Ducks win! Ducks win! That was a very interesting game. The Ducks kept turning the ball over and the Beavers went up by nine in the second half but in the end the superior team won. LaMichael James completely outperformed Jacquizz Rodgers. Before anybody tries to dispute that make sure you saw the game stats. Jeremiah Masoli threw for over 200 yards, and rushed for 40 yards, pretty good stats, but not amazing. The thing that stands out to me is his ability to manage the offense and create his own plays on the fly. He seems to have a knack for coming up with big plays, as does James for that matter. The Oregon defense wasn't stifling but almost completely shut down the OSU running game, and Sean Canfield and his bunch weren't able to get the ball into the endzone enough. I think Mike Riley should have kicked a field goal on that fourth and fifteen play instead of trying to convert. Justin Kahut had not missed all night. I am anxiously awaiting the Oregon-Ohio State Rose Bowl game. I'm not sure about the Beavers, but the Ducks are loosing three or four starting seniors, Ed Dickson(TE), Blake Ferras(DT), WIll Tukuafu(DE) and T.J. Ward. John Boyett has already proven himself a capable replacement for T.J. Ward. Ed Dickson may leave a hole, but the O-line, Masoli, James and the recievers should all improve. Now there's a scary thought for opposing defensive coordinators. Their defense should also improve. On paper, the Ducks should be better next year, which could create another interesting Civil War matchup next year. I also find it refreshing that of all things USC isn't going to a BCS bowl game. It must have really been hard on the BCS not to put them in a BCS game. I don't know what happened to USC's palsy relations with them. Boy, roses really are quite aromatic.
-Andrew
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I would have loved to see Mike Riley kick a field goal! You forgot that Blount is also leaving the Ducks. And Thursday night proved he is still quite talented, not only as a boxer, but a dominating force running the ball.
ReplyDeleteAnd I think that the BCS should still try to shoehorn Notre Dame and USC into a bowl game somehow (maybe against each other) so we could just cut though all the garbage and admit what we've all known from the beginning.
The reason I didn't include Blount was the fact that he isn't a starter. Oringinally when he came back he was fifth on the depth chart.I'm curious if Chip Kelly was just giving him playing time in his last home game, wanting to see if could still contribute and perhaps play more in the Rose Bowl or just throwing an extra wrinkle in for Ohio State to worry about. I don't really think Blount's absence should have much of a negative affect on the Ducks' offense next year.However, even though he can't play football at Oregon after this year, I think they would be smart to look into hiring as a team security guard.
ReplyDelete-Andrew