Watching the Ducks today, I have envy.

Sweet modern yet elegant helmet, wide-open offense, aggressive attacking style, going for 2-point conversions after scoring a TD, calling a timeout with 12 seconds left before halftime when Cal had the ball, and on and on.  Beaver fans will point out that both styles work and the Beavers have the 2nd most wins the past two seasons after USC. Touche. But this is a lot more exciting to watch. And something tells me if Cincy went to Autzen last Saturday they wouldn’t leave with a win.The Athletes on this Oregon team look like the Athletes on USC in terms of speed, size, and strength.

I’m a Beaver fan (and alum) with Duck envy, and I’m not ashamed to admit it. When something is exciting, when it’s better than what you’re doing, the best thing to do is accept it.

Beaver fans will say, “Angry, you’re clearly a Duck! Knew it!”…no. Adamant no. What I am is a realist. And this is simply a better product. In 2 hours I will have to watch Mike Riley and Danny Langsdorf call for 30 handoffs off right tackle, a couple screen passes, and 10 fly sweeps that go for 6 yards a pop, as the Beavs likely grind out a win. Effective, sure, but it’s archaic, uncreative, and features very little elegance. To make matters worse, the one uniform we have that has any pizazz (i.e. the orange jersey) remains on the shelf as we continuously go with the black, paved road kill look. As much as I hate the Ducks and it pains me to say this, I have complete awe and respect for what they’ve turned themselves into. A Beaver fan who can’t acknowledge this doesn’t hate the Ducks, but he hates something inside himself.

This is an excellent match up for the Beavs.  The biggest weakness on our team, which is the defensive line, should be neutralized by the fact that Arizona has no passing game. They rely mainly on Nick Grigsby and the running game. Serendipitous, given that LBs are the strong-point of our team. I’d love the Beavs big in this one were it not for execution problems.

27-18, Beavs.

There is much chatter, both in my blog and other media outlets, about whether or not Sean Canfield is the man to lead this team. The people who like Canfield talk about his arm strength and NFL frame. Detractors are quick to note his slow release, poor decision making in the pocket, and passive leadership. Recently, a reader of my blog said that Canfield isn’t a Division I quarterback. I find that opinion insulting to my intelligence, given that there are 121 DI programs, including the likes of New Mexico State, North Texas, Temple, Utah State, and Western Kentucky. To suggest Canfield shouldn’t make any of those rosters is a ludicrous argument. However, to say Canfield shouldn’t be a PAC-10 quarterback has merit.

All that being said, I’m not as down on the guy as many. I do think Lyle Moevao makes quicker decisions in the pocket, but if you remember back, many of those decisions were wrong. He’s also not throwing at 100%. So, I say let’s give Canfield these first two PAC-10 games. By the end of that stretch, all issues on the OL should be ironed out and the team as a whole should be more settled. If Sean isn’t performing well at that point in the season, it would be time to make a switch.

What I find interesting about the whole Canfield situation is how the Oregon media portrayed Sean during spring and fall camp. They gushed over how lean he looked, raved about his arm and efficiency, and got Beaver fans riled up, truly believing they had a quarterback who could lead them to a Rose Bowl. The most guilty of this hard sales pitch were Angie and Eric Machado over at beaverblitz. That’s right, the same husband-wife due who wrote that Ryan McCant’s looks like Steven Jackson. It’s clear now that Canfield had a great spring and fall camp because, frankly, we don’t have a very good offensive or defensive line. The ends couldn’t get to Canfield, and if they did blow by (*cough* Remmers), they weren’t able to tackle him (camp rules). I’ve got a decent arm and can sling the thing around a bit…pretty confident I could complete 75% of my passes under those circumstances.

So what we have here is the OSU media unjustly hyping Canfield in order to keep hopes “rosy”, and a fan-base getting upset when Sean doesn’t live up to those overinflated expectations. As average as Canfield has played, I actually have more of an issue with the Machados, “Shoveller”, and other “experts” who are privy to practices, see the team on a daily basis, and yet still refuse to report reality.