Putting the Dawgs Down

Ten years had to be enough for Washington. And to top it off, they had to come to Autzen and have Oregon's 20-year old highlight rubbed in their faces. Who was Kenny Wheaton anyway?

Half of those players probably weren't even born when Wheaton caught that "INTERCEPTION . . . . INTERCEPTION . . . ".

Coming in to Saturday's game, Washington was 5-1, which ironically was their record on that fateful day 20 years ago. They were playing well. Cyler Miles is a seasoned QB. Good running back. Big defensive line.

This was the perfect time for Washington to get off the mat and wallop Oregon.

Naaaa.

Have the Ducks finally broken the Huskies? This had to be the worst Dawg show I had ever seen. They were toothless. Heartless. Mangy. Droopy. Submissive. Neutered.

In all my years, I have never seen a Duck win over the
Huskies get so boring that the kids broke at the
inflatable beer pong.

New coach Chris Petersen's hiring to lead Washington was popular partly because his BS Broncos had beaten Oregon twice. He was in the perfect position to tell his team, "The streak ends NOW!"  Days before the game, he was asked if his team was fired up for this game. His answer:
 “Hard for me to know. I know about the Oregon-Washington stuff, but that’s not my focus, getting them fired up. To me, this needs to be about us. We’ve got (to play) a really good team — one of the better teams in the country, if not one of the best in the country, for sure. So what are we going to do? We know what they’re going to do. We know how good and how hard they’re going to play. What can we do? So I always want this to be back on us, the focus on us: ‘Are you doing the best you can do?’”

Pragmatic and honest. But not exactly the stuff of Bear Bryant . His team certainly answered his question for him.

The Oregonian's Jason Quick wrote a great article, DUCKS BEAT HUSKIES, WHO RETURN TO IRRELEVANCY WITH A LAUGH. Here's the first part . . .
EUGENE — These days, the path to irrelevancy has become so well-worn by the Washington Huskies that near the end of Saturday's 45-20 beatdown by the Oregon Ducks, it apparently has become a laughing matter.
With 4:30 left in a game well out of hand, junior defensive back Marcus Peters and  senior defensive back Travell Dixon stood beyond the 35-yard-line on the Huskies sideline and had quite a knee-slapping chuckle.
Peters, who is one of the Huskies better players, but has been suspended and off limits to media the past three weeks, acted as if he was dealing dollar bills into the air, one after the other like a blackjack dealer. Dixon, who didn't play a down, thought that was funny, and exchanged a couple quick slaps of the hand with Peters.
It went on and on for the rest of the 4:33. Smiles. Laughs. A couple index-finger-to- the-eyebrow salutes by Peters.
Never mind the closing minutes included more of Oregon continuing the bludgeoning of their teammates on the field, eventually settling for a field goal after Oregon true freshman Royce Freeman had his fifth touchdown negated by a penalty.
I asked first-year Huskies coach Chris Petersen what he thought of players on his sideline yucking it up during a bloodbath.
"It depends what you are talking about, and what they are laughing at,'' Petersen said. "But I don't think anyone thought that game was funny the way it turned out.''

Credit two things to Oregon's total domination. First, the team continues to heal and improve, especially the offensive line. Jake Fisher is solidly back, and the entire unit is light years beyond those terrible games against WSU and Arizona. Their success was Mariota's and Royce Freeman's success. We had never seen a better display of straight-up-the-middle runs this season.

The second key was the defense's success in shutting down the meat and potatoes of Washington's offense. Rob Moseley of goducks.com explained it well in his story, DEFENSE SWARMS HUSKIES, SHUTS DOWN RUNNING GAME. Here is an excerpt:
While the Oregon offense displayed impressive versatility in beating Washington 45-20 on Saturday, the UO defense kept the Huskies from doing so when they had the ball. While helping the Ducks forge a 35-6 lead through the first 40 minutes, Oregon all but shut down the UW rushing game and also coaxed quarterback Cyler Miles into his first interception of the season.

The return of defensive end Arik Armstead from injury had a big impact. He and the rest of the 'D' forced Washington into a lot of third and longs.

It all contributed to the Ducks making Washington look downright terrible. Before the game I was nervous over whether Oregon could continue the streak. I never imagined win #11 would turn out to be one of the most dominant.

Good News for Cal. They can lose and no one will notice.
Cal throws much like Washington State did. But they have no defense. Limit their passing, and Oregon will sweep them into the Bay. But the real question is, If a Duck quacks in the Bay, and no one is there to listen, does it make a sound?

Who in SF is going to even notice?  They're playing at the 49er's Levi Stadium -- far away from the Cal Berkley campus. That'll reduce their gate.

What's more, at game time the city of San Francisco might be distracted by their Giants playing across town in the World Series.
How bad is it for Cal? (I kid you not.) They were selling tickets to the Oregon game cheap through Groupon.

Maybe Cal should tell it's fans they can get Wi-Fi
in Levi Stadium so they can watch the World Series
once Oregon starts pulling away.

Why win when you can be unique?
Cal Coach Sonny Dykes, when asked by John Canzano in this story, had this to say about recruiting and those kids who choose to go to Oregon because of their fancy uniforms.
"That's where you're going to go to college, that's where you're going to get your education," Dykes said. "There's a lot of factors that I think are a lot more important factors than what you're going to wear 12 Saturdays a year. But, you know, kids like those things.
"The thing about it is, at Cal, we're a unique university. Academics are going to be a big thing here. Kids who come to Cal are going to have to work really hard. The type of kids we recruit, typically, the uniforms aren't going to matter that much."
That's really good Sonny. You should be proud. No really. Hopefully that'll work for you to turn around your current 5-14 record at Cal.

In other news, another 4-star quarterback just committed to the Ducks. Meanwhile two other 5-star recruits each just narrowed their choices to a handful of teams including possibly Oregon and definitely not Cal.

Nevertheless he's right. It's not about fancy uniforms. It's about identifying with a program that cares about feeling like winners, looking like winners, training like winners, acting like winners, and just being winners.

Texas A-holes & Morons


I'll give you something
to salute, you
jack booted freak.

This just in. Another SEC team backs out of a scheduled home-and-home series against Oregon. Here's a link to the story.Texas A&M won't play Oregon in 2018, 2019 football series
Hey Saggies, stick your jack boots up your chicken sh!t asses. I am sick of these top tiered teams canceling their commitments to come out West and play at Autzen. Mark my words, the Saggies will replace those dates with weak patsies like Furman, Weber State, Presbyterian, or Washington.

Game time FRIDAY EVENING, 7:15 Pacific on Fox Sports 1

--KB

Washington at Oregon 1994. As I remember it.

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It was a sunny October day in 1994. Perfect football weather in Eugene. I don't remember where I got my two tickets to the game. They were hard to come by because Washington fans usually bought up most of them.

THE WAY IT WAS . . . AND COULD BE AGAIN.
The 80's and 90's were the Dark Days of the Purple Haze when Huskies would come down to Eugene and fill no less than 51% of Autzen Stadium. The Dawgs had won their mythical national championship just a few years before this game. At the end of that year, they were #1 in one poll while the Miami Hurricanes topped another. The Huskies thought it was good enough, so they crowned themselves king and made themselves a National Championship flag to fly over their stadium.

 

During that time, they were beating everybody, especially the Ducks. Sure we had nipped back at them a few times over the years, but they were the dominant force in the football galaxy and they lorded over us like we were their peasants. Whenever their fans trekked down to Eugene in their massive army of travel trailers, you often saw a popular sticker on their bumpers:
"WE'RE NOT ARROGANT. WE'RE JUST BETTER THAN YOU."

Their collective superior attitude swelled. In all my years, I could never have a conversation with a Husky fan without him or her scoffing, bragging, belittling, or sometimes just swearing in my face.

The morning of this game was no different. I believed that my tickets could have been in a particularly Husky-held part of the stadium. As I and my wife walked around the tailgate area, I came across several Huskies talking loud, complaining about their seats in particular and the puniness of Autzen in general. I walked up to one particularly loud meathead in a purple lettermen's jacket and offered to trade.

I said, "I think these will be better seats for you."

HIs reply, "They better be or I'll come back and find you and kick your ass."

I wasn't at all shocked by his reply. In those days, that was a typical conversation with a Dawg fan. This was life under the dominance of the Washington Huskies. It was like the Romans over the Jews. African Americans in the Deep South. The Germans over the Jews. The New Worlders over the Indians. Everybody over the Jews.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not comparing Oregon and Washington's football rivalry to the catastrophic dehumanizing plight of the Jewish or Native or African American peoples.  I mean granted, there were no fire hoses and German Shepherds; and they didn't make us build pyramids or smash our glass storefronts and haul us by train to our tortured deaths. But a few years before, the Husky marching band stood in the middle of Autzen and played Oregon's fight song in a waltz. I mean . . . . who does that? Have they no shred of decency?

Now let me just make one other side note here before I continue with my story: The day that we EVER let the Dawgs win again -- just one game -- we will see that attitude come right back as if they had never lost. Mark my words.

Get your commemorative jersey now
at The Duck Store.

FRONT AND CENTER TO A MIRACLE
That ticket trade proved very fateful, as they put us right in the corner and just a few rows up from where the miracle would happen. The Pick. Or as I had always called it after seeing it with my own eyes -- The Immaculate Interception.

But this trade for my new seats did nothing to get us away from Husky fans. We were surrounded -- literally surrounded -- by purple in our own stadium. Being a nice guy, I tried to strike up conversations. But I was always met with condescending and critical feedback about what Oregon's problem is, what we did wrong, why Washington is better.

 

At one point in the fourth quarter I was able to get in a good jab in the tight back-and-forth contest when Washington was FINALLY called for holding. I said to one Dawg fan who had decided early he would give me no measure of respect for the Ducks, "Best not hold a Duck or you might get something nasty in your lap."

 

I know. Corny. But it was all I had at the time. Made him and the other purple people laugh though.

 

AND THEN, EVERYTHING CHANGED

The following is the first of three nice videos compiled by 'keeerrrttt' of approximately the final 5:20 minutes of the game. In it, Washington had just scored to take the lead. But Oregon engineered a drive and a heroic performance by Danny "Boy" O'neal, Patrick Johnson, Dino Philyaw, Ricky Whittle, Dameron Ricketts, and a little used fullback named Dwayne Jones. It started out terrible when Johnson fielded the kickoff at the two and slipped on one knee to be called down right there. Deep in Husky territory, Coach Rich Brooks made a very gutsy unBrooks-like call when he said to his young offensive coordinator Mike Bellotti: "Come out throwing."

 

This is "The Drive".

 

 

 But Washington wasn't finished. And they were Washington. They were used to winning. They expected to win -- especially against Oregon. They had all the time in the world. Their objective was to score while letting all the air out of the clock, leaving the Ducks to suffocate in yet one more defeat in their bizzaro world where the Dawg was the Master.  At the end of this video, Washington is 1st and goal to take the lead with just over a minute to go. Oregon calls timeout to take a breath.

 

 

Patient, planned, successful. Washinton's drive had all the feel of "The Empire Strikes Back". During that timeout, I saw something I would never forget.  I was watching the Husky man in front of me to whom I had made the "Holding a Duck" joke. He made a strange motion I had seen in only one other place a hundred times. During this timeout, he clapped his hands together and rubbed them in gleeful anticipation.

 

Where had I seen that before? It was where we all had seen it before.
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\/

 

Remember? The ending of every Flintstones episode where Fred orders one family-sized serving of Brontosaurus Ribs. Then he rubs his hands together in anticipation. I watched this Husky guy do just that as the teams came out of the timeout.  

 

I saw the Huskies line up. I watched Damon Huard drop back and look to his left. He threw. I looked over at his target. And in slow motion, I watched Kenny see that ball leave Huard's hand and run to it like it was his all along. He said afterward that he had seen that play on film and watched it all day. He was willing to bet the receiver wasn't going to hook and go. He knew if the ball came his way, he would at least be able to knock it down. He was just waiting for it. . . .

 

 

After Kenny Wheaton scored, I remember something happening to me that I had later heard other men in the stands had experienced. I remember my wife wiping tears out of my eyes. You see, that play wasn't just a last-minute game changer. It was a decades long chain breaker.

Kenny could've just knocked it down. He could've picked it and run out of bounds to let Oregon run out the clock. But his run back, his direction shift, his blowing past Washington's great QB to score the out-of-reach touchdown -- all of that was the haymaker punch to our tormentors that served as an announcement that the Duck/Husky relationship had hereby changed. Kenny didn't know it at the time. None of us did. But looking back at it now, that WAS the moment when the Dark Days of the Purple Haze had ended.

 

And as for Fred Flintstone Husky? This time he did something totally different with his hand. He reached out to me, shook mine and said, "Good game." And he quietly left.

 

One other thing, when the Oregon players piled on Kenny in that endzone and the refs announced the penalty against them for excessive celebrating, I stood up and shouted for all the purple people around me to hear. . . .
"WE WILL TAKE THAT PENALTY WITH PLEASURE."

 

Here we are 20 years later. Throw the flag, ref. We're still celebrating.

 

 

BUT WAIT, WHAT ABOUT . . . . .
Now I know what you're thinking, and you're right. "Nice videos KB; but it's just not the same without Jerry Allen shouting the play".

 

Well luckily I found this gem on Youtube. It is exactly how I had always imagined it.


11, because it's one better than 10
So today, Oregon marches on to keep this a Husky-free Northwest. It these last 20 years, Oregon had beaten the Dawgs an incredible 15 times. As for this present win streak,  we beat Washinton's longest win streaks over Oregon at seven. At eight, we reached the mark where two whole generations of 4-year Husky students had never seen their team beat the Ducks. Last year, we reached an even 'Duckade' at 10. To win an even dozen next year would mean we would blank three whole generations of Husky students.

So what is the significance of 11? Let me offer you the one person who is an expert on 11. That's right. I give you Nigel Tufnel of Spinal Tap:


Go Ducks. Crank it to 11.
-KB

 

Say it outloud Huskies. A DUCKADE.

Beaten Dawgs are Silent Dawgs. And Silent Dawgs are Good Dawgs.

 Let's just dwell on this achievement for a moment. Ten wins over Washington is by far the longest win streak between the two teams. In particular it is a monster of a streak for Oregon over the Huskies.

The next longest Oregon win streak over Washington? Four. From 1928 to 1931. Since then Oregon has never beaten Washington more than two times in a row on various occasions.

Over the past 100 years, Washington had one 7-game win streak, three streaks at 6, and one streak at 5. They're used to being the dominate team. So this streak, while pleasing and joyful for us Ducks, is Twilight Zone mind boggling for the Huskies.

It is by no means the longest streak of one team over another. Florida, for just one example, is currently enjoying a 27 game win streak over Kentucky. But it isn't just about the streak, it's about who is streaking whom.

Imagine if Kentucky got bit by a radioactive shoe manufacturer and suddenly hung 10 consecutive ass whoopin's on Florida.

Bitter Husky fans have sourly pointed out that it all changed when Phil Knight whipped out his checkbook and "bought" Nike U. But lots of schools including Washington have deep pocketed backers. And Husky fans didn't seem too embarrassed when they were the rich team.

The difference is it wasn't just about the money of one or two backers. It was a strong effort and unified focus of many people including three athletic directors,  four head coaches, and dozens of assistants. It was divided up in several phases stretched out over 20 years. And every step, indeed every win was cherished because Oregon remembers the old days, the low days, the "Dark days of the Purple Haze".

Oregon made a T-shirt to commemorate the milestone.  Would Washington have made a T-shirt for stretching a 10-win streak on the Ducks?

You know what's great about the answer? Ten years ago, the answer would've been 'no'.  But now, Seattle would have a parade with T-shirt cannons a-blazin' if Washington beat Oregon just once.

Although Washington has spun it's lower budgeted
improvements as Spartan and tasteful compared to
Oregon's excessive opulence, Coach Sarkisian is happy
to show off new Husky Stadium and facilities to Coach Helfrich.

Sark: "That's my office. It's got one of those Keurig single cup coffee makers."

Helf: "Wow, that's really nice Steve."

Sark: "Do you have one of those?"

Helf: "Uhh, nope .... No I don't."

Sark: "HA. Wait 'til my boosters hear that. You can't even make your own coffee!"

Helf: "Uhhh Ya, I ...uhhh... have it delivered in from a five-star restaurant."

Sark: "Whoa, that must take forever. Is it cold when it finally arrives."

Helf: "No .... um, the restaurant is actually down at the end of the hall."

Sark: .....(silent)......

Helf: "Hey uhh ... I should probably get back to my team now."

Sark: Ya OK Mark ..... I'll let you go ..... Five stars, huh?

Helf: "Hey forget about it, Steve. You have very nice facilities here."

Sark: Ya, thanks Mark. OK, see ya ................HEY MARK, I GOT WI-FI TOO!"

 

TOUGH ENOUGH?
Coach Sarkisian told his Huskies that they were the toughest team on the planet. And for five games including a nail biter loss at Stanford, they believed it. They could not wait to show Oregon who the tougher, more physical team was. The announcers bought into the hype, saying Oregon had yet to face a team as tough as Washington.

After the first scoring drive, Oregon's answer was, "True, maybe; but irrelevant." Washington's goal line defense held. Then it held again. And then . . . it didn't. And that was that. The Dawgs spent the rest of the day chasing Oregon's turbo sports car, but could never catch up.

WOULDN'T

QB Keith Price was sacked four times, hurried a bunch more, forced to throw the ball away or die on several occasions, and intercepted once. Oregon held Washington 50 yards below their rushing average and eclipsed their rushing-allowed average by 100 yards.

BE

Towards the end was a good news, bad news situation for the Huskies.
Good news: For the first time this season, they were the ones to finally force Marcus Mariota to set down his cup of Gatorade, strap on his helmet and play in the fourth quarter.  They should be commended for putting up stiff competition forcing the starters to play four quarters instead of three.

DE-

Bad news: Mariota played in the fourth quarter. And so did the top defense. The result was a 14-0 final frame. Showing mercy, the second string came in and kneeled in the final seconds inside the 5-yard line with a 21-point lead.


-NIED.

The tenth win, a 21-point lead, and the Ducks showed mercy. Ya, Oregon's not so tough.

THE OREGON WAY
In the excellent article The Ducks are finding their difficult practices can lead to perfection, Jason Quick wrote about the probable reason why Washington found Oregon unimpressed with all the tough talk. As fast as Washington played, Oregon took it all and gave back change.

Linebacker Derrick Malone shared what he tells new Duck recruits about Oregon's practices.
“I tell them it’s hard and that if you are not ready for it, don’t come here,’’ Malone said. “I tell them it’s the hardest thing you will ever experience and you will never experience anything else like it. I’m not going to lie to them. But I’m also going to tell them it’s the reason we are successful.’’

DON'T TALK TO HIM ABOUT IT,
BUT HE'S THE HEISMAN FRONT RUNNER
"I wouldn't say I'm unaware,'' Mariota says of the Heisman talk. "But I do my best not to pay attention.''

Marcus Mariota is a gem's gem. He is the quintessential All American that dads would gladly throw their daughters at. And he would throw the daughter right back with a perfect spiral. Back and forth, back and forth they would throw. . . the dad, his future son-in-law the All American, and a screaming dizzy girl.

It's not the passing with accuracy or the running with speed that makes him special, but its all that with a super cool and clear head. He is anti-Johnny Manziel (Did you notice no one calls him Johnny Football anymore?) -- all the talent without all the crap. His success is drawing attention as he has been name Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week for the second week in a row.

His secret is in his humble, "Aw shucks, No I in team, Good Lord willin', Just here to play ball" style. He's grounded and introverted until he takes to the field. Then he's dangerous like Hannibal Lecter. He'll kill you without even raising his heart rate.

Here comes Mariota. And this time he's brought friends.

DAT A' BOY
DeAnthony Thomas, in this story, admitted he truly wasn't healed from his ankle injury enough to play last Saturday. And he may be questionable at best to play at home against WSU (I'm guessing it's safe for him to sit that one out.).

But his attitude is still in perfect form, as he shows in this comment about his quarterback:
When Thomas will return is anybody’s guess. But Thomas left no doubt about his importance. When asked if teammate Marcus Mariota was the best player in college football, Thomas didn’t hesitate.
“Yes ... beside myself,’’ Thomas said. “He is the best quarterback in the country, you can say that.’’


Next game:Washington State Saturday night 7pm Fox Sports 1

Greased Lightning, Baby

Washington is all woofin' and hollerin' and feeling like they got a really good team this year. And perhaps they do. They were undefeated before they lost to Stanford by a whisker.

Their rise to a more respectable level of performance came this year when they stopped huddling and sped up their offense. They spread their players a bit and started passing quick outs and screens to compliment their run attack.

Why yes, now that you mention it, that DOES sound kind of like Oregon. Very much like Oregon in fact. But don't say that to Husky fans. They get really really mad when you suggest anything other than it was their own idea and invention.

They also rebuilt their stadium and renovated the locker room. They couldn't do it on Oregon's level because, as one Washington booster put it,
"We don't have that one crackpot eccentric CEO that puts his money where his mouth is," Washington booster Jim Kenyon said.

Now who on earth is he talking about?

Washington's new locker rooms
boast Stainmaster carpets and
fun throw pillows for the boys.

It rings of the same bitter 'Jones chasing' and sour grapes that Washington coach Steve Sarkisian demonstrated when he spit out fireworks after the hard fought battle at #5 Stanford that fell short by three points. More on that later.

But for now, Washington's Keith Price is one of the best QB's in the league. And RB Bishop Sankey is the league's top rusher.  What ever are the Ducks to do?

When you need to just get a good idea who is going to win a football game, ask the experts in Vegas. They're the ones who set the odds; but more than that, they analyze the matchup, the trends, the history, and from all of that they come up with a magic number. In this case, Oregon by 14.

All but the most distempered Dawg fans agree that Oregon will win this relatively close game. But it's not satisfying enough for me. I need the "it" that makes the difference. I need to point at something that says, "THIS is why Oregon is going to go into a new Husky Stadium with freshly rabid fans and snuff out the Dawgs' hot streak like pee on their cigarette."

I read the tremendous amount of blah blah in the blogs. I read all the Vegas sites I could without paying for "inside hot tips". But no one could tell me exactly HOW the Ducks would be capable of separating themselves from an upsurgent Husky team.

Finally I looked at this post on Addicted to Quack. No, it didn't really have the answer either, but got me there.

It contained two scientific analysis of football teams: The FEI and the S+P.  FEI is the "advanced statistical measure that tracks drive efficiency instead of per-play-success."  S+P is the "advanced statistical measure which combines success rate, explosiveness per play and opponent adjustments."

Bottom line: Oregon is ranked significantly higher than Washington in almost every category of both measurements. And if I understood what the hell either one was talking about, all of that would mean something to me. Truth is, I got blurry eyed reading about it.

Then I went down to the comments section where someone brought up how the stats can be affected at the end of the game when the score gets out of hand and Oregon's 2nd and 3rd stringers come in. The writer responded that both of these measuring systems throw out garbage time.

Garbage time? . . . . THAT'S IT!!!

PINK SLIPS ON THE DASH.  IT'S GARBAGE TIME!
Oregon has not only blown out it's first five opponents, they've done it in three quarters every time. Washington hasn't. In at least three or four of their games, they had to leave their starters in to the end to score in the 30's.

One could say, well Oregon is in trouble then because their starters don't have fourth quarter experience. Sure you can make that argument, if you're an IDIOT.

What we have here in Oregon is a super charged hot rod. Say you have a Corvette Stingray, Mustang Cobra, Gran Torino, Dodge Charger, Chevy SS. . . . . Pick your beast. And at your high school, you have beaten every other kid you've dragged raced handily without even having to shift beyond third gear.

Now comes some bully from across the border who has been tinkering with his car. He's heard about some of the things you've done to your engine and tried copying them as best he can. He's won same races himself and now he's calling you out.

The race is on. You're lined up with this A-hole. His girlfriend stands between you two, ready to drop the scarf in her hand. It drops, and off you go. He's off to a great start, pulling ahead. He put everything into his gear ration and throttle to give himself the best starts.

Now it's neck and neck. Three quarters of the way to the end. It's anybody's race, until you do something that no one has ever seen you do before. Something that blows him away.

Fourth gear.

How silly must it be for Washington to study a scouting report and build a game plan around everything a serious Heisman candidate and his star entourage does in only three quarters?

Sure, computer programs can throw out fourth quarters and call them "garbage time". But football teams can't. Washington will have to play that fourth quarter.

This Saturday, fourth quarter, the Huskies will BE THE GARBAGE.



Oregon's yellow is called 'Lightning'.
This week it's 'Greased Lightning'.
Let's do this, Dawgs.

The Sarkisian Sulk
Last week at Stanford, the refs overturned a pass play that UW coach Sarkisian says shouldn't have been overturned. Sarkisian didn't watch the replay when he made this claim but he obviously didn't feel he had to. He was sure it was a bad call.

And then there was the alleged fake injury incident. Sarkisian accused Stanford of faking injuries to slow down play. For his trouble he got wicked rebuttals from Stanford's staff along with plenty of criticism from the media.

Oregon got a taste of that when Cal faked injuries and when USC deflated the footballs. The difference is Oregon won those games. And Chip Kelly responded very Kellyesque like when he said, "We don't care about that stuff. We're moving on." And I believe he would've said the exact same thing had the Ducks lost.

Sarkisian has no such class and maturity. Lost is the admirable performance of his players in the noise of his whining.


DUCKS AND COUGS UNITE FOR GAMEDAY!
If you've watched ESPN's early morning college show Gameday, where they show up at campuses of great games all over the country, you know that for the past 10 years the Washington State Cougars have represented with at least one Coug flag waving in the background.

According to this story, with Gameday's first visit ever to Seattle (First visit! Really Huskies? That's kinda sad.), the Huskies are worried that the Cougs might have an entire state full of Coug flags in the crowd. Combine that with Duck flags, Gameday could see "Operation Outnumber", where the number of Duck and Coug flags outnumber Dawg flags.

Wouldn't that ruin the Huskies party? Couldn't happen to a nicer team.

Game time Saturday, 1pm Pacific on Fox Sports 1, or Fox 1 Sports or whatever.

You heard 'em Ducks. EVERYTHING

DAT's punt return is at the 27-second mark if you just want to watch that again and again.



REALLY BEAVERS, REALLY?
Before I talk about Saturday's game at USC, I need to say something to Oregon State.

Hey Beavs. You're probably still mad about that loss last week, and we all know exactly why. It wasn't just a loss. It was a loss to the Huskies.

It hurts doesn't it? It feels like you haven't eaten in two days, and then somebody punches you in the stomach and kicks it again after you're down.

You feel this because you let Washington hang around and believe they were as good as you. You saw their barking fans work themselves into a foaming lather. You saw their players jumping up and down like you were unlocking their kennel.

Beavs, you had beaten UDumb seven of the last eight seasons. Oregon has beaten them nine straight. And yet unfortunately we are reminded what happens when any of us -- WSU included -- takes the foot off their throats for even just a minute.

The obnoxiousness returns like it's 1990 all over again. Their goonery instantly comes out with the cheap shots and unsportsman-like conduct.

Even the purple-shirted refs were back as they somehow
missed this vicious helmet-to-helmet on Wheaton.

If you had to lose Beavs, why oh why did it have to be to them? You know what I always say: "The only way to shut up barking Dawgs is to beat 'em." But no. You gave them voice. They believe again. They think that their own poop tastes good, and now once again, they're going to expect the rest of us to eat it.   

Listen. You can hear them from all the way up there. Oh the noise of barking Dawgs. That annoying, undying, shrill, grating chorus of yaps with no purpose or quality because it's driven by the stupid, tiny, imbeciled brains . . .

. . . of Huskies.

Way to go, Beavs.

AND EVEN STUPIDER NOISES FROM DOWN SOUTH
Let me show you a clip of a story from the Arizona Daily Star that made me spew Cheerios all over my monitor.

Cats help prep USC for facing Oregon's Blur
Maybe there's a slight advantage in the schedule - that USC played the Arizona Wildcats' fast-paced offense the week before Oregon's mighty Blur.

"It'd be like in baseball, when the day after you faced a fastball pitcher, you're facing another fastball pitcher," USC coach Lane Kiffin said about the Ducks' no-huddle offense.

"It's not a huge thing, but I think there's something to that."

After losing to the Wildcats 39-36, USC will take any edge in can get.

OK, Kiffin, so after losing to AZ, you will be playing the team that beat them 49-0. But it's all good because AZ and Oregon kind of play the same.

And you know what? New Jersey experienced a blustery day a week before Sandy hit. So ya, one could say they were kind of ready, only in a "not hardly at all" sort of way.

Fastball pitcher? Coach Kiffin, your team is about to face a Gattling gun.

Allow me to try not to bore you with some stats. According to this same article, Oregon's defense gives up 19.38 points per game. USC gives up 19.5 points.

Oregon allows 351 yards to their opponent per game. USC allows 366.

That looks pretty even, doesn't it? But for anyone who has watched Oregon play, what is the one glaring asterisk next to their stats?

You know it. The large bulk of opponents' points and yards have come in the second half against Oregon's second, third and fourth string after the game has been decided.

That is not the case with USC. With scholarship restrictions and injuries, plus the fact that they just can't blow very many teams out,  the starters play into the fourth quarter on both sides of the ball.

Had Oregon left it's starters in to run up the score while keeping other opponents scoreless, the world would already know what should be made clear tomorrow.

Hurricane Oregon is powerful enough to completely destroy USC.

But will we see that happen?  It would be an amazing thing to behold, if Chip Kelly will allow it.

Looks like Reign.

DUCKS NEED NEW APPROACH TO REMAINDER OF SEASON

Here are the facts.

Fact 1: Oregon manhandled ASU, and got passed up by Kansas State in the BCS.

Fact 2: The Ducks clobbered Colorado and got passed again in the BCS, this time by Notre Dame.

Fact 3: Lane Kiffin, USC, and a lot of other people across the country still believe the Trojans can hang with Oregon, maybe even pull the upset.

The problem? It's been made pretty clear that Oregon hasn't played any significant ranked teams. Add to that the fact that once Oregon gets an insurmountable lead at halftime, Kelly throttles back and pulls the starters, coasting to a win.

I don't fault that one bit. The final score is not so important to risk unnecessary injuries. That is, perhaps until now.

For all the buildup to this game, legitimate or not, everyone will be paying attention. USC is still Oregon's biggest foe to date (I say "to date" out of respect to Oregon State, but don't get all geeked up Beavs, you still dumped a stinky one last week.).

Coach Kelly, it's time to pull the chocks away from this fighter jet. It's time to fire the cylinders and blow the soot out of this hot rod engine. It's time to move this horse from the short oval to the long straight.

No more easing back and jogging across the finish line. No more collecting hit points for a judges decision. Because you know what? The judges aren't giving you the decisions you want.

Although it's a great mantra, don't just "Win the Day" anymore. Don't just win the game.

Win every quarter. Win every drive. Let's see what this team can do when they are free to do it to the final buzzer.

And not just for USC. Let the Ducks finish out the season that way. Let their dominance be made so clear that even the BCS computers can see it. Sway some swing voters and some of their 60 first place votes away from Alabama.

Bud Withers of the Seattle Times basically says the same thing here as he suggests Oregon should "lay it on USC and Stanford" because they are mutual opponents of Oregon and Notre Dame.

THE USC HYPE ENDS HERE
Since that upset last season, USC has been a biting bug on the Ducks' butts. Yes they have QB Matt Barkley and his two great receivers Robert Woods and Marqise Lee. They resemble the great pass-and-catch trios of Montana, Rice and Clark or Marino, Duper and Clayton.

Those three played perfect football through the first half last year in Eugene. Then USC hung on for dear life in the second to win 38-35.

This year is going to be different. This R-G article talks of one player, defensive back Ifo Ekpre-Olomu, but might as well be characterizing the entire defense as stronger, more experienced and better.

Furthermore, the bad news for USC's win last year was that they gave Nick Aliotti a firsthand look, valuable game film and a better team with which approach the rematch. And history shows us a lot of Pac-10/12 teams who successfully got by Alliotti's defense . . . . once.

On the offense, Mariota, Barner, DAT, Lyerla, and the starting receivers -- I hope Kelly keeps them on the field through to the end of the game AND the season with one mission in mind.

I'll let the following video convey this new mission -- a new mantra. "Win the Day" got us to this point. Now, starting at the L.A. Coliseum, let Oregon take the next step . . . .

Crank the volume, then listen to at least 39 seconds to get the full ....uhhh, gist. You're welcome to shut it off after that. . . . .if you want. Otherwise, have fun and get into it. Stand on your desk and heave your chair out the door.



Although this music may not be for everyone, some might enjoy it. Take Beaver Coach Mike Riley, for example.

Whoa, that was FAR OUT!  I could have used that last week.
What key was that in? OK, let's give it a whirl here...
"Destroy everything, like a steamroller baby,
a burnin' churnin' heap of destroyin' funk.
Cause that's why I'm here, oh ya,
Walkin' down that country road...
and destroyin' everything I see....
la la la laaa la la...."

Oregon at USC gametime: Saturday, 4pm Pacific on FOX.

Dawgs and Saban -- A Week of Goons and Clowns

Knowing the Ducks were flat out better, the Huskies tried to
  rip Oregon's helmets off so they would have to sit out for a play.

Washington gave Oregon their best shot, but only after the Ducks scored three touchdowns. And then that shot was cheap.

Like the Don James teams of old, the Huskies resorted to gooniness to make some kind of "tough" statement. Face masks, illegal blocks and head spearing accounted for much of their 102 yards  in penalties. Freshman linebacker Travis Feeney earned the "Goon Ball" for the game when he pulled Marcus Mariota out of bounds and threw him into the benches on the Husky sidelines. 

As he was making his way back onto the field, the normally calm and cool Mariota turned around and offered the Dawgs his newly reassessed opinion of them.

He said afterward:

"They had a couple of guys that were kind of standing over me," Mariota said of the incident that occurred after a run for no gain with Oregon leading 35-7. "I'm never the kind of guy that if you disrespect me or if you disrespect my teammates, I'm not going to just let that kind of go. There's situations where you can keep your head and there's situations where you're going to say something. And I felt that at that point in time, they were getting a little chippy. I felt I needed to say something. That's usually not in my character."

What can we say, Marcus? We could've told you that the Huskies have a way of pricking at your dark side.  But like all of us Duck players and fans before, you just have to discover it for yourself.


This Husky tackles a big armload of air
as DAT sprints 16 yards to a first quarter TD.

Mariota and the rest of the team did infinitely better than so many Oregon teams of an earlier generation of rising above the Dawg's sh*t and playing good football. Talk to them at their sideline?

Amazing. 240-pound Colt Lyerla skies for this TD catch.

 No. Talk to them from their endzone.

The Ducks couldn't have picked a better opponent to play their most complete game yet. Even columnist John Canzano, who earlier complained that the Ducks can't play a complete half or a play well on both sides of the ball, now complains that the Ducks are boring as they steamroll over their opponents. Ain't no pleasin' some people.

Same song, second verse:
"Price throws to the side and INTERCEPTED, INTERCEPTED.
Avery Patterson has intercepted . . . . And Avery Patterson
is gonna SCORE! Avery Patterson is gonna SCORE!
20...10...TOUCHDOWN, AVERY PATTERSON!!!!"

Jerry Brewer of the Seattle Times began his article, Ducks Serve Up More Humiliation, like this:

The little girl, dressed in Oregon colors, held up a sign and scowled.

It read: "I wasn't born the last time UW beat Oregon."

Yes, it has gotten that bad. Daddy's little girl is now the Dawgs' little devil.

The Ducks don't just refer to their youth by age anymore. They introduce them according to how many Husky beatdowns they've experienced.

All children age 8 and under born with a silver swoosh in their mouths don't remember when this was a competitive rivalry, let alone that the Huskies used to dominate the matchup. Every year, you keep waiting for the momentum to shift, and every year, Oregon grinds a foot into Washington's throat.

 As Whintey Houston sang, "I believe the children are our future. Teach them well and let them lead the way."

I encourage everyone to sit down with their kids this week and remind them of the "Dark Days of the Purple Haze" when children hid, mothers trembled, and fathers cried. TEACH THEM WELL about how far we've come to provide them a Husky-free Northwest. Let them not take for granted their freedom from Dawg goonery and purple-shirted oppression.
_________________________________
Shhh, Shhh. Quiet everybody. Nick Saban has some wonderful words of wisdom he wants to share with us!!!

What the hell is the "Amazin' Saban" flappin' his yap about this time? He said last week:
"The way people are going no-huddle right now, that at some point in time we should look at how fast we allow the game to go in terms of player safety. The team gets into formation and you can't substitute defensive players. You go on a 14-, 16-, 18-play drive and they're snapping the ball as fast as you can go, and you look out there and all your players are walking around and can't get lined up, and that's when guys have a much greater chance of getting hurt when they're not ready to play."

Nick Saban, you're so wise and
all-knowing, you should wear a
big pointy hat and live in Italy.

This election year is a bad time for the Alabama coach to tell us of his "concern for player safety" that a no-huddle offense OBVIOUSLY threatens. We the people on both sides of the political fence have all gotten our fill of disengenous, alterior-motived speeches and sound bites lately that we can smell his BS a mile away.

I was panning Canzano earlier for never talking too nice about the Ducks. But in this linked story, Nick Saban's transparent attack on the Oregon Ducks is laughable, he shows that the Ducks are his meat. And he doesn't let anyone like Saban get away with talking this crap. Excellent read.

Currently 'Bama is ranked #1, Oregon is #2. Let those numbers stand. You know the whole nation wants this matchup to see if Saban's warning rings true and speed really kills. Or will it merely humiliate, which is what Saban is REALLY worried about.
___________________________

No Duck game this Saturday. Ducks down in Tempe Thursday after next.

You still got that Whitney Houston song in your head, don't you? Sorry about that. Maybe this will help:



--KB