First of all, there will be no talk about Blount in this thread, and I will delete any comments related to the incident. This is here to discuss what actually mattered in last nights game: the play on the field.
And, it was a resounding disaster. Football wise, it would be tough for it to get much worse. The only positive that I can take is that our freshman punter looks to be pretty great.
I fully expected our team to come out and play a physical game. But they failed to establish either line (and that's being kind to the offense) and the linebackers who were supposed to be fast and physical looked confused for half the game, with constant adjustments being made at the line.
There was absolutely nothing to like offensively. The line had the issues that we all expected, and the play calling did nothing to rectify that. For example, on the play on which the safety occurred, it did not appear to be an option play, as Masoli wasn't even looking at the other end. It was a predesigned run. Why in the world does that play get called when you have a weak line and you're that deep in your territory?
Masoli reverted to his old form, with happy feet and inaccurate passing. Instead of getting him comfortable throwing over the middle, the early offense was marked with passes to the receivers on the edge, and the passes were not even close to the targets.
On top of this, Kelly coached an absolutely terrible game. The team was not ready, and now word is starting to spread he's losing control of the team, which may or may not actually be true.
This could not have been a worse opening to the season. I really don't know what to think. Oregon has a week to pull it together. Is this just an absolutely ridiculous aberration, or a sign of things to come? It's likely somewhere in the middle.
But what's important here will be the response. This team could implode faster than the 2006 team, or, it could pull it together like Cal did in 2006. We just don't know. And so we'll get to stew with this terrible game until at least next weekend.