If you are a fan that was booing at the game, please never attend a game again. There is absolutely no reason to boo, and you need to freaking grow up.

That may have been one of the worst played games I've ever seen. Oregon fumbled the ball four times and hiked another ball out of the end zone. Because of this, Stanford ran eight more plays, and had almost double the time of possession during the game. Oregon moved the almost at willl, and punted the ball only once. Yet, going into the final two minutes, Oregon was down by one point.

On top of this, the passing game showed few signs of progressing, though the weather may have had a part to play with this. Play calling did as well, as Oregon only ran one pass play in the second half up until the final drive. But two things are encouraging. First, Masoli had a great play where he stood in the pocket, was flushed out but did not scramble, and directed Drew Davis. Now, Davis did not catch the ball, but this play showed the type of promise that Masoli has. Also, on the final drive, on Masoli's big run, he stood in the pocket for a good amount of time, and only ran when it was wide open. Both of these plays were incredibly important, as they showed a maturity that Masoli has rarely shown, someone who it able to look down the field, and stand in, and make a play with his arms rather than his legs.

But though these signs were good, Masoli had his low spots as well. He had trouble hitting the simplest of passes through most of the game. He missed short passes consistently, and if not for the early screen to Drew Davis (who looked a lot like J-Will), he would have had pathetic stats again.

But the running game was stellar today. Johnson saw the field impeccably throughout the game, and Blount did in the 2nd half as well (minus the almost safety). This led to another 300+ yard game, on 41 carries, with both Blount and Johnson averaging 9.0 yards per carry.

On the other side of the ball, the grade is merely so-so. Stanford was 5/15 on 3rd down and the Oregon secondary held Stanford to only 138 yards passing, but they gave up 187 yards rushing, and 28 points. However, they were put in many bad positions all day long. In the first half, every scoring drive started at least past the UO 40 yard line, and in the second half, it was all past the UO 30. On top of this the TOP and play discrepancy meant that our defense played about 2/3 of the game on the field.

One bright spot on the defense was the play of the line and secondary in terms of penetration. There was constant pressure on the RBs and QB, which is a good sign. However, there were also missed tackles on Kimble throughout the game, which does not bode well for when we must face the Rodgers brothers in a few weeks.

But overall, it was a game of mistakes. Turnovers and penalties put Oregon in bad positions all day, and they still gutted out the win. The final drive is indicative of the Oregon offense throughout the day. They moved the ball at will and didn't have to use a TO in the two minute drive for the winning touchdown. I never doubted that we would win this game, even after the Stanford score.

There are worries for sure, but a win is a win. This Oregon team is talented, and could put together a great game. But they have not done so this season, and we may be waiting until next to see it.

Leave your game thoughts in the comments.

GO DUCKS!

I went into this season saying that if we got "B-" play out of our QBs, we would have a very good season. Up to this point, this has not happened. In roughly half of our games, we have seen pathetic QB play. We have seen games where the pass is not even close to a threat. In the latest game, we saw a 2.6 yards per attempt average. There is no way to sugarcoat this. There is nothing that can make this redeemable. This was one of the worst passing performances turned in by a team, and helped lead to poor 3rd down conversion rates. We have seen, at best, average play. And we've also seen awful performances.

So, the real question is, where do we go from here? I am under no illusion that Jeremiah Masoli will magically become a great QB, despite his claims of "rebirth." Meanwhile, we have Justin Roper, who has not shown good instincts with our most lethal running play, nor the ability to make plays down the field, and in his last full game couldn't average over 5 yards per attempt while throwing costly interceptions. We also have Darron Thomas, who displayed a short burst of brilliance against BSU, but has not performed all that well in his incredibly limited opportunities.

On top of all this, our Wide Receivers have been a great disappointment across the board. As much as we want to rag on J-Will, he hasn't been very bad, but hasn't been given chances to go down the field. I am more disappointed with the rest of the corps, who have typically dropped more than 5 passes per game. When you have QBs that don't hit every pass, grabbing the passes that are made well is a must. This has not happened. Scott, Dickson, Maehl, Davis, et al are all culpable.

As we go into the Stanford game, something must happen. I have no idea what that "something" is, but if our Ducks are going to win any games in the remainder of the season, they must somehow develop a competent passing game.

But at this point, there is no right answer.

Continue reading this post »