Things don’t seem as gloomy this morning. It’s funny what a good night sleep and a little sunlight can do (ah, thank you Santa Barbara).
Just a few thoughts the morning after:
1. The better team won–I know some of my comments sounded like sour grapes. I really strive to be objective in this blog, and the bottom line is that the Beavers were close but not good enough. We saw this same pattern against USC and Cincy, the other two elite teams the Beavers played.
2. I wish Duck fans were more classy and gracious in victory. I’m on the record as admiring the image and program they’ve created. On a personal level, I don’t act or dress flamboyantly and such, but it’s an ingenious idea/image that demands a lot of attention. It’s brilliant marketing; that’s the bottom line. I want to pat them on their feathers, but they make it difficult. I’ll take the high road, though. Gotta set an example, right? Congrats Ducks.
3. Under the circumstances, the Beavers played the best game you could have expected. Not so much on this blog, but on other forums I hear fans talking about refs, injuries, etc. First of all, the refs had an outstanding game. We get on them when they’re terrible, which is 99% of the time, but last night they were spot on. I don’t have a problem with a single call. In fact, I think they missed a few Beaver blocks in the back (on kick returns) if anything. As far as injuries…yes, Clark went out, but I’m not sure that had any effect. He’s not exactly good in run support and nobody got beat deep after he left the game. The middle linebacker, Bubba III (can’t spell his name), was playing well and the Ducks run game seemed to pick up when he left the game. Thing is, and this was me simply being unobservant, I have no idea if he came back in the game or who took his spot (assume Kristick moved to MLB and Pankey/Roberson were outside?). Just didn’t really look for that. Bottom line is that you recruit good backups for this exact reason.
4. The play of the game was in the 4th quarter. The defense had the Ducks 4th and 16 and gave up 14 on a straight ahead handoff to James. Remember in an earlier post when I said the Beavers would likely have to stop the Ducks not only on 3rd down but on 4th downs as well since Chip Kelly is an uber-aggressive mad scientist? Well, the game was decided on one of those 4th downs.
5. I didn’t really care about the Rose Bowl. Honestly, last night was my Rose Bowl. Sure it would have been nice to get to the game, but mostly because it would symbolize arrival as a program and validate last year’s demons. But as far as beating Ohio State, I couldn’t really give a shit.
6. This team grew on me. After the losses to Cincy and Arizona, I was positive the Beavers would miss a bowl game. With so many graduations and young players across the board, this ride was all gravy. Right? Can you really say you expected a Rose Bowl run? The downside is that it became a drug. With each win the stakes were raised, the high stronger, and last night when the drug ran out it was essentially withdrawal.
7. Recruiting. I don’t care what people say, having highly regarded/desirable athletes does matter. You can debate the level that they matter, but they matter. Good guys who play well as a team can get you this far. But the Beavers seem to be taking two steps up and one back on an infiniately long staircase. To make headway you have to do it on the recruiting trail.
8. Beaver fans have no ammo. Ducks will be all over us for years. That’s the worst thing about this. Personally, I don’t read forums where Ducks hang out, but every once and a while I bump into them on a Beaver forum. Everyone says those Duck fans are the exceptions, even hated by fellow Ducks. Who knows. All I know is that there’s no ammo. Not that I care about talking trash, but it would be nice to have at least a couple bullets in the gun if needed.
That’s about all I have to say today.
Angry, I think you hit many nails on the head with this post. I did/do think the ducks are a better team and they proved it last night. There was never a point in the game where I was comfortable. I knew they could always come back and they did a nice job of it.
I also thought the team might struggle for a bowl game early on. When we hit that 2-2 mark there was a lot of talk about “no worries, we have been here before.” That actually worried me a bit because that attitude can get you in trouble. Just because you pulled it off before does not mean you can do it again. I was estatic when we made it to bowl eligible and still had WSU on the schedule. The team did get better as the season wore on which is another nice trait, although the defense did not do what past defenses did as far as improvement.
I commented on the officials on your “depressing” trail. While I agree they probably missed a few in our favor, I am frustrated with the non pass interference penalty on James Rogers in the second quarter. And my frustration is not really that it was an awful call. The defender had his off hand “hip grabbing” James and it was very apparent, and I think did impact James. My frustration though stems from the fact that this exact call is ALWAYS made on the Beavs and even some that are less offensive. Our db’s have that reputation and it never fails in a close play our db’s will get the call against them. This one would have given us a first down at the five. Now I am not saying it cost us the game or injuries or anything other than my first comment. The ducks were/are the better team and they beat us. I just get frustrated when this call does not get called for us but does against us.
Oh well, still a bowl game left and baseball season is soon right?
Well, those calls might go against us in the past, but as far as the call last night–I thought it was borderline/judgment and the refs said no PI. I didn’t have a huge problem with it. ESPN wasn’t showing replays of penalties, though. Even on the Barner kickoff return I never saw the penalty/replay.
I saw the Personal Foul Replay on the Kickoff. One of the OSU guys was standing there minding his own business then a duck player just drills him and hits him to the ground. So that was one of the Penalties.
It’s a hard pill to swallow that’s for sure, but you have to look at the offensive line and the entire defense….we were the team that was a bunch of ragamuffins that formed a defensive team. we had a few key defensive players, but a lot of them are just avg at best. I feel if Riley gets avg all across the board, then we would have a better defense than we did this year. The point is, we need to recruit better defensive players. We have a plethora of Qb’s for the next 4-5 years, we have Quizz for 2 more years, we have James 1 more year…we have Markus Wheaton, we will have Halahuni, and All of the Offensive Line will be back next year!!! That’s great news for the Offense!!! I’m not worried about our Offense Next season except we won’t have a senior QB as a Leader and we will greatly miss Lyle’s leadership if the NCAA doesn’t grant him a hardship redshirt. RECRUIT DEFENSE!!!! That’s where we need to recruit for now.
GO BEAVS!!! We will beat whomever we play in a bowl game…What’s our chances of going to the Holiday Bowl?
Also just read on the Beavers O beat that Tim Clark Broke his leg. That’s a tough break(no pun intended) for a Senior corner….I guess him and Lyle will now have something to talk about.
You could tell it was broken on the replay. His shoe looked like it was falling off, then it flopped over and bounced downfield with the rest of his leg. I hope it’s the leg and not the ankle.
I got douche chills when they replayed that. Almost barfed up my chips
What the helll are you doing eating chips? I thought you were on a diet.
Civil War = special occasion = chips
BEAVER NATION NEEDS TO BE PISSED OFF ENOUGH TO GET WHERE WE DON’T NEED TO WIN THE LAST GAME TO MAKE THE ROSE BOWL. WE NEED TO BEAT AZ AT HOME AND EVERY CLOSE ONE ON THE ROAD. WE NEED LEADERS. GREAT GROUP THIS YEAR THAT SHOULD HAVE WON. IT CAME DOWN TO SEAN OVERTHROWING JAMES ON WHAT WOULD HAVE BEEN A RUNAWAY TOUCHDOWN OR QUIZZ KEEPING HIS BALANCE AND GOING THE DISTANCE WHEN IT LOOKED LIKE HE WAS PAST ALL DEFENDERS. WE NEED THE ROSE IN THE NEXT 5 YEARS OR WE WILL BE WAITING 20.
CAPS LOCK BRAAARRRR
That’s one angry Beaver.
You do realize that had we won all of our Pac-10 games leading up to last night (and then lost the Civil War) that we still would have missed out on the Rose Bowl, right?
Just like Washington 2001. One loss all year in or out of conference, and still 2nd place due to the tie-breaker.
Wow.
Bubba (Pa’aluhi) is going to be great in this and the next league. Pankey filled in, and Roberson became the spy, but Bubba was the key to stopping Masoli. When he went to the locker room Masoli seemed to settle down a little bit.
Honestly, I’m glad to see the defensive seniors go. They had a great run, and our teams have played to their level. We have better talent behind them, and better on the way. I’m sorry Clark’s career ended the way it did, but I think Hardin is not only a much better raw talent. He’s just better. We’ll be a much better defense next year (I hope Paea stays). We’re deep at everything but DE, and we’re very strong up the middle.
On offense I worry about recruiting at only one position… RB. I like Stevenson, and I know McCants was a major recruit, but I’m waiting for these guys to come in and change the game enough to put a team like the Ducks on their heels. Why recruit people if they’re not going to play? Not getting Bernard is the perfect example of this. I can’t blame him for going to Notre Dame (who knows? maybe he won’t?) with the dedication they give to a player’s personal development and the facilities available there. I appreciate what we’ve done with the money we’ve spent in this decade, and I hope that continues in the next. But imagine what could be done if we also didn’t care who came to Corvallis to play for us.
What would we do with a JUCO player like Blount? His ‘come to Jesus’ season may have changed him, but I sincerely doubt he will be holding a degree in the spring.
We now have a system in place that will compliment any top level talent who might choose to come here. We just need to go out and get some of those guys.
What might be fun is watching the exodus from UO in the next few years. I firmly believe that a system like ours is the far better system if we can add some big time talent to lead it. UO has a recent history of not developing anyone. They rely heavily on recruiting big talent, and when that’s all you get on the roster you end up with unhappy players who think they’re entitled to more than they get. When that talent is left on its own over the course of a college career some develop themselves, but most just wither away in a ‘what could have been’ life. They’re currently loading up on RB’s, and that doesn’t make for a stable team. Kelly may be able to handle the group next year, but what happens when he leaves for greener pastures? What promises are being made to these guys which will cause them to re-think their situation a year from now?
I am jealous that they can draw the talent at RB that we can’t, but there can only be one thriving in their system with a back-up contributing. Six deep is going to kill them.
Unless we actually play our RB’s we’re not going to convince anyone to come stand on the sideline and watch Quizz play.
And, after last night, I think the Pac 10 has just about caught up to the spread attack. Maybe not next year, but the year after will be the death of it. Unless you can find a Masoli or Tebow to lead your team, you’re screwed. There’s a reason Ducks fans were whining about being on their fifth QB a couple years ago. Those excuses don’t hold water since that is expected to be the result when playing in this conference… at least the expected result from an intelligent observer. Look at how many shots Masoli was taking when he was five yards deep in his own backfield. Most of his magic was just staying upright for the whole game.
Sorry Wazzu. You’re a day late on this one.
I’m going to have to disagree with you. Masoli is nice, but JUSTIN ROPER took the Beavers to double OT. He wasn’t even recruited as a spread QB. The system is there and it seems you can plug almost anyone in at QB. It’s not too difficult to run–you look where one defender moves and go the other way. Maybe the defense is to move one way then go the other and run right into the QB. Who knows, I don’t get paid for that. Someone will figure it out eventually, but as of right now, nobody has.
No. Remember Kempt started that game and went out because he was pummeled (sorry Cody). The reason Kempt and Roper were fourth and fifth string was because they were recruited before Kelly’s appearance on the scene. He has since driven them out. They are both pretty good pocket passers, which is why they somewhat succeeded that year. But you take Stewart off that Ducks team, and they’re lucky to win four games. QB’s are just going to get beaten to a pulp in this league trying to run that system. If you have the time to give three and four deeps snaps during the week, then you’re fine. Otherwise… buh bye. Thomas will have one year after Masoli and Costa leave. Then it will be Hawkins? Their recruit Bennett? I’ve run into Thomas around town, and I’ve gotta say I can break him just looking at him. He is not 200 pounds as advertised.
Masoli is just that special. Kelly would be better served to teach a RB how to throw and put him behind center.
Off topic… Kempt and Roper played against each other two weeks ago in the 109th version of the Cat-Griz. Roper’s the back-up, but he got to play.
More off topic… I have a pair of Justin ropers.
Thomas is a good athlete by the way. He will be scary as long as he’s not hurt. He won’t make it past the third conference game he starts, let alone all the way to the Civil War, and that will just add to the excuse chamber we call Ducks fans.
I would say he’s a lot like Tim Alexander was for the Beavs years ago. He’ll probably be a good receiver or kick returner when all is said and done.
In all the hubbub I forgot to congratulate the Champions of the Northwest.
Congrats Boise State!
We’re coming for you next year, and you don’t have a prayer.
Louisville huh? Wish we had them this year instead of Cincy…but the best thing that I saw from the next several years of scheduling…no Pac 10 games for season openers! Worst idea ever. Maybe there was a reason? But seems there’s a couple Pac schools that have to square off in week 1. Horrific idea for whomever thunk it up.
You can’t trade touchdowns for field goals. when you have a 1st down at the oregon 20 after a fumble recovery you HAVE to score. Bottom line.
Agreed says the Husker fan that watch his lame offense put up 5 field goals and lose 16-15 to Va Tech. You can kick a field goal to win a game, but you can’t kick field goals to win the game…if that makes any sense. No offense to those that play the sport, but I always grumble when a drive stalls and they bring out the “Soccer Player”.
And what the hell happened to Hekkar…jeez. He barely had one good punt all night. Shanks one, gets a redo because of a penalty and then shanks it worse. Shiznhit!!!
And maybe now that he’s led a team through it Chip Kelly has a decent respect for the Civil War. I think he said he wants his team to prepare like every game is the Super Bowl. “I guess that’s not big enough,” he said.
No, Chip. It’s not.
I have to say that Duck fans have to be careful what they wish for. Kelly goes big again next season he is gunna be a hot commodity for coaching. I don’t see why Kelly would want to stay at Oregon, he is an east coast guy who probably believes he can do even better than Oregon. If Kelly were to leave a huge void would exist at UO, would be pretty difficult to fill.
Notre Dame is calling chip.
Florida State, or maybe even Michigan in a few more years.
Mike Bellotti.
I don’t know that Notre Dame wants to run the spread offense, I see them wanting to stick with a pro style offense. But if Chip leaves they get Mike Bellotti back who has always depended on having a strong offensive coordinator. If they don’t get Bellotti they might get Alliotti (former Beaver coach) to be their coach.