Time to administer a whuppin’
SCOTT PESZNECKER
PEZ SEZ
For the past couple weeks, the na
tion has been exposed to a side of Ore
gon football that only the Pacific-10
Conference knew existed.
Two overtime games. In both
games, the team in green trailed in the
fourth quarter. In both games, achiev
ing victory seemed like a brief trot up
Mt. Everest.
Behold: Two wins. A collective
margin of four points.
Those no-quit Ducks.
The last two games Continued Ore
gon’s saga of games that last an eterni
ty, right up there with last season’s
triple-overtime win against Southern
California, one-yard loss to UCLA, fi
nal-pass win against Arizona State
and down-to-the-wire finish against
Arizona — all capped by a late,
fourth-quarter comeback to win the
2000 Sun Bowl.
These games are fun for the fans
and draining on the coaches — but
bad for gaining respect when they
happen too often.
Take a look at the Bowl Champi
onship Series rankings. Does anyone
else find it odd that a team Oregon
beat—handily, at that—could jump
past the Ducks in the polls? Well,
Washington did, because the Ducks
appeared vulnerable when they won.
Check out Oregon State. With an
easy schedule compared to Oregon
and Washington (the Beavers almost
lost to a team that wasn’t even in Divi
sion I-A), how did they break their
way into the top-10 polls?
Here’s how.
The Ducks started off hot, crushing
UCLA and Washington in ways the
scoreboard couldn’t show. Oregon
edged USC on the road, then with
stood four Wildcat touchdown at
tempts to beat Arizona before playing
the recent overtime games.
Now, check out the Oregon State
scores: 31-21, Beavers defeat USC; 33
30, loss at Husky Stadium; 38-6 victo
ry against Stanford; 44-38, a come
from-behind win at UCLA; a 38-9
beating of Washington State; and fi
nally, a close 38-32 win at California.
Two of those scores stand out.
Blowouts aren’t as fun to watch as
overtime games, and they don’t hap
pen often. It is also tough to rout an op
ponent if it brings its “A” game.
Don’t get me wrong, there is much
to be said for close wins. Oregon must
be a great team, otherwise it wouldn’t
be 5-3 in overtime matchups.
However, it seems as if something
may be wrong if a team goes into over
time and at the end of the game, and
you wonder, “What if the other team
hadn’t fumbled the ball on an easy
first down? “or “What if the opposing
offense hadn’t been penalized 16
yards for careless mistakes?”
Yes, it takes skill to win in overtime.
But it also takes luck.
The Ducks played well late in the
game against Arizona State, but they
received a gift from the football gods
when the Sun Devils fumbled with
the game in hand. Neither the defense
nor the offense played exceptionally
against Washington State, even in the
overtime period. That is where luck
saved Oregon’s national ranking.
Sure, blowouts take some luck too,
such as Oregon State’s 38-9 win
against the Jason Gesser-powered
Cougar offense.
But still, when a team dominates
another team in such a brutal way, a
statement is made.
The. loser cannot make excuses.,
when the point spread sits at 30
points. Nobody can say “what if this
play had been stopped,” or “what if
that penalty hadn’t been called.”
Blowouts mean dominance Right
now, the Ducks aren’t dominating.
They were though, at the start of the
season. They dominated UCLA so
thoroughly that a smiling Lee Corso,
who once clowned Eugene, was rav
ing in the press box afterwards about
how awesome the home crowd was.
There was so much hype around
that UCLA game. The Bruins came to
Autzen boasting a No. 6 ranking and
national-championship potential.
Yet the betting lines from Las Vegas
favored unranked Oregon.
The Ducks weren’t favored because
of how they played — they were fa
vored because of where they played.
Oregon hasn’t played at home in
two weeks. In that time, the offense
and defense — instead of getting bet
ter—seems to have declined.
But now they get to come back and
play in front of their fans—those loy
al Duck followers, 5,000 of whom fol
lowed them to the cold, snowy Martin
Stadium to cheer the Ducks on against
the Cougars.
Entering the California matchup,
the Ducks are favored by 13.5 points.
For them to have a great shot of beat
ing Oregon State next week, they need
a shot in the arm. A momentum boost.
Topping the Golden Bears by 13.5
points may or may not do the trick.
A 20-point win would be better. At
Autzen Stadium, it’s possible.
Oregon hasn’t had a good ol’ fash
ioned blowout in awhile. If the Ducks
are going to reestablish their Pac-10
dominance and maybe, just maybe,
strike a hint of fear into the hearts of
their in-state rivals, now is the time.
Scott Pesznecker is the assistant sports editor.
He can be reached at pezsez1@hotmail.com.
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