cellent!"

Let the Trojans start the season at the top. Let them begin defending their #1 ranking from the moment their two-year bowl ban ends. Sure, the Trojans may be feeling like they're on a Wheaties box right now, but anyone knows that those who start #1 are very rarely there at the end. And this will be especially true for a USC team with glaring holes. 

Pollsters have propped Barkley and Company
on top of a rickety ladder to start the season.



The following ESPN video echos what everyone is saying. While USC has excellent personnel on offense -- perhaps even the best in the country-- their defense has question marks, particularly at the front line. USC's D-line lacks the depth a team must have to maintain that #1 ranking. And even though they have Oregon in L.A., they are at Stanford, Utah, Washington, Arizona, and UCLA. Good luck with that.

OREGON DRAWS THE LINE

The more I read about Oregon's offensive and defensive lines, the more excited I get. Old school coaches like Rockne and Lombardi will tell you that it all begins at the line. Ohio State, LSU and Auburn taught Chip Kelly's Ducks that they couldn't beat the big boys until they improved their lines.

In the Oregonian's recent article, Oregon Ducks offensive line jelling on schedule,  Center Hroniss Grasu said, "The pace that we play at, we're going fast," he said. "We're trying to get the defense to get tired, to get them to throw up in the middle of the game." That would include USC's defense.

When the opponents have the ball, I believe that is when we will see the secret about Oregon this year. As great and well publicized as their offense is, the Ducks defense will prove to be the catalyst that takes this team to the top. This will be the defense they wish they had when they faced LSU and Auburn, especially when one of their freshmen is 6-8, 280 lb. man-child Aric Armstead. A defensive end so big, so fast, so formidable, that whenever anyone misspells his first name with an 'E', not only will Aric correct him, but that person will never ever spell any 'Eric' he meets with an 'E' ever again. 

Here's The Oregonian's article on the defense: Evolving Ducks Defense after more Sacks in 2012

MARIOTA'S MEN
At the writing of this post -- well, not exactly at the writing, but a couple of days before while I was vacationing near Mt. Hood . . . (Ya, I have a life, OK so SUE ME.),  I learned with the rest of you that QB Marcus Mariota had been given the keys to the team. The redshirt freshman, who had a superb Spring Scrimmage, continued to show his edge through fall camp and beat out sophomore Brian Bennett to start for the Ducks.

In the Sunday Oregonian, John Canzano's column revisited former QB Darron Thomas' reasons for leaving school early. The chances were high of Bennett beating out Thomas this year. But then Mariota beats Bennett! Canzano wrote:

Mariota will start on Saturday against Arkansas State. It may take two months to figure out if he can win a big game, but we're going to learn right away if the kid has presence, command of Kelly's offense and can run, throw and make good decisions on a football field. We've seen it in a single glimpse on a spring day, but I'm not joining the ranks of critics saying they'll need to see Mariota against USC's defense to know if he can really play.
I suspect we'll know it in a single afternoon.

Matt Barkley threw for 39 TD's and over 3500 yards last year. Mariota's stats read all zeros. Yes, it's a big unknown for Oregon. But it's an unknown for Oregon's opponents as well. And the pollsters have no evidence that Oregon could be any better than #5.

No stats. No game film. No scouting reports. Only that single spring scrimmage, plus the consensus of behind-the-curtain witnesses who say that Mariota could be Kelly's best QB to date.

Later: A look at Arkansas State.