The Full Gameday Experience

My search for a good Bloody Mary in Eugene brought me to Sixth Street Grill, downtown on . . . . . . uhh, where was it? . . . . . Oh ya, 6th Street. It's just across from the Incredible Hult Center.

Excellent tomatoey body, not too watery like so many BM's are. Superbly spiced. They could afford to be bolder on the vegetables and other fixin's. But plenty bold on the alcohol. This beverage is heavily fueled!

While there, I discovered a new viable pregame routine thanks to Oregon grad and longtime Eugene resident Vance Naegle, who asked to remain anonymous for this story. The Hult Center parking structure is free on weekends as long as no events are scheduled. And I doubt they would be fool enough to schedule an event during a game.

The Sixth Street Grill, as I said, is right across the street. It's split in half -- kid friendly dining room on the right and minorless bar on the left. Great food. Not a huge place. But the idea is to park free at the Hult, pre-function at the Grill, then bus to the stadium, which isn't that far.

At the game, we enjoyed the usual . . .

Eric Dargan intercepts.

IT'S A FUMBLLLLLE! Oregon steals it. 

And then, THIS guy again! Or as he is called these days: "Cover Boy". 

"Cover Boy". For the third consecutive
year, Mariotta dons the cover of SI.
Let's just hope this year he shakes
off the curse and takes Oregon all
the way.

Some of us got to hang with Da Duck:

This was the best dressed Duck fan. 

Duck in Bobo Fett helmet.
"Bobo Duck"?

Then we walked back towards campus and enjoyed one of the funnest experiences for an Oregon fan or grad.

After a successful game at Autzen, this is Oregon fans' victory cigar.
Don't bother with foo foo artichokes and basil goat cheese here.
Just order yourself a damn pepperoni pizza and be prepared
to have your eyes roll back into your head. 

If you're going to spend 50, 80, or 100 bucks for each game ticket these days, you gotta mix in those other venues that fill you with the great memories.


SPEAKING OF MEMORY
Does anybody remember when was the last time Washington State had a winning season? Would you believe it was over 10 years ago?!?  In the 2003-2004 season, they capped off a brilliant 10-win season with a win over Texas in the Holiday Bowl. Since then, they've been generally terrible, mediocre at best. 
In all this time, they've had trouble getting a coach to capture the imagination of players and new recruits to rebuild the team. And the jury is still out on whether Mike Leach is that guy now.

He's trying. But before they beat Portland State last week, he was talking of his team's "culture of losing". This excerpt from AP sources:

"There is nobody on our team that has won in college football, and so we have to take that step and that's why it's so important that we're strong internally," Leach said. "There are no players on the team that have won."
The Cougars remain a young team, with plenty of underclassmen and walk-ons seeing playing time. They have already had 12 players make their first career start this season.
"We're younger than nearly everyone we've played," Leach said.
That includes the rapidly improving offensive line that protects quarterback Connor Halliday, the nation's leading passer. The line is made up of walk-ons and first-year players.

Let's get something straight. Connor Halliday is the nation's leading passer for one reason. The Cougs don't run. They just don't. In their win against Portland State, they threw for a whopping 630 yards and ran for 76. Nearly 3/4 of their plays were pass plays. 

Can you think of a team who passed 75% of the time and won the National Championship, or a major bowl, or won their league, or even finished high in league standings? I can't. Those teams are few and far between, and probably had a super QB and at least one gifted receiver. In other words, a fluke. A novelty.
  
So I'm confused about Leach talking about getting beyond this "culture of losing", all the while having his team play a one dimensional system that is doomed to fail. 

Oregonion writer Ken Goe is a football genius (at least for this week) because he's thinking what I'm thinking. Here are his thoughts posted yesterday:

My first exposure to what would become the "Air Raid" offense came in 1990 when a young, cocky coach named Hal Mumme brought his Iowa Wesleyan team in to play Portland State.

Mumme was just beginning to develop concepts he refined into the Air Raid at Valdosta State and Kentucky.

Mike Leach, currently running the show at Washington State, was on Mumme's staff at Iowa Wesleyan, Valdosta State and Kentucky, and part of the offensive brain trust.

On Saturday, Leach will pilot the Air Raid against Oregon in a 7:30 p.m. game in WSU's Martin Stadium.

Here is a good ESPN.com story on Mumme, which traces the evolution of his career and the offense.

While he and Leach were at Kentucky, I visited a practice prior to the 1999 Music City Bowl. I asked if there were any rules for reporters at practice. The response? Don't get run over.

After practice Kentucky quarterback Dusty Bonner broke down some of the Air Raid's concepts for me.

As Bonner explained it, the Air Raid is all about matchups. The quarterback comes to the line of scrimmage and examines the defense. Because of the Air Raid's spread formations, it's hard to disguise defenses and coverages. So, Bonner said, he just looked it over, found the matchup he wanted to exploit, took the snap and exploited it.

Because the quarterback usually determines his receiver with the pre-snap read, he gets rid of the ball quickly. This makes Air Raid quarterbacks very difficult to sack.

There is a well-designed method to the madness.

My problem with the Air Raid is two-fold:

-- It's difficult to stop until it gets into the red zone. When it's close to the opposing goal line and space compacts, those quick passing routes don't work as well.

-- In this offense the running game is an afterthought. It's another reason the Air Raid isn't as effective in the red zone. And the lack of a running game makes it difficult to protect a lead late in the game.

It's a stat-friendly scheme for quarterbacks and receivers. But unless an offense can translate yards into points, it's not an offense you win championships with.

So there you go, long suffering Cougar fans. Fun. Exciting. But don't expect a whole 'lotta success. Are you OK with that? 

Gametime: Saturday evening at 7:30 Pacific on ESPN.

--KB

For Cougs, It'll Only Get Worse

BAD NEWS FOR WSU QB CONNOR HALLIDAY
HE'S GOING TO GET PICKED AND SACKED A LOT
From the Oregonian:

UO's defense hopes Washington State throws early, often and into mistakes

EUGENE – Unlike No. 2 Oregon, whose offense perplexes opponents with the duplicity of its read-option attack, teams coached by Mike Leach aren’t coy about their all-out passing strategy.
In his second season at Washington State, and despite an improved offensive line and running back corps, Leach still directs an offense living up to its “Air Raid” nickname. Even when defenders know what’s coming – in 2008 his Texas Tech team won 11 games while throwing 67 percent of the time -- it works.
No team has attempted more passes than WSU’s 339 this season, and the Cougars are 4-2, including a 2-2 Pac-12 record that started with a stunning road upset of USC.
“It’s one of those things that’s confoundingly simplistic,” Oregon coach Mark Helfrich said. “They can lock you into something and they’ll do it till you bleed.
“When they’re rolling, they’re rolling.”
When the one-dimensional Cougars hit trouble, however, they come to an immediate halt.
Though WSU quarterback Connor Halliday is as prolific as any Leach quarterback – he’s the only person in FBS to throw for 500 yards in a game this season – he’s more error-prone, too, by throwing an FBS-worst 13 interceptions. During Leach’s 10-season run at Texas Tech, his quarterbacks averaged 2.2 interceptions per 100 passes. Halliday’s interception rate is 3.8 percent. Forcing him into continued turnovers is a key for Oregon’s defense.
“Against Oregon State he was fine just chunking along, taking short-yardage gains and maybe taking a shot down the field once in a while and as soon as Oregon State got up, that’s when the wheels kind of fell off,” said Brian Anderson, a contributor to the WSU blog Cougcenter.com, which has detailed Halliday’s season in detail. “They were ‘what are you thinking?’ kind of balls.”
Halliday’s three interceptions on consecutive possessions against Oregon State last week turned just a seven-point deficit into a rout but were only the most recent examples of how his struggles are exacerbated when trailing -- and oddsmakers expect the 39-point underdog Cougars to trail a lot Saturday.
When trailing, his interception rate jumps to 6.5 percent as his completion percentage dips to 52.3 percent, symptoms of what Anderson calls “hero-ball.”
“He tries to score 14 points on every pass, and it’s just not possible,” Anderson said. [Can you blame a guy for just wanting it so bad?]
It started in the season-opening loss at Auburn. After the Tigers kicked a field goal to take a seven-point lead into the final quarter, Halliday led the Cougars within eight yards of a tying touchdown with 4 minutes remaining. Then he threw an interception. He’s thrown four picks this season when down seven points or fewer.
That trend offsets Halliday’s otherwise positive developments this season. His overall completion percentage has never been higher at 63.9 percent, and an incredible 10 WSU receivers have catches in five straight games. Vince Mayle and Dom Williams are Halliday’s go-to targets when throwing deep, but Gabe Marks is the all-around favorite, Anderson said.
“You can look at a route and say wow, that was not the right throw but maybe the guy broke the pattern off completely,” Helfrich said of Halliday. “He’s been a very efficient passer from what we’ve seen from him in the past.”
Though at times Leach has chastised the QB in postgame press conferences doing too much, he defended Halliday after the OSU loss.
“We had adversity, and it certainly wasn't just Connor,” Leach said. “He played two-thirds of the game real well. If he can play two-thirds of the game, he can do it a full game."
UO’s secondary starters have been tested a full game just once, though all-American candidate cornerbacks Terrance Mitchell and Ifo Ekpre-Olomu are up for the challenge.
Mitchell has three interceptions this season, and this week Washington coach Steve Sarkisian called Ekpre-Olomu “probably the best defensive player we've seen this season." The UO secondary has drawn a pass interference penalty in each game but one. Ekpre-Olomu said the receivers’ precision on tricky, shorter routes make this a particularly difficult group to cover.
“The secondary is going to have a lot of opportunities to make big plays,” Ekpre-Olomu said. “If we have a great pass rush and good coverage in the secondary we’ll be able to make a lot of plays but if we’re only doing one of those, Halliday is good enough to make us pay.”
So long as the Cougars aren’t trailing. [Oh, they'll be trailing.]

-- Andrew Greif

WORSE NEWS FOR HALLIDAY:
HE'S GOING TO GET PICKED AND SACKED A LOT BY GUYS WEARING PINK.
 

The Ducks will be wearing pink for breast cancer awareness.

 

 

Game time: Saturday evening 7pm Pacific on FoxSports1
--KB

Keep on Cougin' It!

Last week in Pullman, WSU led Colorado -- which was considered the worst team in the Pac-12 at the time -- by a score of 31 -14 with around eight minutes left in the game.

The Cougs lost 35-34. With an elegant style and grace all their own, this young Coug team, led by their new and exciting coach Mike Leach, added their own glossy and glittered page to the historical annals of "Cougin' It".

Before knowing the score or story of the game last Saturday, I came across a tweet from a WSU fan that said "This is the worst game I've ever watched sober". I knew right then that there was trouble in the Palouse.

After watching the highlights, my answer to him and all Coug fans is don't be too hard on your team.
It actually looked like the best game they've ever played drunk!

"Looks like I picked a bad day to quit drinkin'."

Jeff Twining of Saturday Blitz wrote up an excellent history and definition of the concept we call "Cougin It".  He recalls memorable "Coug" moments going back to 1975. Must read.

In the article, he offers a great analysis as to how and why the Cougs proved so capable of blowing that lead. Below is an excerpt:
At Texas Tech, [Coach Mike] Leach built a winning program that culminated in a bowl game each of the 10 years he coached the Red Raiders. As his teams ascended to the top of the national rankings, his “Air Raid” offense became national recognized for its ability to gain yards and score points in bunches.

The only problem, if you are familiar with the game of football, is that incompletions stop the clock. When your quarterback throws 60 passes and 28 of them are incompletions, like Halliday did Saturday, it is hard to run time off the clock while attempting to maintain a lead.

Coach Leach might have been able to get away with that all day any day at Texas Tech. But he's in Pullman now -- where good leads go to die. If there is any way to lose a game, you'll find that way in Pullman. Consider it the curse of the Palouse, where the white man probably screwed over the natives at one time or another.

When in Seattle . . .
This game will be in Seahawks Stadium in Seattle. It counts as a home game for WSU because they ain't no fools. They know that they can get far more Duck AND Cougar fans in Seattle (Read that: Ticket revenue.) than at Martin Stadium.
This isn't the first time they've done this. And Duck and Coug fans are learning to love the pregame tradition of joining arm in arm, crossing flags in a rainbow of red, green, grey, and yellow, and shouting in one unified voice:
"HUSKIES SUCK. HUSKIES SUCK ......."

And after the game when Duck fans walk out of the stadium into the parking lot to join Coug fans who already left the game two quarters before to seek the comfort of their grills and beverage coolers, they can all raise their brews and agree once again,
"HUSKIES STILL SUCK. HUSKIES STILL SUCK....."

It's a beautiful thing.

SPEAKING OF THE HUSKIES

Husky fans storm field after beating No. 8 Stanford 17-13.

Why did Dawg fans storm the field after the game last night? Because they won a trip to the National Championship? The Rose Bowl?

No. They just won, period. They beat a ranked team, which these days is cause for great celebration in Dawg Nation.

Oh how the mighty have fallen. There was a time in Washington when beating Stanford was like a trip to the grocery store. You get what you need. "Thank you. Have a nice day." Then move on.

But these days, any better-than-average win is cherished.  Last night, Dawg fans made it official: Washington and Oregon have completely switched places.

If he were dead, Don James would roll in his grave. In fact, this should make James want to kill himself just so he can roll in his grave.

And now, from CREEDENCE COUGWATER REVIVAL
Keep on Cougin’ it.

Keep on Cougin’ it.
Keep on Cougin’ it.
Cougin’ it,
Cougin’ it, Cougin’ it, Cougin it.

Maybe you don’t understand it.
But if you’re a Washington State man,
You drop the ball and run out of time
And that’s what I call Couuuugin’ it.

Up by a score. Give up that score.
You gonna Coug it tonight

Lead goes ker-blewie, home crowd starts booin’.
They gonna Coug it tonight.

chorus

Bleeeeeeeee wuwuwuwuwu..Deena dinna dinna daa daa daa
Doo wah wah wah Doo wah wah wah Doo wah wah wah
Da deedle diddle doo wah
Dohhhhh wah wah wah, Wah Wah Wah, WAH WAH WAH

( harmonica)

Dee diddle doodle, diddle doo da dah
Dee diddle doodle, diddle doo da dah
Dee diddle doodle, diddle doodle, diddle doodle, diddle do da da dah
(Repeat two more times)

DWOP. DWOP. DWOP. DWOP.
Dwaa daa dwaa daa dwaa daa dwaa daa
DWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP

“God bless ya. Thank youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!!!”

 (Editor's note: The hardest part of this whole post was interpreting and writing down Southern Fried Rock electric guitar. You can sing the above words right along with John Fogerty because fortunately, like Dylan and Springsteen, he sings with that special quality of completely unintelligible lyrics. But it is Fogerty live, nevertheless. So you must crank it. Get the whole office dancin'.)
  
Oregon at Washington State in Seattle gametime: Saturday night @ 7:30 on ESPN2.
Tired of the night games? Afraid they're still coming. Next week against Washington is at 7:30. Then at ASU is an "early" game at 6:00 pm.

Thanks Cougs. We needed that.

Washington State reminded at least this Duck fan of something. Anyone can beat anyone anytime in this league. Oregon couldn't get away with playing hurt and sporadic in the first half. The Cougs stayed right with them and went into the locker room ready to pull off the big upset. Had WSU played this way against Oregon State they would've won easily. But they chose to save it for the Ducks. They, along with every other team, planned to bring their best against Oregon.

(Pics from Oregonian.)  It's enough to just beat them,
but DAT made the Cougs look downright silly.

Fortunately Oregon is brandishing a weapon no one counted on -- their incredible depth of talent. Bryan Bennett finished the game for Darron Thomas and showed at the very least that he was not bothered by a hurting knee. Kenjon Barner and DeAnthony Thomas combined to amply equal the typical output of LaMichael James. And the defense outdid themselves while Cliff Harris was at Kinko's faxing a copy of his new driver's license to Coach Kelly's office.

It still came down to the second half. Can the other team keep up? Oregon is starting to get a reputation as a "second half" team, implying that they usually outscore and pull away from the opponent at that point.

While that is true, I don't believe that is an accurate depiction of what's happening. It's not that Oregon suddenly gets better in the second half, it's that the other team starts to loosen it's grip and slide away at that point. Oregon's conditioning is more intense. Their approach to the entire game is speed and never letting the foot off the gas.

I was shocked that as fast as Thomas is at getting the next snap off after the whistle blows the previous play dead, Bennett is even faster. Couple that with Bennett being fresh and healthy, Barner and DAT were feeling good, the offensive line rotated players -- the Cougs, like most other teams, couldn't keep up.

Hard to remember Bryan Bennett is just a redshirt freshman.

Nevertheless, I am glad that WSU played Oregon tough and never quit. Better the Ducks get that fresh bloody lip at this game in Eugene, than at Seattle or Stanford in the coming weeks. Coming off their exciting win over Arizona, you can bet the Huskies are going to bring it. Lots more on those mutts later.

Lavasier Tuinei, The Big Tuna.

As for Stanford, they remain undefeated after their thrilling triple overtime win at USC. That game got to a point where each team was just waiting for the other to make the critical mistake. It ended with USC fumbling in the endzone.

That poorly played game suggested to me that Stanford wasn't ready for the Natty.  But it said so much more to Oregonian columnist Jon Canzano. In his column, Andrew Luck is human, Stanford is beatable and Oregon could return to BCS title game, he, of all people, watched Oregon's and Stanford's games and came away convinced that the Ducks deserved to go back to the Natty.

That thought didn't occur to me. I still think there is a simple law of physics at play here -- that being the physical size and speed of the top SEC and Big 12 defensive lines. But hey, who am I to argue if someone thinks the Ducks belong back on top.

This is Husky H8 week, the week that Oregon Ducks reflect on all the ways and reasons we hate the Washington Huskies. Fortunately the Ducks have beaten the Dawgs into submission for several years now.

These days, I can actually have a cordial conversation with a Husky fan in the elevator or grocery store line without him going all obnoxiously rabid on me. But one defeat to the Dawgs, and it's like their purple fever comes right back and it takes another three or four years of beatings before the bitches lie down and stay again.

I'll have more on them later this week.

--KB

You want Who to What, WHERE?

Check this out:
Chip Kelly fine with playing Washington State in Seattle,
but not every year

Published: Tuesday, October 25, 2011, 2:00 PM Updated: Tuesday, October 25, 2011, 2:11 PM
by Lindsay Schnell

EUGENE -- Just as Washington State hosted Oregon State at CenturyLink Field last Saturday — home of the Seattle Seahawks — Chip Kelly said on Tuesday that there is a possibility the Ducks will play the Cougars in Seattle next season.



But as for moving the entire series to Seattle — including when the Ducks are the home team — Kelly said he’s not interested.


“The whole deal that was presented to me was that we don’t play at home, we’d always play in Seattle,” Kelly said. “I don’t want to trade a game at Autzen Stadium. If they want to move a game, that doesn’t bother me.


"The one proposal I heard was that we got to Seattle every year: we don’t go to Pullman, but we don’t come back to Eugene, either, and I’m not in favor of that. I love playing in front of our hometown fans.”

Oregon spokesman Dave Williford said nothing official has been proposed for next season's Oregon-Washington State game, or any future games.


--Lindsay Schnell

"Hey Oregon, we at Washington State have this great idea. You'll just love it!  Why don't we play in Seattle every other year when we're the home team so you don't have to fly all the way to the bitter cold Palouse? Sound good?

Great. Then maybe you can host us in Seattle every other OTHER year! It'll give us a chance to get away from your noisy place and we can have a nice peaceful game in Washington.

Hey, we're just thinking of you, Oregon. You'll save money by not having to clean up your stadium after the game. Your fans will love it because you know how much they hate having Autzen always packed to the rim. They'll have more access to bathrooms and shorter lines at the concessions. After all, isn't that what it's all about?

It'll be like camp. A sleepover! Won't that be fun?  Oh and we forgot the best part, Oregon.
Three words: Pikes Place Market!

So shall we schedule the first game in Seattle saaaay, oh I don't know. . . . . maybeeeee tomorrow?"

COUGARS, Have you finally gone completely brain pickled? Are you over-fertilizing your barley and hops?  Do you believe with all your heart that you truly know the difference between a good idea and whatever is collecting on the bottom of your boots at this very moment?

Did you really think we were going to say, "Gee Cooter, that sounds like a pretty good deal!  Instead of playing you in Eugene where 57,000 Duck fans give Autzen it's reputation as one of the most feared stadiums in the country, we'll mosey on up to Seattle Stadium where we'll have about 20,000 Duck fans, 30,000 Cougar fans, and about 10,000 Husky fans throwing beer and garbage at all of us just because we're there. PRETTY GOOD DEAL!!!"

How about this idea, Cougs. Just for you, we're going to change the name of our stadium. To everyone else it's still Autzen. But whenever you come to Eugene -- starting tomorrow -- we'll call it something else. From now on, you, and just you, Cougs, will know Autzen as . . . . .

THE WOODSHED.

That's right. It's the place where Daddy has to take you whenever something stupid comes out of your primary face hole. You know, something like, "Duuhhh, why don't we play in Seattle instead of Eugene?"

You see, it breaks Daddy's heart whenever stupidness emanates from your big round skull. He thinks your brains have dropped down to your ass. And he loves you so he's going to have to WHACK those brains back up into your head again.

So come to the Woodshed and get your medicine, Cougs. Go there tonight, drop your pants; and you just stand there and wait for Daddy. He'll be there tomorrow at noon to show you how much he loves you.

As for your specific punishment, the current point spread is set at 35 points. I'm afraid we'll have to increase that to 47 . . . . wait, I forgot Cliff Harris won't be playing . . . .make that 49.

And in the future, stop coming to us with your silly "good ideas".  You haven't had a good idea since you invented fruit leather rollups in 1985. 

It just makes Daddy mad. And then he has to beat you more, which he hates to do. So that makes him even madder, and then he has to beat you even more. See how that works?

So you run along now, Cougs. And tomorrow at lunchtime we'll see you and give you a good righteous beating, and then you can run on home, put your butt in a sling, and we'll never have to talk about this again.

OK?

Game time: Saturday 12 noon Pacific on FSN/Root Network.

Blow to the Head Gives Ducks and Fans Wisdom



When Ducks cry: Reaction to Kenjon Barner's blow to the head.

   I can't recall the last time Duck fans were shaken sober after a 20 point win.  Yes, Oregon was favored by 35 and we were (OK, I was) fully expecting such a blowout. WSU was pretty terrible to this point while the Ducks had just knocked off 9th ranked Stanford.   
   But let's face it. The Cougs brought it. They were trying to drag the Ducks to their woodshed, paddles ready and waiting. It showed in Oregon's first scoring drive when Washington State's defensive personnel were fired up. They were woofin' and hollerin' and flying to the ball.  It was clear that Oregon wasn't going to score quickly on that drive. And it looked like they wouldn't score at all. 
   WSU had stopped Oregon on two consecutive third downs. But the Ducks went for fourth both times. And after the Ducks finally scored, they faked the extra point for a two point conversion.
   Here's how the Spokesman Review tells it . . .
Washington State (1-5, 0-3) showed from the first Oregon possession its game plan was predicated on whacking the Ducks in the mouth.


Linebacker Alex Hoffman-Ellis set the tone with a crunching sack of Thomas on the game’s second play.

“We practiced all week getting off blocks, being physical and beating our guy,” linebacker Myron Beck said. “At times we did that. We’re improving.”

But Oregon coach Chip Kelly showed his disdain for the WSU defense on the same possession, going for it twice on fourth down – including one from the WSU 43 that was successful by inches – as the Ducks covered 80 yards in 13 plays, taking an 8-0 lead on LaMichael James’ 1-yard run and a quick-hit two-point conversion.

The Cougars answered 6 minutes later with James Montgomery’s 26-yard sprint . . .

   Oregon took everything WSU gave them and pushed it back with insult to take an 8-0 lead. That should have set the tone and deflated the Cougs right there. Oregon's #3 ranking was for real and no one could do thing one about it.
   "Now Cougs, if you'll just lie still, we can make this as painless as possible." The Ducks should've been so lucky. But Washington State was not going to give up. They truly wanted the win and played out of their skulls for it.
   Coach Kelly and others had paid some sincere lip service to the notion that the Ducks had targets on their backs. They were the Pac-10 champs and favored by many to repeat. Everyone wants a shot at them and would love to knock them off. Every team will bring their 'A' game.
   ASU and Stanford may say they gave their best effort against Oregon. But WSU left no doubt late in the first quarter when Kenjon Barner, upon returning a kickoff, was knocked into last Tuesday with a brutal head-to-head collision. 
   Was it legal or goonish?  Did the Coug do it on his own or was he pushed?  I was bothered that several Coug players on the sidelines were still smiling and high-fiving while Barner lay motionless. I also wish the refs had flown the flag as a matter of principle.  A blow to the head should be treated like a face mask.  It doesn't matter if it looked 'clean' or unintentional. Do they tolerate head-to-head blows or don't they?
   In any event, message sent. Message received. There would be blood. And it didn't stop there. QB Darron Thomas walked to the sidelines with his throwing arm hanging weird off his shoulder. Moments later, LaMichael James got up slowly from a run and limped off. Next it was Nate Costa limping, then Casey Matthews, then someone else.
   Not only was Washington State taking the hurt to Oregon,  they took the lead in the game.  Up 14 to 8,  25,000 Coug fans were suddenly making Martin Stadium very Autzenesque.  

Plain and simple: Nate Costa's a stud.

  The end of the story is that thanks to the superb play of Nate Costa along with excellent efforts of LmJ, Jeff Maehl, Casey Matthews, Brandon Bair, Cliff Harris and all the others, Oregon stormed back and won. What's more is that it looks like all the injuries will heal over time; and that Oregon has extra time given a bye week and their next game scheduled for Thursday after next.

Immediately after Barner hit, Cliff Harris, who is emotional
by nature, was seen seething on the sidelines. Fortunately
he channeled his anger into his play as he made tacklers
look silly while returning this punt untouched for a TD.
Watching this, one name came to my mind: Deion Sanders. 

   That is the result. But what was the lesson? It's that Coach Kelly ain't lyin' when he talks about that whole target on the back (or helmet) thing.

   This was cellar dweller Washington State who punched Oregon in the mouth and gave the Ducks a taste of their own blood. It couldn't have come at a better time, because better teams are still lining up for their turn.

   So who is the player of the game? Nate Costa is the top choice for seamlessly stepping in and securing the win.

  But for long term benefit, I'm going to select Anthony Carpenter. He was the Cougar freshman who flew in with the horizontal helmet blow to Kenjon Barner. We have yet to hear from Mr. Carpenter about his own reaction to the hit. But as long as Barner will be OK, we can look at the positives. Carpenter may have done Oregon a favor by making the following painfully clear. . .



Stay classy, Carpenter.



  Oregon hopefully learned that this bid to repeat as Pac-10 champs will not be easy. "Extra curricular efforts" such as jacked up emotions, out of control hits, goonery, fake injuries, etc. should be expected and considered the norm from now through December 4th.

  Be careful, Oregon. Be vigilant, stay cool.
And uhh . . . don't lose your heads.

D.T. walks off field looking like
a stroke victim.

Link to Ken Goe's latest article of what's next:

Oregon Ducks rundown: Bye week? What bye week? Second-ranked Ducks go back to work

Latest from R-G.

Oregon football: Ducks high-step into No. 2 in polls at 6-0.   Oregon trails only Ohio State in all three polls, and Kenjon Barner’s back in Eugene after night in hospital


John Canzano story on Linebacker Casey Matthews showing class through injuries to Barner, James Rodgers.

Game Highlights

Stanford, show some pride. Cougs, show some smarts.

Standford's First Mistake
What was it? Underestimating Oregon's defense?  Abandoning their game plan?
No, it happened before their team even took the field at Autzen.

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Sad Stanford tree at Autzen.

A ficus. A FICUS?!?!?! They made their famed tree to look like a ficus!!  I know the Stanford band and cheer squad like to joke around; but to make their own mascot look pathetic in the biggest nationally televised game of their lives?!?!
   Oh the shame. It was bad enough to show that their team was nowhere near worthy of their top 10 rating. But to point at themselves and say "Hey, we're not the lone tall pine tree in the midst of the forest -- the Palo Alto. We're just a disposable office waiting room tree. And if you don't believe us, watch how our team blows an 18 point lead.

Pathetic, man. No pride.

   Now take the Cougars this Saturday. They're going to get their butts kicked and they know it. But you think they're going to trot out some mangy old alley cat onto the field?
   Hell no.  Butch T. Cougar will be out there getting whacked, stuffed and mounted with his head held high!

Message to Cougars
[Hey Coug fans, in this the third season of the Paul Wulff era -- where you've won four games to date (one Pac-10 win) -- I have a question. Are you by chance pulling your hair out and screaming at no one in particular when you read stories like this?
Excerpts from the Spokesman-Review this week . . .
Cougars making moves to help speed defense (Click title for link)
Vince Grippi The Spokesman-Review
 
PULLMAN – Change is coming to the Washington State University defense. And it’s coming fast.

[Mike Price is landing in Spokane at this very moment? No. Coach Wulff talks about how he needs to add speed to his defense . . . ]

“We’ll probably have to make a few moves with some personnel,” WSU coach Paul Wulff said Sunday night, talking about a defense that’s been gashed for 285 and 437 yards on the ground the past two weeks.

“We’re still mulling over the way we’re going to go with the personnel moves to help out our defensive unit a little bit,” he continued.

Though Wulff qualified his remarks with “we don’t have anything for sure set in stone” and “we haven’t come to a final conclusion,” he did add “we’re trying to move a few guys around to help us with some speed and obviously tackling.”

The goal, Wulff said, was to improve the defense’s ability to get to the ball.

“We’ve improved our speed,” he said, “but we’re still aren’t at the level we need to be. We’re making strides, but we need to continue to improve our speed.”

Speed is crucial this week because third-ranked Oregon, possessor of possibly the fastest offensive unit in the country, comes to Pullman this Saturday for a 2 p.m. Homecoming contest.

That will mean the Cougars will have faced, in order, the 15th-best rushing team in America (USC, 234 yards per game), the 10th (UCLA, 262.4), and the No. 2 team (the Ducks, 331).

[In the face of disaster, it bothers me when those in charge say things like, "probably have to", "a few moves", "mulling over", "a little bit", "haven't come to a final conclusion", "we're trying", "a few guys", "still aren't at the level we need to be" . . .
   Imagine if you're a part of the crew of the Titanic in full panic mode, and the captain says, "I think if we adjust the ballast a little bit, maybe add a few more bailing buckets, things should hopefully get to the level we need to be."
   A few years back, there was a notorious nickname earned for a guy who was "tweaking" this and "looking at" that in the face of a hurricane disaster: Brownie. 
To say the least, those sort of comments suggest a lack of leadership.

My favorite line is the next one . . . .]
“Everybody has to be involved in stopping Oregon and their running game because they spread you out,” Wulff said, “so your safeties and linebackers have to be good tacklers.”
["your safeties and linebackers have to be good tacklers.”  Well, he ain't lyin'. Give him that.]

Paul Wulff mulls it over.

The moves WSU can make are limited, [by the speedy players he could NOT recruit?] though some possibilities include freshman Deone Bucannon playing more at strong safety, which would give Sekope Kaufusi, a former linebacker playing defensive end, a shot at his old position; possibly shifting outside linebacker Alex Hoffman-Ellis back inside, where he played last season; or using Jamal Atofau, a converted safety, more often.

“The thing about is we can still be better and those are the things we keep driving (home). We’re not good enough but we know we can get better and better.” [Wulffy, you're doin' a heckuva job.]

[I'm sorry, am I being too hard on him? Unfair? Only his third season and things should maybe hopefully turn around once he mulls over a little bit of tweaking after he comes to a final conclusion maybe a little bit possibly?

   Listen Cougs, I know he's an alum and all. Oregon had this alum who was our basketball coach. He was a part of a legendary team. As a coach he led the Ducks to the elite eight. He won two Pac-10 tournaments.
   He will always bleed green. He loves Oregon. He will always be a Duck. That's what he said when Oregon FIRED HIM! They had to. In the end, it just wasn't working.
   You've won only one Pac-10 game in two years. It doesn't look like you're going to win any more this year. And in the next two years, the way you're going, you will have two more conference losses added to your schedule in the new Pac-12. 

   Hey Cougs, I'm trying to do you a favor here. I think of you as Oregon's Northwest country cousins.  Family, sort of.  Missing two front teeth, thin hair, sitting in a tree, playing a banjo like in the movie "Deliverance". . . . . but family nevertheless.
   And I'm telling you, I don't care how pretty Wulffy squeals like a pig, you need to cut him loose and send him down the river. Your only question should be how soon. 

   This Saturday, your football team will get completely humiliated. You had the chance to move your game up to 12:30 and earn some TV cash, but you decided you wanted as few people seeing this grease fire as possible.  So you kept your kickoff time at 2 pm. with the excuse that it was homecoming and you promised the alums they could have plenty of time to enjoy their homecoming festivities before the game -- Activities like beer drinking contest, beer tasting contest, beer chugging contest, beer belching contest,  "Shootin' thangs" (Bring your own firearm.), and the classic "Pin the tail on the roadkill".

   I completely get that, and respect your decision not to televise your embarrassment. But you can't keep hiding it forever. The sooner you face up to the fact that this was a bonehead hire, the sooner you can be done with it and move on. You did a smart thing by hiring AD Bill Moos. Now support him to "make the change".
   You would be wise to fire Wulffy at halftime when you're down 35-0 and you see Coach Kelly suiting up the cheerleaders and waterboys out of mercy.]

Gametime Saturday, 2 pm.
BULLETIN This just in:
Limited Live Television Broadcast Announced

Comcast will show the game live in Oregon ONLY. Still no live internet TV feed.  
The University of Oregon athletics department, IMG College and Comcast SportsNet have announced that a limited live television broadcast of Saturday's game between third-ranked Oregon and Washington State will air beginning at 2 p.m. PT.


The Oregon Sports Network football production will only be available within the state of Oregon on Comcast SportsNet, channels 37 and 737, and includes a pregame show starting at 1:30 p.m.

The Pacific-10 Conference office worked diligently with the league's television partners to secure the limited broadcast waiver. Provisions in the conference's television contracts with ABC/ESPN and Fox Sports Net protect exclusive television windows, making this broadcast difficult to secure.

The game will be replayed Saturday evening at 11 p.m. and will include a 10:30 p.m. pre-game show.

Oregon's premium online video service, the O-Zone, will feature a live audio-only broadcast starting at 1:30 p.m. and will feature a condensed game for on-demand replay at 6:30 p.m. For more information about our online broadcasts, view the list of live events or sign up for O-Zone.

Call PETA. Oregon cruel to Cougars.

This may be my favorite uni combo: The yellow and black "Killer Bee" look.

Kenjon Barner wears it well as he makes Coug player's job difficult.

[Cruel. Inhumane. Unfair. One-sided. Oppressive. Heartless. Evil.

No, I'm not a Neo-Conservative griping about Obama. I'm talking about the way the Ducks treated the Cougars Saturday night. Washington State is hurting. They're young and inexperienced. And Oregon didn't care.
Actually I take that back. They showed compassion after the first half when 42 of their 52 points were already in the books and sat their starters down. After that, the Cougs just wanted the game to end.

If you want to catch a rundown of the game itself, check the media links on the left, or click this particularly good summary from Jason Vondersmith of the Portland Tribune: http://www.portlandtribune.com/sports/story.php?story_id=125462942175246800

Ed Dickson, seen here removing pesky obstacle, broke Josh Wilcox's record for Oregon career tight end receptions.
Both teams, for opposite reasons, would do well to forget about this game and move on. The following from John Canzano of the Oregonian is about the future. You can divide the rest of this season into a four-game stretch followed by a three-game stretch. As Canzano explains it, if the Ducks don't do well over the next four games, the final three games aren't nearly as relevant.]

Canzano: Oregon reaches its moment of truth
By John Canzano, The Oregonian
October 03, 2009, 10:15PM

EUGENE - There was no back slapping. No cheering. No movement. Or sound. If you'd have stood in the doorway of the visiting athletic director's box at the top level of Autzen Stadium on Saturday evening you'd have seen six frozen-still humans, just standing and staring out the window at the field below. [Sounds like the perfect time to step inside the door, blast an aerosol horn and shout, "ARE WE HAVING FUN, YET?!" ]

Welcome to the long wait for Washington State basketball season to start.

Oregon beat the Cougars football team 52-6 on Saturday.

The Cougars ran as fast as they could, hit with all their might and they jumped on the pile when the pile was there to jump on. They tried. Bless them. And maybe the temptation today is to examine what went down and discuss the stark disparity in college football between a program and a project. But if we did we'd be looking the wrong direction in the standings, wouldn't we?

Make no mistake, Saturday mattered for the Ducks. But only because USC beat California 30-3, Washington lost to Notre Dame in overtime and Stanford won again behind an imposing running game.

Oregon's next four games, and not the back-alley whipping it dealt WSU, will determine whether this season goes down as special or simply goes down.

Coach Chip Kelly's team has road games at UCLA next week, and at Washington (Oct. 24). Both are dicey. Then it's USC at Autzen (Oct. 31), which feels like a bowl game. And then the Ducks go to Stanford, which is when No. 9 (as in jersey number, and lives) might be back from his "Double Secret" suspension. [Hopefully they can beat Stanford by TKO.]

There are hackers. And there are non-hackers. Maybe you've wondered which Oregon is at different points of this season. It's that fascinating four-game stretch that will weed out the Ducks if they can't hack it. Yes, there's a Civil War waiting at the end.

Yes, there's a trip to Arizona, and a game against Arizona State. But those will either be critical or inconsequential depending on how the Ducks handle the four-game, five-week job that sits in front of them today.

Oregon was efficient against WSU on offense. They were too physical and fast on defense. The Cougar players talked after the game about the Ducks' speed and depth, and remarked how relentless it felt to have all that yellow and black coming at them all night.

The WSU punter punted nine times. The Cougars only scoring drive of the night? One yard. And it took them three plays to travel the 36 inches.

Must have felt like a marathon.

[You know, now that WSU has played against both USC and Oregon, and with Oregon scoring nearly twice as many points on the Cougs as the Trojans, it would be very interesting to hear a Coug's perspective on which is the better team. After all, they would be the ones to know. So you're the experts, Cougs. Who is better, USC or Oregon?]

Yet after getting steamrolled, Washington State corner Daniel Simmons said of the Ducks, "They're more tricky than USC, but there's no way they're better."

[Stupid drunk Coug. What would he know?

That brings me to how terrible the Cougs really are. For the second consecutive game, their kicker missed the extra point. Once against USC? -- Hey, it happens. But twice?

When he lined up at Autzen, it was as if A) the fans knew that he muffed it last week, and B) they were mad WSU got a cheap TD and ruined a shut out. Autzen went crazy loud for the extra point try to bring the Cougs within 45 points of the Ducks. And if you were able to watch it on TV, you saw a close up of the kicker's (Nico Grasu) face.

Autzen was obviously inside his helmet. Waiting for the snap, he was rolling his eyes, shrugging his shoulders, throwing up his hands, looking at the stands.

Whoa now! Is this Eugene or Berkeley?

With Ducks' success comes Duck fan debauchery.

The snap came. . . . . I could've kicked a brick across the street better than he kicked that ball. The shank of all shanks.

I'd like to ask the Cougs a follow-up question: Who is better, USC or Oregon, AT AUTZEN? Because that's where the game is happening.]

Understand, Oregon got its wake up call in week one of the season. They showed up, rolled out the uniforms and helmets, looked around like they expected to win, and got flattened. The timing of that no-show in Boise ends up advantageous when you consider how much better the Ducks have looked week to week.

Said center Jordan Holmes of the win over WSU: "We were far from a perfect game. We'll keep busting our hump."

You have to like that.

You also have to appreciate that Oregon lined up against a lousy Washington State team and did exactly what good teams are supposed to do to bad teams -- the Ducks suffocated the Cougars.

The momentum is encouraging because Oregon has not gone 4-0 against its next four opponents (UCLA, Washington, USC and Stanford) in the same season since 1948. This is not a misprint. This is not an error. Mike Bellotti never beat all four in the same season. Rich Brooks never did it. Neither did Don Read, Dick Enright, Jerry Frei or Len Casanova. [There is one practical reason for part of that amazing stat, at least after the Pac-8 became the Pac-10. The league had an eight-game format, meaning each team skipped playing one league opponent every year. In the 1994 Rose Bowl year for instance, Oregon didn't beat UCLA because they didn't play them. Sorry for showing the secret behind your magic trick, Canzano.]

If the Ducks are going to maximize what they have in front of them Kelly will have to pull off the feat of feats in his rookie season. So, are the Ducks that kind of team? [Bring 'em on. We ain't scared. We got chunks of teams like them in our STOOL!!! ]


[Speaking of that 1994-95 Rose Bowl year, it's TRIVIA QUESTION time.
Oregon did, in fact, lose to one Pac-10 team that year. Who was it? Hint: The answer is rather ironic at this moment.

Is Masoli injured or what?
Masoli hurt his knee " a little bit" in the first half and was wearing ice on it the rest of the game. But "he's fine," the coach says. Masoli says, "I could've gone out there and continued playing." "He's doing well," the coach says again. "He's day to day."
SAY WHAT? Oregon fans have been down this treacherous road before. All of that talk means one of two things: 1) He's fine. 2) He's done for the season.
More as I cringe to hear it.

POLLS
Oregon is 13th in the AP and 17th in the coach's poll. The only Pac-10 team ahead of them is USC.] --kb