Four Teams Left. The Stars Align?

After 8 games of the 2010 Oregon Duck schedule, the team has the #1 ranking of the BCS and the Human Polls.  They have the most explosive offense in the country.  Teams have fallen behind them in their wake. 

Looking ahead, Oregon simply has to win out in order to take their first shot at a National Championship.  Looming ahead of them seemed to be a few teams with chances to derail Oregon’s dream.   Debates have raged about which team would have the right talent and timing to give the Ducks the one thing that they haven’t been able to collect all season………A loss.

November 6, 2010 – Washington at Oregon

This rivalry has been more on the Husky side than the Duck side for the last few years.  Washington has falling off since the glory days of the early 1990’s.  For Oregon and Washington fans it will be a hated relationship until the end of time.  In 2002 the Huskies came back out of the visitor locker room at Autzen Statium and celebrated at the expense of the Oregon logo with then coach Rick Neuheisel.  That image will live on in Eugene. 

 Jake Locker was supposed to put up monster numbers this season for Washington with the hopes of winning the Heisman trophy and a Bowl game.  Neither seems to be realistic for the Huskies at this point.  Instead, we turn to a rivalry game that means more to the opponent.   For Washington this is the chance to knock off the neighboring state rival and keep them from the National Championship.

Washington’s chances were dashed this week when it was announced that Jake Locker had a fractured rib and would not play in Eugene.  Instead, redshirt freshman Keith Price will get the start.  Price was an attempted recruit of Oregon and Chip Kelly.  This week’s backup will be the son of the great Joe Montana, Nick Montana.  Steve Sarkisian has already said he has no plans to play Montana unless absolutely necessary.  Montana is a true freshman and the school wants to redshirt him this season. 

So, what Oregon will end up seeing is a Husky team that was shutout by Stanford in Seattle last weekend, does not have their best player and has a redshirt freshmen getting his first start at Autzen Stadium.   This is a team whose defense just gave up 41 points to Stanford at home.

Get ready for a yawner, boys.  This one could be over in the first quarter.

November 13, 2010 – Oregon at California

Jekyl and Hyde?  Is there any team in football that has been more bipolar than Cal this season?  No.  Watching this team play on the road you might think they were the worst team in the Pac-10.  Here is the last four games:

Home: Beat up on UCLA – 35 – 7

Away: Destroyed by USC – 48 – 14

Home: Destroy ASU – 50 – 17

Away: Beat up by OSU – 35 – 7

Cal has looked like two completely different teams this season.  This week they travel to Pullman to take on the Cougars.  Who knows how that will turn out.  Especially after it was announced this week that Kevin Riley was done for the season which also ends his college career.  No one will know how good this team can be the rest of the season. 

It looked to everyone in football that going to Berkley could be a trap for Oregon.  With Riley out, the chance of that happening has greatly diminished.   The Bears won’t have a chance to keep up with the Ducks offense without Riley.  This should be just another game for the Ducks. 

November 26, 2010 – Arizona at Oregon

Arguably, Oregon’s toughest opponent left.   Mike Stoops, younger brother of Bob, has been without starting QB Nick Foles for a couple of games now.  The team has kept stride with the teams they have needed to play as they waited for Foles to come back. 

Arizona is currently ranked #15 in the country.  That will change one way or another.  This weekend Arizona has to go to Stanford and take on the #13 Cardinal.  There is a lot of speculation that Foles will be back for this game.  Provided he can stay healthy, a shootout between Foles and Luck would be fun to watch. 

After playing Stanford they have to go home and take on USC.  Not an easy game.  Then, the week after that they walk into Autzen to take on the Ducks.

Oregon not only gets Arizona at home, but also has two weeks to prepare.  This is good for Oregon since the Wildcats have the #7 defense.   Add to that the fact Arizona will have been beat up by two good teams the previous two weeks and things just couldn’t get any better for Oregon. 

If the Wildcats can somehow find a way to win both games before meeting the Ducks then there is a good chance they will be knocking at the door of the top 5 with a few other one loss teams.  This could be good for Oregon. 

Oregon’s offense is so explosive, no defense can keep up.  This will be no different.  Eventually, Arizona will wear down and the Ducks will unleash all the weapons at once.  By the end of the third quarter, with the Wildcats gasping for air, the game will be in hand.

December 4, 2010 – Oregon at Oregon State (The Civil War)

Oregonians know what this game is.  Alabama has the Iron Bowl.  Oregon has the Civil War.  It doesn’t matter what the records are.  It doesn’t matter where the teams are ranked.  It doesn’t matter who is in the Heisman race.  Blood will be spilled on the field.  No prisoners will be taken.  100 would never be enough of a point difference. 

By this point in the season, the Beavers will only have one thing to play for.  Whatever bowl they end up at will be insignificant to the thought of knocking the Ducks from the National Title Game.  To say Red will be the only color in the eyes of the Beavers would be an understatement. 

Oregon will be undefeated and walking into a raucous crowd at Reser Stadium in Corvallis.  No doubt, the entire stadium will be wall to wall orange.  Oregon Duck stuffed animals will be hanging from nooses.  It will be interesting to see what special props the Beaver has in store for the Duck, who has become one of the most recognized mascots this season. 

In the end, the crazy crowd and all the antics will only lead to the teams on the field.  Honesty and truth will leave themselves on the field and be seen by the nation.  Truth, the Ducks are the best team in the country and this will just be another blip on the radar as they head for Glendale. 

All in all, the stars have aligned for Oregon to be making their way for Glendale, AZ and the National Championship game.  Injuries happen and so do schedules, but this just looks like fate.