Live blogging of the Oregon game! Here we go! It's something I've wanted to do for a while, and a late Thursday night game is the perfect opportunity. Although with all the late breaking news about Barry Bonds being indicted on perjury and obstruction of justice and A-Rod signing a new $275 million dollar deal, I wonder how much attention this game will garner in the sports media tomorrow.
Well, it's 8:52 PM, and I've turned on ESPN and they're still wetting their pants over the above stories. I'm almost done with my last little bit of homework I wanted to finish before the weekend. And the pre-game show has now begun!
8:55 - Funny story, today's colloquium speaker here at MIT physics was from Arizona. It was on the use of optics in Renaissance paintings. He basically said all Art History majors are stupid. And the only thing right now the talking heads can talk about is upset, upset, upset. Oregon is favored by only 12.5, which I think is pretty low if I was a gambling man.
9:01 - And now they're doing a stupid magic theme for the opening. Why not play a little Steve Miller with that?
9:02 - I think I'm going to go ahead and have the phrase 'I have a huge man-crush on Jonathan Stewart' saved in my cut and paste. That opening kickoff should have been stopped before the 20, but his balance let him keep going out to the 30. And then he rips off a 25 yard run past the 50! I have a huge man-crush on Jonathan Stewart!
9:05 - I wonder if Dixon is going to be a little rusty tonight. After the knee thing, I wonder how hard he pressed during practice. That O-line can give him plenty of time, though, so he can catch up. I agree with this 4th down play call.... YEEESSSSS!!!!! Nice read, and just a smooth jaunt into the endzone. And now a 2-pointer! Oh Snap!
9:08 - The reason I agree with that 4th down attempt is:
1) It's early, so there's plenty of time to recover
2) It's around the 40 yard line, so punting wouldn't gain more than 20 yards without a very nice punt
3) This offense can get a few yards just about whenever it needs it
4) And of course, it worked, so there's always 20/20 hindsight to rest on, too
9:09 - Who is Taryne Mowatt? Why is she introducing the Cats?
9:10 - Interception, along with some offensive pass interference that was not called! I think my Oregon Duck that plays Mighty Oregon is going to be running out of batteries tonight...
9:13 - Jaison Williams with a good catch over the middle! He only drops those in the 4th quarter. And followed up with a nifty reverse! I can't call it an end-around, even though the ball only changed hands once. There was motion one way, then the field reversed. And now an interception... Bad 'catch' there, and an unlucky bounce to the saftey.
9:18 - Bad tackling. Arizona is not going to win tonight constantly throwing underneath. A lucky run on a long 3rd down, and some bad missed tackles isn't going to win the game.
9:25 - Dixon does look calm, but that's only because that O-line isn't letting anything through. I have a huge man-crush on Jonathan Stewart, that was a really nice run to the 30. Crenshaw isn't chopped liver, either. Ohhh shit. I hope that isn't that bad.
9:29 - And the Brady Leaf era is here. Just get the 3 points, and lets see if Dixon can get back in the game.
9:39 - Nope. He's gone for the night, as are his Heisman hopes. Defense needs to step up now. Only gave up a field goal. The O-line and Stewart can get plenty done, but Leaf just isn't the same. Wow, terrible decision by Stewart. I know you want to make things happen, but half way back in the endzone on a kickoff isn't the place to do it.
9:45 - End of the first quarter. Leaf's looking good handing the ball off, and then faking out the defense with a terrible pump-fake that allowed him to gain 7 yards. Oregon already has more than 150 yards rushing. Looking like another highlight game for the O-line, but the defense needs to tighten up.
9:47 - Ugh. Not good. Not good at all.
9:51 - And there's the Jaison Williams drop on 3rd down we've come to know and love. Tedy Bruschi also on from my most hated team in the NFL. Not good few minutes for me.
9:57 - Shit shit shit. That zone defense isn't looking too good right now.
10:07 - The offense just isn't the same. I don't know if they can score more than 2 or 3 touchdowns for the rest of the game. Let's hope halftime can turn things around.
10:15 - I thought that was a block in the back on the first gunner there, but no, and the touchdown stands.
10:21 - Offense showing some signs of life. Getting a little more methodical. I agree that Stewart needs to be a big part of the offense now, but I don't think he's a 35 carry kind of guy. And not with the defense keying on him every snap. 3rd and long, and Arizona's coaching staff is going a little crazy.
10:26 - And that's just ugly. Why not just run the ball, take the FG, and be happy your offense found some traction? Annnnddd, shank you very much.
10:32 - Arizona's TV ad tells us they were Arizona's first university. Congratulations! And Jaison Williams faked the drop, to fool the defense, and picks up a huge first down out the mid-field!
10:35 - Jaison Williams waits for the ball, and almost has it incepted in front of him, then makes nice catch on the outside at the 20. And of course, Oregon's ad isn't much better.
10:38 - Nice blitz pick-up by Stewart, but with the extra time Leaf throws it right out the end zone. And just think if we had kick a FG the previous possession, we'd only be down 14, instead it's 17. Halftime. The real difference is the 2 INTs (one returned for TD) and the punt return. Oregon can get back in this. Back in 20 minutes!
11:05 - I don't really like only rushing only 3 on 3rd down, try and keep the pressure up, but they pick up a big personal foul penalty, and get a punt after a brief scare on 3rd and 25.
11:25 - Blogger just fucked me. Anyway, the defense is turning it on, but the offense still has a way to go. Still have the man-crush on Stewart.
11:42 - Thanks to ESPN for not showing that last play for a loss. Flutie finally notes that the defense has been playing pretty good.
11:43 - Dueling punters has been the story this 3rd quarter and the last half of the 2nd. I don't know if a Dixon for Heisman commercial is appropriate right now.
11:50 - Fake Punt!!! And #4 for Arizona is signaling the wrong way. WHAT?!?!
11:54 - God damn it. How did Arizona recover that? Seriously? There were 4 Ducks there, and no Cats. I've always wondered if a replay could overturn a fumble recovery call.
12:05 - How the fuck can you call that a fumble?!?! WTF? Did this crew not see last week's game between OSU and UW? He was standing right there, and still ruled it a fumble, despite the fact that he could clearly see that both the runner was down, then reached forward and lost the ball because he hit the ground. How on earth can you possibly see that otherwise? At least the replay did it's job, unlike last week. I guess the Pac-10 does have the worse refs.
12:16 - Touchdown!!! A very nice drive. That's exactly what they needed to do. Make Arizona stop you, and don't let Leaf kill your season. I might have a heart attack tonight...
12:24 - Missed facemask call on Nick Reed, showing off the Pac-10 officiating at it's finest. Of course, they missed a similar call (but less flagrant) against Stewart on the previous drive.
12:28 - After a tough failure to stop them on 4th down, they get a HUGE fumble. BUT, we have to watch more botched officiating instead. This is close, but it looks like it's going back to Arizona. The defense is trying.
12:38 - Crenshaw, not Stewart. This is suddenly turning into the season that could have been. I hope my man-crush is OK.
12:43 - Intercepted. That's about all, folks. Still 3 timeouts, so this is actually going to go a while, despite all the students on the sidelines.
12:51 - 14 seconds to go, 2 quick plays and that's about it. Let's see here, top 2 receivers, top 2 running backs, and our Heisman front runner QB are out by the end of this game. And that's just the skill players on offense. I guess we'll never know how that would have gone had Dixon not been injured on the Duck's third drive. The Ducks were in it all the way through the second half, but the offense never really got going, and the mistakes early in the 2nd quarter cost them the game.
12:56 - Bed time now, along with a vow to never do this again. On a related side note, are Pac-10 refs the worse refs out there? This was a terribly officiated game. Anyway, here's hoping the guys can mend up, and for a USC win over ASU.
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7 comments:
I have gone from elation to physical pain so in this game.
I am still hopefully to get back to elation... but the offense is going to need to look better than this.
Don't know if you are seeing these, but the reports from the RG's blogger is that Dixon is "only" a hyper-extended knee... thats good news at least.
So painful. I don't think I have it in me to make my own blog post...
I try not to 2nd guess the coaches often, but I have to wonder why they didn't give Roper or Kempt a shot when it was clear Leaf wasn't moving the ball.
Still, it has been a much better team and season then I expected. At least its a long week before UCLA.
I'm fine with them sticking with Leaf, I'm not fine with him ending the game with close to 40 passes. When he came in the game, Oregon was up 8-7, and kicked a FG shortly after to go up 11-7. At that point, it should have been handoffs, stretch plays, screens, smoke plays to the outside receivers, and maybe a few deep balls thrown in for fun. It was really obvious that he wasn't comfortable throwing a timing route to the receivers 8 yards down field, like any kind of slant, curl, crossing route, etc. which has been Oregon's offense. So just take those plays out, and try and make lemonade.
But really you have to look at the way the ball bounces. And not just the injuries. There was that weird tipped pass/INT in the endzone early on that cost 7 points, the punt and INT returned for touchdowns (an uncommon and essentially random event occurring twice in the game), and the fumble after the fake punt. The Ducks, especially the defense that only gave up 20 points, played pretty decent, but not great, and had some tough bounces. Hopefully they can all get healthy next week for UCLA. A Rose Bowl berth is still on the line for the Pac-10 champ, and I would love to see them in it.
Ever since we switched to the Nike O-logo, UO ads just haven't been the same. The best will still be the "ducks" ads that ran for 3-4 years, I think.
I was also in pain, mainly because I stayed up until 1:00am watching the game and had to get up at 5:00am the next day to go to work. Would have been worth it if we won.
I agree with Beau--Leaf should have been taken out by the fourth quarter. He just didn't look comfortable.
Where have you gone? What are you doing? I'm desperate for news!
Also, I hadn't seen your blond pictures. As a blond, with that beard, you looked just like a viking. Or at least what I would imagine a viking to look like. Was everyone calling you Eric The Yellow? (Hilarious - I know, I'm very clever.)
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