Slow Down Folks, Oregon Isn't in the BCS Just Yet
by UOSportsDude on Oct 9, 2009 1:03 AM PDT
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I'm worried. For the first time all season. Seriously.
I bought into the hype before Boise State. I was certain Oregon would get their revenge against Purdue. I knew Utah was overrated. I had a feeling the Ducks would step up against Cal. And Washington State is, well, Washington State.
But UCLA? What's so special about the Bruins?
It's really not that I'm worried about UCLA at all. I mean, yeah, they're a decent team. Actually, they're a little better than that. They went into Knoxville and knocked off the Volunteers. And they gave Pac-10-leading Stanford a late scare in Palo Alto. Both pretty impressive.
But in a vacuum, there is nothing about the Bruins themselves that scares me. Kevin Prince? Johnathan Franklin? Terrence Austin? I'm sure they're nice guys, but man, that's a whole lot of mediocrity.
So you ask, what could I possibly be worried about? What is it that caused me to stay up late last night, tossing and turning while I pictured what will happen when the Ducks travel to Westwood on Saturday?
There are four things. And any single one of them could be enough to derail Oregon's Rose Bowl aspirations with a devastating loss at, coincidentally, the Rose Bowl.
Jeremiah Masoli's Injury
Just as Masoli finally started playing up to his Heisman-like potential the past two weeks, the curse of the Oregon quarterback struck: a knee injury. Seriously, another one?
Masoli came out in the second quarter against Washington State with the Ducks already leading 35-0. So when he came out, the initial thought was they were just resting him and putting in the second stringers in early.
Turns out Masoli has a sprained MCL, an injury that usually takes at least a couple weeks to heal completely. So the Ducks will turn to junior backup Nate Costa as the starter on Saturday. And if things go according to plan, Costa will lead Oregon to victory, allowing Masoli to rest this week and during the open date next week, before suiting up at full strength in Husky Stadium on Oct. 24.
Costa, who was supposed to be the starter last season before re-tearing his ACL in fall camp, has never started before. And the only in-game experience he has, is against the second team during blow outs over Cal and Washington State this season, Portland State in 2006, and during a big loss at USC that same season.
Sure, he has an inspiring story, as he has come back from multiple devastating knee injuries. Sure, he was a top recruit coming out of high school. And sure, he has a career 84.4 completion percentage. But he only has 21 career passes has never started a game before.
Don't get me wrong, I love that Chip Kelly has enough confidence in Costa to let Masoli rest up and avoid any resemblance to what happened with Dennis Dixon in 2007. It's just that getting handed the ball in the Rose Bowl with the season on the line is a lot of pressure to deal with.
Playing on the Road
Oregon has had it easy the last month with four straight home games. And for the Ducks, playing in Autzen stadium is an advantage that very few other teams are privileged with.
Before Cal came to Eugene two weeks ago, Jahvid Best told reporters that the crowd at Autzen is the only one that stands out in his mind as having gotten to him.
Former Michigan head coach Lloyd Carr once said, "Autzen Stadium is where great teams go to die." And trust him, he knows from experience.
So when Oregon travels south to UCLA, it will be their first road game since the debacle in Boise.
The Ducks have had some trouble playing away from Autzen in the recent past, with a 9-9 road record since 2006.
It will interesting to see how focused Kelly has team this time, because Oregon looked lost and overmatched in the season opener against the Broncos.
Injuries in the Secondary
Apparently knee injuries don't only happen to quarterbacks at Oregon.
Just weeks after team captain Walter Thurmond suffered an ACL ending his season, fellow senior cornerback Willie Glasper succumbed to the same fate. That leaves Talmadge Jackson as the only remaining cornerback with starting experience.
"We just got to plug the next guy in," Kelly said. "You deal with injuries every day. It’s college football. UCLA’s quarterbacks are banged up. Tim Tebow’s hurt. Sam Bradford’s hurt. It doesn’t just happen at Oregon. It happens everywhere in the country.…We’ve got a lot of guys out so it’ll be interesting to see how this thing finishes up."
After the defense stepped up following the loss of Thurmond, despite already being without T.J. Ward, they held Cal and WSU to just nine total points, it will interesting to see how the Ducks respond to yet another hit to their secondary. Inexperienced reserves, Anthony Gildon and Chad Peppars will compete for the starting spot.
Playing With Expectations
Oregon has gotten off to many fast starts throughout the decade. But just when they appear to be a serious contender, the Ducks have wilted under the pressure.
For example: 2003, 2006, 2007, and this season, in the opener against Boise State.
Playing with the hype of being a contender for the BCS is a completely different animal than fighting for the Emerald Bowl. The entire country is watching. Every play matters. Just one mistake marks the difference between playing in San Diego in December instead of the Rose Bowl in January.
And now, as Oregon has climbed back to No. 13 in the rankings, they have once again emerged as the sexy, dark horse pick for the national championship.
By all means, I think the Ducks have a great chance to run the table and end up in Pasadena on New Years Day, or possibly better. But it's up to Chip Kelly to have his team focused for every single game, whether it's UCLA or USC.
This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of SB Nation or the Addicted To Quack Moderators. FanPost opinions are valued expressions of opinion by passionate and knowledgeable Oregon fans.
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You know, instead of coping your entire article into a Fanpost here
you could just leave a link to in the Fanshots. Just a suggestion:
Hi, my name is Matt Daddy and I am a....
HUGE FREAKING DUCK FAN!!!!!!... "Hi Matt Daddy"
Guy behind me at Autzen says "why do the fans yell 'OOO' when we are on D?" He then proceeds to yell "DEEEEEEEE" on every defensive play for the rest of the game. As Carlos Mencia would say, "Dee DeeDee".
by MarineCorpsDuck on Oct 9, 2009 12:00 PM PDT up reply actions
I thought you wrote this..
Until I read Matt’s comment.
"Q: What would you say the loudest stadiums are? Corso: I think Autzen Stadium. Per person, the Oregon stadium is the loudest stadium I’ve ever been in. The fact that it’s so low to the ground doesn’t allow the sound to escape." Lee Corso, ESPN GameDay.
I think he did write it.
He just wrote it for Bleacher Report and cop/pasted it here.
It's spelled "T-A-K-O-T-U-E-S-D-A-Y-S-!-!-!."
I support inroywetrust in his support of The VD Special in his support of me supporting Roger Kieschnick in his quest to becoming the best Kieschnick ever to play professional baseball.
He did write it...and it's a rather good read too.
I just think instead of having Fanposts clogged with pasting from outside articles it is better organization and clarity for the site when they are linked in the Fanshots.
Once again, just my opinion
Hi, my name is Matt Daddy and I am a....
HUGE FREAKING DUCK FAN!!!!!!... "Hi Matt Daddy"
I agree as well.
It's spelled "T-A-K-O-T-U-E-S-D-A-Y-S-!-!-!."
I support inroywetrust in his support of The VD Special in his support of me supporting Roger Kieschnick in his quest to becoming the best Kieschnick ever to play professional baseball.
What revenge would be there to get versus Purdue?
Addicted To Quack [dot] com; Six-hundred and ninety-four yards of total offense.
I could see revenge for the "not so impressive" showing versus Purdue last year
I wouldn’t necessarily call it revenge…more vindication than anything
Hi, my name is Matt Daddy and I am a....
HUGE FREAKING DUCK FAN!!!!!!... "Hi Matt Daddy"
that
and vengeance after losing to Boise the last week. i guess that’s not the right term, i dont know.
The UO Sports Dude - www.keithabecker.wordpress.com
This community is real quick to point out the negative in everything
I’m trying to get involved and share well-written, knowledgeable articles that i think benefit the site and promote some good discussion, but that hasn’t happened because everytime someone is quick to point out a typo or some stupid thing like that.
It’s starting to annoy me. This community seems very against any one outside the original clique participating and sharing relevant information.
The UO Sports Dude - www.keithabecker.wordpress.com
We do point out a lot of things. We are very quick with criticism. We do that with everyone, even with the long time writers.
I think you wrote a fine article, but the cross-site posting is a tad silly, and that’s all that’s really being said. (That, and the “revenge” part)
Unlike the comments you read at oregonlive, the people here like to engage in full and real conversation, and people are expected to back up their statements, or make solid opinions. If they don’t, they get called out on it by the people here.
Next time you write something, feel free to write a unique post here on AtQ. You might be surprised with your reception. Anyone can do it. Here, though, there is an editorial staff. It’s their discretion with what gets front paged. Bleecher Report hardly has that accountability, so a lot of bad writing comes out of there too.
Also, with any public writing though, be ready for criticism. I honestly do look forward to your next post.
It's spelled "S-H-U-F-E-L-T-H-I-M-S-E-L-F"
by JShufelt on Oct 9, 2009 7:42 PM PDT up reply actions 3 recs
Actual discussion includes both the positive and the negative. I looked through your previous posts and there were plenty of positive comments as well as negative comments. Just cause you write something, doesn’t mean everyone will praise it.
Complaints like this just make you look small. If you don’t want any criticism of your opinions, don’t voice them.
--AddictedToQuack, SBNation's Oregon Ducks blog
Yeah, the only thing that bugged me was the multi-site posting. Other than that it was a good read. And everybody’s typo comments just make you proofread. Worked for me. And other comments aren’t criticisms, it’s debate. That’s the beauty of blogs. It lets a wide range of opinions from around the country get together and share thoughts.
It's spelled "T-A-K-O-T-U-E-S-D-A-Y-S-!-!-!."
I support inroywetrust in his support of The VD Special in his support of me supporting Roger Kieschnick in his quest to becoming the best Kieschnick ever to play professional baseball.
Kum bay ya jdiehardoaklandfan22, kum bay ya
Addicted To Quack [dot] com; Six-hundred and ninety-four yards of total offense.
Actually not to be an antagonist (and I actually praised this article in an eralier comment)
but I couldn’t disagree more. This community has been welcoming and wonderful about their comments and criticism. Even to someone who hasn’t posted a lot on this site until recently. Sure you get some assholes, but if you went anywhere and announced “here’s my opinion about your favorite team, feel free to leave comments on what you think” there are bound to be some jerks who just want to make stupid comments because they feel like they have a right to.
Here’s where it might get a little harsh. As the author of your post you have the right to edit it. So when you see comments about grammar, word choice, or spelling…fix it. Don’t get pissed at someone for pointing out your mistake, fix it, say “thank you” and shut the hell up. (I get pissed about people commenting on grammar from comments, because you can’t fix it, however, a post you can edit, so fix it).
As for copying and pasting from another entry somewhere else. First, be grateful that someone a) took time to read your original post elsewhere, and b) re-read the same damn post a second time (then later praised that post as being “a good read”). If you are going to go around regurgitating the same thought, learn the rules of the site you are posting on before getting upset (or annoyed) with people for calling you out about those rules.
I think you are off base for criticizing criticism when it was you who 1) used the wrong vernacular, grammar or spelling and 2) disregarded the organization with which the society conducts its business to begin with. Sorry, just my two cents…
Hi, my name is Matt Daddy and I am a....
HUGE FREAKING DUCK FAN!!!!!!... "Hi Matt Daddy"
For what it's worth
Personally, I’m not for military adherence to grammar and typing conventions, I do find this a bit petty and unnecessary, at least in a forum like this. If you’re serious about a writing career, however, it might be just about the perfect place to learn how to take care of this part of the business.
I think discussion of the content, positive and negative, is essentially the whole purpose of a blog and there’s little reason to post in a forum like this, otherwise. There are plenty of places to write and just put something out there, and let people discuss it anonymously in their own homes, never getting back to the writer or community at large.
by Bill Musgrave on Oct 10, 2009 9:31 AM PDT up reply actions
Oh and left off:
Your articles are well written and interesting, keep ’em coming.
by Bill Musgrave on Oct 10, 2009 9:32 AM PDT up reply actions
Look diehard...
In my opinion, no matter what you write about, there will always be tons of people that cannot stand you (Not in the sense that we cannot stand you here), but you just have to ignore the spineless people vent there pointless anger through computer douchebaggery.
All in all, Don’t worry about it man. Keep writing!
I hate knee injuries.
The masses have spoken, Kevin Prince it is!
Ok
I appreciate all the feedback and I understand all of your points. I am really getting into the sports writing business and I open to all comments and criticisms, and I have definitely taken note of what the community has said.
The UO Sports Dude - www.keithabecker.wordpress.com
by UOSportsDude on Oct 10, 2009 1:15 AM PDT reply actions 3 recs
Great attitude man. I look forward to more original posts,
Keep up the great work
Hi, my name is Matt Daddy and I am a....
HUGE FREAKING DUCK FAN!!!!!!... "Hi Matt Daddy"
No, not allowed
Much of the credit goes to a defense that hasn’t allowed a substantial touchdown drive in nearly a month
by trumpetduck on Oct 12, 2009 10:28 PM PDT up reply actions
I actually like the fanposting of your articles, even though they are cross posted elsewhere. I’m far less likely to comment on other blogs that I am with articles posted on ATQ.
--Dominic, Addicted to Quack
Autzen Stadium is where great teams go to die." - J. Brady McCullough, The Michigan Daily.
Exactly
That’s why I have been cross-posting. I want to share my views with this community because for the most part, I think everyone here has a lot of information to add or debate.
I don’t fanshot because no one looks at those. I do want to here feedback, which I was here post it here as well, because like you said, you, and probably several others, are far more likely to comment on this blog than elsewhere.
The UO Sports Dude - www.keithabecker.wordpress.com
by UOSportsDude on Oct 10, 2009 12:35 PM PDT up reply actions
Thought about writing articles mainly on AtQ and skipping the Bleacher Report town?
It's spelled "S-H-U-F-E-L-T-H-I-M-S-E-L-F"
Not really
BR has been recruiting me to be a featured columnist for Oregon football, something pretty hard to turn down. The exposure I’ve been getting is off the charts. I’ve gotten over 7,500 reads in less than a month and I’ve been driving traffic to my blog from there as well.
Also, they have me ranked as the #6 writer in the Pac-10.
I love AtQ but I need the BR exposure!
The UO Sports Dude - www.keithabecker.wordpress.com
by UOSportsDude on Oct 11, 2009 10:58 AM PDT up reply actions
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