Pretty much as we posited three weeks back, Oregon - and Nate Costa - earned a solid "W" in LA, used the week off to get Jeremiah Masoli healthy, then SPCA'd the Huskies in Seattle 43-19.
Despite early offensive rust due to the bye and Masoli's three week absence, the Ducks slip into the locker room at halftime leading 15-6. After the kickoff, the Ducks go on a 21-point third quarter tear, and that's all I'm gonna write bout them Dawgs. No longer a "Season of Renaissance" on Montlake and the Huskies are not yet on the Ducks Relevance Radar. It will be 2011, at the earliest, before this rivalry approaches the competitive levels of a decade ago.
Returning to the "Big Picture" for Oregon, here is how it lays out. Naturally, the USC game on Halloween at Autzen is big. If the Ducks win, they take a commanding lead in the conference and could theoretically go 1-3 down the stretch and still win the Pac 10. Lose to USC, and they would have to run the table, and hope someone else beats USC down the stretch.
The fact is that Oregon and USC are the two premier defensive teams in the league this year. Stanford is good offensively but weak defensively. ASU is heralded defensively, but when you look at their schedule, it is less than impressive and their offense is non-existent. Arizona shows promise defensively but has yet to prove it, giving up over 500 yards at home to Stanford. The Beavers are improving with a good offense but a suspect defense.
The Trojans and Ducks are the best two teams in the conference. While some folks worry about Oregon's remaining games, I look at it differently. Oregon has proved to be a quality team both at home and on the road. The remaining teams have to take it away from Oregon, something that is won't be easily done at this stage with the team confident and for the most part, healthy.
As we all know, injuries can change the course of the season and Oregon has had its share. Quarterback Jeremiah Masoli, back from a three week respite, appears to be moving and playing with confidence, with a nod to his new custom knee brace.
Despite losing Walter Thurmond III, and his replacement, Willie Glasper, to season-ending knee injuries, the Duck's secondary has remained steady and solid despite the shuffling. John Boyett has been remarkably solid at safety replacing T.J. Ward for the past seven weeks. .
Talmadge Jackson III left the Washington game with back spasms putting his replacement - true freshman Cliff Harris - on the field for the majority of the snaps.
After his debut off the bench versus UCLA, Harris clings to receivers like a shadow. A year in the weight room will give him the strength he lacks now, but the kid has extremely quick feet, leaping ability, and great anticipation. Yes, on third down and 19, Jake Locker completed a 47 yard pass to his man, but look at a replay, he was draped all over the receiver. you gotta forget those and for a freshman he was pretty quick to set it aside.
Only a couple of plays later with no Husky receiver in his zone on the flat, he instinctively drops deeper and picks off Locker's pass at the Oregon 3. Although the play was well covered by the Oregon safety, Locker appeared to have lofted it perfectly to the receiver's outside shoulder and would have been good for a Washington touchdown. Harris filled in the vacuum underneath and put Oregon's offense back on the field.
The Ducks will be sternly tested by Matt Barkley and the Trojan receivers this week.. Pete Carroll knows Oregon likes to stack the box to stop the run and he will try to loosen up the Duck's defense by throwing to the flats. If TE Anthony McCoy is healthy to play, he will attract a lot of Barkley's tosses.
The USC game will be a chess game like no other in the Pac 10 this year. Based on comments such as "why are we ranked ahead of them (Oregon), they've only lost to undefeated BSU", Carroll offers a hint he has more respect for Oregon than in years past. No doubt he's seen the game film and sees a fast, deep team that lost an early season game but has been steadily improving since. Something of a mirror image of his own team.
Oregon has the team speed to compete with anyone and the Ducks are displaying the team depth to rival that shown by USC. If one player is hurt, in comes the next and the flow is almost seamless.
Carroll's concern has to be that in looking back at their season so far you have the confounding loss to the Huskies and you have seen comfortable leads vanish late in the game to Notre Dame on the road, then to the Beavers at home.
It all boils down to this. USC, while having their usual complement of great athletes, is not fully functioning as a team quite yet. If the defense plays great, the offense sputters and vice versa. Do they put it together later this year or will it be next?
Oregon, on the other hand, was beholden to their defense and special teams for the first three games. Without the Gang Green ver 2.009, the Ducks could have lost all three. Then came the Cal game, and the offense pulled their weight, finally providing the balance a team needs to win a conference title in the Pac-10: good defense, good special teams and good offense.
Oregon's trend is ascending - not just this season but also in terms of future prospects for success in the Pac-10 and beyond just at the moment USC is perhaps showing a few chinks in their battle worn armor. Look for Oregon to push the USC defense into the fatigue zone late in the game. The no-huddle will pressure USC as the Ducks ratchet up the game pace late and pull away for a sweet Halloween treat.
