Déjà vu All Over Again
Just when you thought Yogi Berra was retired from the limelight and never to be seen, up he pops as the Yankees sweep to their 27th World Series victory. Good to see the "Yog" - his unique phrasings of the English language as unorthodox as his approach at the plate - hitting pitches that were out of the strike zone better than the pitches that were in middle of the plate! Yogi was always good for a surprise.
But this week's "déjà vu all over again" was Oregon vs. Stanford 2001 but with a twist. Instead of taking a big early lead as the Ducks did in 2001 and then proceeding to lose it, this year's version fell behind early and could never catch up.
In 2001, the Ducks took a 42-28 lead into the fourth quarter but this time trailed 45-28. The Ducks rallied for two scores in the last quarter gaining 155 yards on two drives in 3:30 seconds of elapsed time. But the real problem for Oregon was getting stops on the Cardinal offense. Stanford kicked two field goals in the final stanza, sealing the victory with only 11 seconds remaining with a 48 yard 3 pointer.
Going into the game, Oregon's best hope was to get an early lead, then make Stanford play catch up, much as they were forced to do at Oregon State. Once they fell behind the Beavers and were forced to play from behind, the Cardinal turned the ball over and was never able to take control of the contest.
However, the Ducks flip-flopped that plan and let Chris Owusu run the opening kickoff for 77 yards to the Oregon 12-yard line. When Stanford was forced to settle for a field goal, it appeared Oregon escaped - much as they had with USC's first drive the previous week.
But Oregon's offense sputtered along and was limited to 215 total offense and 14 points in the first half. The Ducks returned to some of their old, bad, habits such as dropping easy passes and killing their drives, limping into halftime trailing 31-14.
Stanford's Toby Gerhart stomped on the Ducks for 223 yards in total and Andrew Luck, their freshman quarterback who will give coaches nightmares over the next 3 years, was 12-20 for 251 yards with two touchdowns including a number of remarkable tosses that kept drives alive.
Oregon had their chances but couldn't convert on those plays they had been making all year long. A sure pick six was dropped by Michael Clay deep in Oregon territory that the Cardinal then converted for a touchdown. A stop on 3rd and 9 by Talmadge Jackson III was called a pass interference penalty, keeping that drive alive too. Spencer Paysinger dropped a sure pick later in the game. On the offensive side, Jeff Maehl was called for offensive pass interference that killed an Oregon drive in the third quarter and a 38 yard completion.
We won't mention the side judge standing a couple of yards away and in perfect position to make the call didn't but the field judge 30 yards away did.
Another drive ended when Oregon also failed on a 4th and three conversion when the zone read option lost a yard. Throw in about 7 dropped passes, including two that were apparent TD's by LaMichael James and you have the perfect summation of the game:
The Cardinal brought their "A" game and executed their game plan to perfection. They were in "the zone". Some passes were extremely well defended by Oregon but Andrew Luck found the magic seam and got the ball into the receiver's hands. Oregon brought their "C" game and as mentioned above, squandered their opportunities to come back for the win.
While it was a disappointment and the Ducks were lackluster in their performance, it wasn't for a lack of effort. It was very apparent to the end of the game that despite Stanford's success, Oregon's defense still had energy left and the Oregon offense was steamrolling the tired Cardinal defense. But the final gun sounded and the Duck's had waited too long to marshal their comeback effort.
Not to be lost is the fact that Oregon still controls their destiny. Win the last 3 games, and it's on to the Rose Bowl. Do something less than that, and the options are too varied to detail.
Oregon's defense finally had a poor game, here in week 9. But the Cardinal is a quickly improving team and they can "lay the leather on ya" if you are forced to play their game. I don't think that ASU, Arizona, or the Beavers have that offensive firepower to dominate as Stanford did.
The Duck's need to put this game behind them and keep their nose to the gridiron. If they play like they're capable, this can still be one of Oregon's best teams and certainly one of its most exciting. Who knows, it may come down to the Civil War for the second year in a row.
