SB Nation - Cameron Colvin

Tako Tuesdays: On Recruiting

Takimoto — Tue, 10 Jul 2012 15:00:15 -0000

I don't get it.

Okay, I get why people can get really excited about recruiting. We've got our own guy who's really excited about recruiting, and he's great. But there's a reason I don't have the job of "ATQ Recruiting Guru". It's because I just don't care that much about recruiting.

Let me modify that statement by saying this: I do like National Signing Day. That's when it becomes real. That's when recruits become more than just a dream; they get to make plans to come to Eugene for good, they get a uniform number, and we get to speculate on their career arc, and inevitable back-to-back Heisman trophies. But before Signing Day? It's a dreamers game, and I'm an insomniac.

High school recruiting is the celebrity gossip of sports. ESPNU's coverage of The Opening? That was a red carpet event. Interviews, idle chatter, and very little of anything important. The recruits got a chance to show off their skills against the best in the country, in front of scouts from every major school in the country. It's great for the players, it's great for the schools. But why is it on television? Does it really make ESPN that much money in advertising? Am I missing out on the new trend of being fascinated by watching standing vertical leaps? Is Mack Brown scouting from home?*

My biggest issue isn't even with the dreaming; it's that, even after all the rumors have settled and the LsOI have been signed, it's still a crapshoot. Remember, Lache Seastrunk had just as many stars to his name as De'Anthony Thomas. For every Jonathan Stewart and Haloti Ngata that end up with great careers at Oregon, there will be a Seastrunk or a Cameron Colvin that never lives up to expectation. And for every Marcus Lattimore, Tajh Boyd, or Terrelle Pryor that spurns Eugene only to sparkle somewhere else, there will be a Bryce Brown that ends up not being worth all the lament we afforded him.

My solution? No expectations whatsoever. If every freshman on the roster redshirted next year, I'd be fine with it. Let them learn the system, get acclimated to being a student-athlete, and get bigger and stronger. If they can come in and contribute right away, bonus. De'Anthony Thomas, Patrick Chung, Max Unger? They're the exceptions, not the rule. And when these players finally do see the field, it'll be eighteen months since their recruitment, and they'll be different players from the ones whose grainy YouTube highlight videos we drooled over. So again, I ask: what's the point of getting all uppity over recruiting?

I'm clearly missing something. Recruiting coverage and popularity has completely blown up, with ESPN showing high school all-star games, corporations like Nike and Under Armour holding elite camps as a way to gain exposure (and sell a lot of gear), and sites like Rivals and Scout, the US Weekly of sports, making subscription money from junkies so addicted to recruiting that they willing fork over cash for rumors. That makes me behind on the times, and I saw what happened when I resisted the flannel shirt and snapback resurgence. Never again. So I implore you, recruiting geeks. Convince me that I should care about recruiting. Convince me that spending time researching a 17 year old kid, who may never play a down for or by in any way associated with Oregon football, is a good use of my time and energy. Convince me, please. Because I hate being the guy that doesn't understand what the deal is.

*I'm kidding of course. Mack Brown doesn't have to recruit. He has Texas HS coaches do it for him.

Poll

I care about recruiting news...

Not at all. I'll get excited when they put on the uniform.

32 votes

A little bit: when a player commits, I check it out.

362 votes

A lot: I'm always interested in hearing the latest rumors and speculation.

426 votes

An unhealthy amount: I've got subscriptions to all the good recruiting sites, and I know new information almost before it happens.

54 votes

874 votes | Poll has closed

Ten Biggest Pac-12 Recruiting Busts of the Internet Era

Jack Follman — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 22:12:18 -0000

When talking about busts, most people think of the NFL and NBA Drafts. However, with the increase in coverage in college football recruiting in the last ten years or so, athletes coming out of high school have become much more hyped up, making the idea of a college player who doesn't live up to expectations being thought of as a bust a reality.

Whether it be injuries, off the field issues or just plain not being as talented a player as they were thought to be coming out of high school, some highly regarded recruits are just bound to not live up to expectations. Fortunately, I actually think that the lack of hype for West Coast recruits in national media has reduced the amount of busts that we see out West. That isn't to say that the West Coast doesn't have their fair share and it wasn't that tough to come up with the Top 10 biggest busts in Pac-12 history.

*I want to note that this simply relates to how much the player produced for the school they signed with out of high school in comparison to how highly regarded they were coming out of high school. So if a player transfers from a school it goes a long way to qualifying them as a bust regardless of what they do at their second school. Also, obviously there are going to be less recent players on the list since most guys in the last few classes haven't had the chance to fully realize their career in a good or bad way.

1. Lache Seastrunk - Class of 2010 - RB - Temple, TX - Oregon

-Seastrunk never played a down at Oregon but he may end up making more of an impact at Oregon than any other Duck player in the last 10 years. Seastrunk's signing with Oregon raised some serious eyebrows among recruiting fans, (particularly those in Texas) who wondered how the school from the Northwest was able to pluck one of the top running backs in the country out from under their noses. The Ducks had done well recruiting in Texas, but unfortunately for the Ducks, it appears Chip Kelly got greedy and went too far in the way he was recruiting athletes in the Lone Star State, particularly Seastrunk and it should cost them.

2. Whitney Lewis - Class of 2003 - WR - Ventura, CA - St. Bonaventure - USC

-Lewis was actually #7 on my list of Top 10 Pac-10 Recruits, which really shows just how disappointing Lewis' brief career was. A physical specimen (6'1 210 4.3 40), he seemed almost too good to be true, and maybe he was. Despite being one of the highest rated players in the Class of 2003 at any position, Lewis failed to make an impact at USC in two seasons and ended up transferring to Northern Iowa.

3. Randy Estes - Class of 2004 - S - Los Alamitos, CA - Washington State

-Estes is a very sad, strange and possibly unfinished story. Estes was arguably the top player on the West Coast heading into his senior season as a athletic, play-making safety but had severe off the field problems and was dismissed from school during his senior season. The popular rumor was that Estes was a drug dealer and nearly every school immediately backed off as it was also obvious that he had pretty much no chance of qualifying anywhere. Washington State ended up earning his signature, but to no surprise, he didn't qualify. I have seen a couple of forum posts discussing what became of Estes, but nothing concrete has ever really emerged about the talented safety.

4. Jeff Schweiger Jr. - Class of 2004 - DE - San Jose, CA - Valley Christian - USC

-Schweiger was seen as the perfect defensive end coming out of San Jose, big and strong enough to defend the run but also fast enough to be a terror to Pac-10 quarterbacks as he racked up 18 sacks his senior season. Schweiger looked like he was going to live up to expectations early in his career, flashing potential in spot time but surprisingly didn't progress into a starter and finished his career at San Jose State.

5. Dillon Baxter - Class of 2010 - RB - San Diego, CA - Mission Bay - USC

-A playmaking back with excellent moves and balance, Baxter was touted as the next Reggie Bush and superstar running back when he signed with USC. He looked every bit the part when a jawdropping run he pulled in spring practice in 2010 became an internet hit, but that would pretty much be the last time Baxter's name would be associated with anything positive. Baxter struggled with grades and transferred from USC to San Diego State just months ago and has already been dismissed from SDSU.

6. Kyle Prater - Class of 2010 - WR - Hillside, IL - Proviso West - USC

-The Trojans have pulled in a lot of tall, very highly rated receivers from outside of the West Coast in recent history and ever since Dwayne Jarrett, none have really seemed to live up to expectations. None have failed to fulfill their supposed potential more than Prater who has already left USC. A big guy with a lot of tools, Prater has a great opportunity to live up to his high school ratings as he continues his career at Northwestern.

7. Matt Tuiasosopo - Class of 2004 - QB - Woodinville, WA - Washington

-The younger brother of Husky legend Marques Tuiasosopo was heralded as being better than Marques and as the savior who would turn around the struggling Huskies when he signed in 2004. In just one of many bad breaks Washington would receive in the decade, the Mariners reached in the MLB Draft to draft Tuisasosopo and offered him a large amount of money that he simply couldn't turn down. The Huskies would go on to have quarterback issues for the next four or so years and struggle mightily while Tuisasosopo failed to make an impact in professional baseball.

8. Antwine Perez - Class of 2006 - S - Camden, NJ - Wilson - USC

-The Trojans were able to get the hard hitting safety from New Jersey to head all the way out to LA and despite enrolling early for spring practice, Perez only spent a year at USC before transferring to Maryland. Despite failing to make an impact at USC, Perez was much more comfortable on the East Coast and ended up having a good career at Maryland.

9. Josh Tatum - Class of 2006 - LB - Oakland, CA - McClymonds - USC

-Touted as a fantastic all around linebacker, Tatum battled injuries in high school and struggled with injuries almost as soon as he showed up on campus. After a redshirt season where he attempted to get healthy, Tatum moved onto Missouri where he finished his career.

10. Vidal Hazelton - Class of 2006 - WR - Chatham, VA - Hargrave Military Academy - USC

-The Class of 2006 clearly didn't pan out the way USC thought it would. Hazelton was solid early in his career and was even the Trojans' leading wide receiver in 2007, which is actually more of a testament to how poorly the receivers performed for USC that season. Hazelton then battled injury problems in 2008 and ended up transferring to Cincinnati due to personal reasons.

Honorable Mention: Kavario Middleton (2008 TE Lakewood, WA Washington) Aaron Corp (2007 QB Orange, CA USC) Curtis White (2010 DE Eugene, OR Oregon) Hershel Dennis (2002 RB Long Beach, CA USC) Cameron Colvin (2004 WR Concord, CA Oregon)

Pac-10 Recruiting: Top 10 Recruits of the Internet Era

Jack Follman — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 14:00:15 -0000

The dawning of the internet age hasn't completely changed the way that college football coaches court high school athletes each year, but it has completely changed the way that college football recruiting is covered and absorbed by fans. The internet is the perfect medium for a game that changes day to day and sometimes hour to hour. Recruiting sucks in fans in a way that games can't in that recruiting never ends and there are no wins and losses, it is a game of chess that never really ends and is the lifeblood of each and every program.

I remember as a kid in the late-90's that my Dad would call a 1-900 number each night in January as recruiting season wound down to get tiny tidbits as to what was going on that night in Huskies recruiting as signing day neared. I remember his frustration on nights when he would call and there would be little to no new information, but he would not have to wait long, as internet recruiting coverage officially began to take off in 2002 (this is as far back as official recruiting rankings go back for the major outlets) and I also began to get drawn into the drama of recruiting.

Pretty much exclusively following Pac-10/12 recruiting since the Class of 2002, I thought it would be interesting to look at the Top 10 Best* recruits to sign with Pac-10** schools since 2002.

*By best, I am referring to how highly rated they were by recruiting sites/level of hype surrounding their signature/how hard elite schools were recruiting them. Also, a recruit's college career does not at all factor into these rankings.

**Colorado and Utah signees were not considered as the they have had only two classes in the conference and neither has signed a recruit highly touted enough to be considered for these rankings since they joined the conference.

1. Joe McKnight - Class of 2007 - RB - River Ridge, LA - Curtis Christian - USC

-McKnight drew the ill fated label of being "The next Reggie Bush... only better." Is it just me, or do labels like this never pan out? None the less, McKnight was the most heavily coveted recruiting in the nation in 2007 and was crowned as the next great USC running back before he even arrived on campus. USC beat out local school LSU and dark horse Ole Miss for McKnight's signature in a fierce battle which is documented quite well in Bruce Feldman's book Meat Market.

2. Haloti Ngata - Class of 2002 - DT - Salt Lake City, UT - Highland - Oregon

-Long before The Black Mamba shocked the world by de-committing from USC and signing with the Ducks, Ngata shook off an early commitment to hometown BYU and signed with the Ducks who were fresh off a Fiesta Bowl victory. If there is a specific kind of recruit that the West Coast struggles to produce, it is the massive, game-changing defensive tackle and the Ducks struck serious gold when they pulled his signature away from BYU, Washington and Nebraska after a recruitment where it seemed like each school thought they had him at one point.

3. John David Booty - Class of 2003 - QB - Shreveport, LA - Evangel Christian - USC

-Booty was so hyped, that he actually completely skipped his senior year of high school to join a USC class that was one of the most highly regarded in the history of college football. By getting Booty to enroll an entire year early, USC actually pulled off a coup by preventing other schools from stretching out his recruitment over his Senior year. Similar to McKnight, Booty was supposed to be the next great USC quarterback but may have made a mistake in skipping his senior year as he had to sit behind Matt Leinart for three years.

4. Matt Barkley - Class of 2009 - QB - Santa Ana, CA - Mater Dei - USC

-Tall, strong, equipped with a rocket arm, an Orange County pedigree and a head of blonde hair, Barkley looked right out of central casting for the part of 5-star LA quarterback. It came as no surprise when the top rated QB in the nation chose USC over pretty much every other school in the country early in the recruiting process and was immediately tabbed as the starting QB.

5. Mark Sanchez - Class of 2005 - QB - Mission Viejo, CA - USC

-The last of what I would call the "USC QB Trifecta," Sanchez was widely considered the best quarterback in the nation much like Booty and Barkley. A well groomed product of powerhouse Mission Viejo, Sanchez was viewed as college ready even when he ended his recruitment early with a commitment to USC. Barkley and Sanchez are very similar in a lot of ways.

6. Whitney Lewis - Class of 2003 - WR - Ventura, CA - St. Bonaventure - USC

- A physical freak, Lewis was billed as running a 40 in the low 4.3's at 6'1 210. Lewis was supposed to be an Andre Johnson type receiver that could also return kicks and punts, but could have also been a hard-hitting, play-making safety. Trojans fans were arguably even more excited about Lewis than classmates Booty and Reggie Bush when they kept him at home and away from Florida State.

7. De'Anthony Thomas - Class of 2011 - CB - Los Angeles, CA - Crenshaw - Oregon

-One of the most hyped recruits to ever come out of Los Angeles proper, The Black Mamba could have been a 5-star player at four different positions and was expected to be an instant special teams superstar. Very small, but simply so fast and quick that it didn't even matter, USC thought they had the most dynamic player in the Class of 2011 when they locked up Thomas' commitment early in the recruiting process. However, in the most shocking development in Pac-12 recruiting in the internet age, Thomas took a silent trip to Oregon and flipped to the Ducks just before signing day. The switch was so shocking that a number of rumors and theories developed about Thomas' recruitment. In the end though, it is likely that Chip Kelly and the Ducks were able to sell Thomas the idea of being a featured player in their high octane offense.

8. Reggie Bush - Class of 2003 - RB - La Mesa, CA - Helix - USC

-After watching Bush's high school highlight reel again, it seems even more impossible to fathom that recruiting services didn't have him as the top prospect in the nation, or even that close to the top. Bush's moves almost seemed fake and his breakaway speed was breathtaking as he seemed to be able to turn just about any run into a touchdown that looked video game like and effortless. USC actually got into the game late and many thought that Rick Neuheisel and Washington were the favorite to land Bush before he committed to USC.

9. Patrick Turner - Class of 2004 - WR - Madison, TN - Goodpasture - USC

-One of many highly touted receivers from outside of the West Coast to sign with USC during the 2000's, Turner came at the tail end of the "All WR's need to be 6'4+ and 215 phase." A Mike Williams/Dwayne Jarrett type athlete, Turner was tall with a knack for pulling in jump balls and the top rated WR in the nation. USC was able to steal Turner out of the heart of SEC country by offering an elite passing offense that would put his skills on display.

10. Shaquille Thompson - Class of 2012 - S - Sacramento, CA - Grant - Washington

-Drawing comparisons to Ed Reed and Sean Taylor, Thompson is far and away the best safety prospect to come out of the West Coast in decades. Hard hitting, versatile and fast, he is the kind of player who is expected to lead a defense for three years and then head to the NFL. Washington and one of the best recruiting assistants in the history of the Pac-12, Tosh Lupoi, flipped Thompson on a commitment to Cal and held off Oregon and USC to hold onto the recruit who may completely change the image of the Huskies defense.

Honorable Mention: Kyle Prater (2010 WR Hillside, IL USC), Vidal Hazelton (2006 WR Chatham, VA USC), Everson Griffen (2007 DE Avondale, AZ USC), Jonathan Stewart (2005 RB Olympia, WA Oregon), DeSean Jackson (2005 WR Long Beach, CA Cal), Cameron Colvin (2004 WR Concord, CA Oregon), Lache Seastrunk (2010 RB Temple, TX Oregon)

The Homer's Guide: Revisiting Seven Straight

David Piper — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 17:37:20 -0000

Happy I Hate washington Week.

My memories are filled with games from my younger days, when upsetting the mighty huskies could make a whole season. Who could forget Terry Obee sealing the win in 1988?

And of course the Pick:

Or Pat Johnson's catch to nab the upset in 1997:

All of those memories are most beautiful. That said, the recent history of the series hasn't needed such heroics, as uw has been handed the beatings that they so richly deserve. As Oregon prepares for blowout number eight in a row, we'd be remiss if we didn't revisit each of the previous seven in all their glory:

2004: Oregon starts off its streak by thrashing the fuskies 31-9 at Autzen. Neither team broke 300 yards of offense, but washington QB Casey Paus got picked off four times and washington lost three fumbles in a display of ineptitude that dropped them to 1-7 on the season. Oregon marched 80 yards down the field on the first possession and took the lead on this TD pass from Kellen Clemens to Cameron Colvin:

2005:

washington rolls into Autzen for the second year in a row, and again is routed, 45-21. The huskies actually had some hope early, as they scored the first touchdown, but Oregon went on to score 38 unanswered, as Kellen Clemens torched a terrible uw secondary for 424 yards and four TD passes, and Oregon rolled up nearly 600 yards of total offense, dropping washington to 1-5 on the season:

2006:

A scheduling quirk bring uw to Autzen for the third year in a row, and they once again get run out of the building, 34-14. washington put up a bit more of a fight this time, it being a three point game early in the third, but Oregon went on to score the last 17 unanswered. Oregon put up 316 rushing yards on a pathetic uw defense:

2007:

Oregon finally returns to husky Stadium, and the most legendary game of the streak commences. The debut of the storm troopers produces a rushing display for the ages as Oregon racks up 465 yards on the ground, and the full glory of the read option is unveiled as neither FSN cameras, nor Husky fans, realize that Jonathan Stewart didn't get wrapped up and that Dennis Dixon is scampering down the sideline. Stewart had 257 rushing yards, but Dixon had 107 and Andre Crenshaw had his best game as a Duck with113. Oregon has 661 yards of total offense. uw provided resistance, and the game was inexplicably tied going into the 4th, but 24-3 shellacking ended any hopes of a whelp win. Be sure to watch this video to the end, because Ty Willingham was awesome:

2008:

uw comes back to Autzen, this time in the season opener in what would turn out to be the greatest season of husky football in history. The game was a 44-10 rout. Jeremiah Johnson scored two touchdowns, Jeremiah Masoli threw for two, and Terrence Scott lit up the secondary for 117 yards. Meanwhile, Jake Locker was 12-28 and sacked three times in a typical Locker-esque performance. uw would go on to be the only 0-12 team in Pac-10 history.

2009:

Oregon returns to montlake and the result is predictable, a 43-19 thrashing. LaMichael James goes for 156 and two scores, and Masoli rushes for 85 and two scores as well. Special teams also play a role, as Rory Cavaille recovers a blocked punt for a TD, and Nate Costa gets not only a two pointer, but convers a fake field goal for a first down that would lead to a TD. Meanwhile, Jake Locker throws two picks and is sacked four times.

2010:

washington comes to Autzen again, and it ends pretty much like their last several trips, 55-16. We didn't get to see any more Jake Locker ineptitude, and Keith Price made the start, and uw was within five in the third quarter, until Oregon ended the game on a 35-3 run. LaMichael James rushed for 123 and two scores, DT had 250 through the air and over 100 on the ground, and Keith Price was sacked five times.

Seven blowouts in a row, all of them beautiful. Here's to many, many more.

Thanks to those who posted video of these games, especially keeerrrttt, jtlight, and madmike1951.

Quack Fix: The De La Salle Five, Clay in a boot, getting to know Rahsaan Vaugn

jtlight — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 14:33:14 -0000

Good news for all you ATQ fans in dire need of ATQ apparel, We put JShufelt to work, and he came up with some great shirts at ATQ's new store. Here's your quack:

The guys over at FishDuck have been pumping out more great articles. Keeerrrttt's Duck Tales this morning is on the De La Salle five, who committed to Oregon in 2004. Kurt talked with Cameron Colvin, and got his take on recruiting and his time at Oregon. It's a great piece, so check it out. FishDuck himself also had a new piece yesterday recapping the Nevada game, and had some great thoughts on Darron's execution of the zone read.
Rob Moseley has a practice update, and that pretty much means an injury update. Clay is still in a boot, though Barner and Beard dressed. Josh Huff was not in pads, and is again listed behind Rahsaan Vaughn on the weekly depth chart (warning: PDF).
Speaking on Vaughn, Lindsay Schnell has a profile on him this morning, and how hard he had to work both on and off the field to get to Oregon. With Oregon's receiving corp not looking so hot this season, it was great to see Vaughn make plays against Nevada.
Ken Goe has a piece on another Oregon newcomer, Colt Lyerla. He caught his first TD this weekend and has a ton of athletic ability, but is still working on mastering the TE spot. That's a tough job at Oregon, as they move their tight ends around a lot, and they could end up playing anywhere on the field.
Rob Moseley also has a notebook this morning based on Chip Kelly's weekly press conference (full video after the jump). During this, Chip Kelly address what puzzled many Oregon fans: Oregon's lack of misdirection and motion against LSU. The Tigers disguise their defenses much more than Nevada does, which caused Oregon to audible more frequently than they are used to. With Nevada running defenses based on principles, the Ducks used a lot of motion to spread out the Wolf Pack.
George Schroeder is really going out on a limb and saying that OSU's typical fast finish might not happen this year.

Got anything else? Leave it in the comments. Chip Kelly's weekly press conference is after the jump. GO DUCKS!

ATQ's guide to following the Ducks on Twitter

David Piper — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 18:00:42 -0000

We joke around in the comment threads often: "I know its true because I heard it on Twitter." While Twitter can be a source of misinformation, it can also be a great source of information when used properly. Want real time practice updates? Twitter is the place to be. Recruiting tidbits without forking out money for a subscription? Twitter. Everything that hits the news usually shows up on Twitter first. This list is not comprehensive, so please share the people you like to follow. For those of you who haven't found your way over to Twitter yet, here is your guide to following the Ducks:

Addicted to Quack on Twitter:

@AddictedToQuack -- ATQ's official Twitter page. Dvieira does a great job running this. You'll find links to all our new articles, plus Dom's take on various topics Duck sports.

@atqdave -- My Twitter page. I usually talk college football, though occasionally mix in a political rant as well.

@mattdaddysblog -- Matt Daddy's Twitter page. He tweets less often, and usually in response to others.

Oregon Media:

@DuckFootball -- Rob Moseley's page, pretty much the best single person to follow. Real-time practice updates, opinions, lots of information. He's also really good about answering questions as well.

@AdamJude_RG -- Rob Moseley's #2 as far as covering Oregon football. Has all the information when Rob is not around. He also covers Oregon baseball for the Register-Guard, and has a lot of good information for them as well.

@GeorgeSchroeder -- Tweets quite a bit, usually defending the positions in his columns. Also discusses his SI stuff.

@JohnCanzanoBFT -- pass

@KenGoe -- The best of the Oregonian writers on Twitter. You'll get lots of links, lots of news, and all the track and field information you could ever want.

@AaronJFentress -- The Oregonian's UO beat writer this season. We'll see how he utilizes his Twitter page.

@LindsayRae19 -- Also covering the Ducks for the Oregonian this season. She's a prolific Tweeter, so we'll see how she uses her page for this.

@Bachscore -- Rachel Bachman, a surprisingly good follow

@PDXjay -- Jay Allen is sports director at 750 The Game in Portland. He'll have Duck and Blazer information, as well as programming tweets.

@Pnbuker -- Oregon State's Oregonian beat writer, good for lots of links and snarky comments (but will take it as well as dish it)

@odesports -- The sports account for the Daily Emerald, Oregon's student newspaper

@ESPN_Pac12blog -- ESPN's Ted Miller. Follow this, and you'll get all the big Pac-12 news.

National Media

@edsbs -- Fuck Clemson

@slmandel -- Stewart Mandel SI

@DrSaturday

@schadjoe

@BFeldmanESPN

@Ivan_Maisel

@Andy_Staples

@cbfowler

@ESPNAndyKatz

@lukewinn -- SI.com college basketball

@kenpomeroy -- college basketball guru

@SwishScout -- Oregon alum scouts the NBA draft

Recruiting

@AJ_Jacobson -- from DSA, lots of good Duck stuff all around

@Tony_DiFrancisco -- Rivals analyst

@JHopkins247 -- co-publisher of DuckTerritory.com

@Prehmmr -- Matt Prehm of Duck Territory. One of the most important accounts to follow.

Bloggers/Internet Folk

@bylawblog -- a must follow on NCAA compliance

@FormerDuckNews -- as the name implies, news on former Ducks

@SportsBrewery -- Local blog with lots of Duck talk

@chipisms -- hilarious

@DucksEmpire -- New Oregon blog that has had some practice updates

@BigKOR -- Great follow, lots of Duck talk

Official Oregon Sports Accounts:

@McNamaraUO -- Oregon's SID

@OregonAcroTumb

@OregonBaseball

@OregonHockey

@OregonMBB

@OregonMGolf

@OregonSB

@OregonSoccer

@OregonVB

@OregonWBB

@UORugby

@vinlanana

Current and Former Oregon Players:

This group varies in the frequency and quality of their tweets. Remember, these are these kids' personal Twitter accounts, and most of the stuff is college kids being college kids. Most of these won't be worth your time, but I really recommend following Spencer Paysinger and George Wrighster.

Football:

@SpittyP -- Spencer Paysinger

@GeoffSchwartz74 -- Geoff Schwartz

@ImBlairPhillips -- Blair Phillips

@georgewrighster -- George Wrighster

@UKcoachbrooks -- Rich Brooks

@SAMIEPARKER -- Samie Parker

@BossWard43 -- TJ Ward

@Rocket80k -- BJ Kelley

@KeanonLowe -- Keanon Lowe

@TDeezy85 -- Tim Day

@justinphinisee -- Justin Phinisee

@zclark99 -- Zac Clark

@MaxForer64 -- Max Forer

@dpaulson22 -- David Paulson

@EdDickson83 -- Ed Dickson

@biggem1 -- Marvin Johnson

@DMM_3 -- Dior Mathis

@TraDuece2 -- Tra Carson

@ifo14 -- Ifo Ekpre-Olomu

@CarsonYork -- Carson York

@CaseyMatthews50 -- Casey Matthews

@kagyeman21 -- Kwame Ageyman

@Jonathanstewar1 -- Jonathan Stewart

@gthompson59 -- Grant Thompson

@WaltThurm3 -- Walter Thurmond III

@A_Gildon18 -- Anthony Gildon

@Dstuckey52 -- Dewitt Stuckey

@tjay37 -- Talmadge Jackson

@KarringtonA -- Karrington Armstrong

@Bodawg25 -- Boseko Lokombo

@EricSolis48 -- Eric Solis

@jairusbyrd -- Jairus Byrd

@bhanna44 -- Brandon Hanna

@mikeclay_46 -- Michael Clay

@justfollow61 -- Nick Cody

@smkamp -- Sam Kamp

@iamTHEDMJ_22 -- Derrick Malone

@BryanBennett3 -- Bryant Bennett

@DePalo9 -- Ryan DePalo

@BrentHaberly -- Brent Haberly

@MorganFlint25 -- Morgan Flint

@JacksonRice49 -- Jackson Rice

@RyanClanton -- Ryan Clanton

@GWStrong -- Garren Strong

@ColtLyerla -- Colt Lyerla

@DrCamColvin -- Cameron Colvin

@TheWillieG -- Willie Glasper

@krowe58 -- Kenny Rowe

@cantuTXmade -- Blake Cantu

@_JeromeBoyd_ -- Jerome Boyd

@EugenesFinest83 -- Curtis White

Basketball:

@O_Ash -- Olu Ashaolu

@Squeeg25 -- EJ Singler

@Thirty2zero -- Aaron Brooks

@gsim03 -- Garrett Sim

@StayFresh34 -- Joevan Catron

@Carlos33Emory -- Carlos Emory

@idf18 -- Jabari Brown

2007 Cal @ Oregon : 3rd Greatest Non-Big Game of the Decade

ragnarok — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 19:00:47 -0000

On September 29, 2007, ESPN's traveling GameDay college football show descended upon Eugene, Oregon looking for a heavyweight tussle between two of the nation's Top 12 teams. Boy, did they get a doozy.

A head coach looking for his first win in the place where he spent years as an assistant; a road team looking for its first victory in Eugene in 30 years; a pair of undefeated teams looking to establish themselves as the #1 challenger to conference top dog USC; potential Heisman candidates on both sides; fourth quarter leads and late comebacks for each; and finally, a thrilling finish with a crazy final twist that seemingly took forever for the instant replay officials to sort out. This game had everything, and the fact that it's only #3 on our list underscores just how epic the top two games were.

Oregon's Autzen Stadium has long been a tough stadium to play in, as the team's vocal supporters and the building's acoustical properties make it the loudest stadium in the west. A fired-up (and liquored-up!) crowd -- who had been prepping since the early morning, what with GameDay and a national TV audience descended upon their campus -- only upped the level of crowd adversity that the Bears would face.

Personally, I wasn't terribly confident that Cal could come out on top in this one. Autzen Stadium has long been a house of horrors for a lot of teams, not just the Bears (just ask Oklahoma!), but Cal's most recent losses in Eugene had been of the agonizing variety. The Bears held a 4th-quarter lead in 2003, only to have their hopes extinguished as more than half the stadium lights failed, halting the game and stalling the Bears' momentum; when play resumed, Oregon woke up and came back for the victory. Two years later the Bears staged a fourth-quarter comeback of their own, and even had a shot at the win with a long field goal attempt as time expired, but the kick missed and Cal fell in overtime.

However, once I heard that ESPN GameDay would be coming (only the 2nd Cal football game they've attended), I just knew I had to make the trip, if only for the spectacle. (Getting free tickets to the sold-out game the Thursday before the game sure was a nice incentive, though.) Part of what makes college football special is that it's not just that it's a three hour spectacle; it's often a whole day of lead-up and hype, or even a whole week. Some great games are unexpectedly great, and so don't warrant much hype, and some never come close to living up to their advance billing, but when they do -- man, you never forget an experience like this, and if you pass up the chance, you'll never forgive yourself for passing up the opportunity to say "I was there!"

So part of what made this game awesome was the whole spectacle of the thing, the excess, the idea that this was not just a game, it was an event. There was the drive from the Bay Area to Eugene all day Friday, getting into our hotel well past midnight. There was staying up a couple more hours to produce a homemade sign we hoped -- hoped -- would be shown for a few short seconds on national television. There was the sleep deprivation caused by the insanely early call time we needed to make the GameDay telecast. The hours of cheering and yelling as we served en masse as a human studio set backdrop. The frantic waving of signs at anything that looked like a television camera, and the enthusiastic cheers directed at anyone wearing a hint of blue to go with their gold. It's really bizarre how the marathon of yelling and cheering (and drinking!) can shift your mindset from "This is a big game!" to "This is the most important event in the history of mankind, and my entire life up until this point will have been worthless if my team does not prevail on the gridiron today!"

Yep, we got our sign on TV. Mission accomplished. - Image via my friend's TiVo.

If it seems like I'm taking forever in writing about this game to actually begin describing the events on the field, well, that's what it felt like for me. Hyped-up, sleep-deprived and exhausted before kickoff even took place, the actual game is almost a letdown at first, as the reality of football -- short passes, runs for two yards up the middle, even punts! -- displaces the hours of highlight reels that ABC/ESPN has conditioned me to expect form every snap of the ball.

Highlight reels like this, with all the boring plays removed (plus some Pink Floyd, which just kinda feels weird).

Billed as a collision between two high-octane offenses, with potential Heisman candidates on both offensive sides of the ball (Cal's DeSean Jackson and Oregon's Dennis Dixon), this game surprisingly opened as a taut defensive struggle. Both defenses came to play, and neither offense moved the ball well. Punting? I didn't drive ten hours to see punting! Yes, one quarter in, the score was a thrilling 3-0 Oregon, and that lone field goal didn't come until late in the quarter. Now, you'd need a real football analyst to break down the various chess matches going on out there, but my sense was that both offenses were holding back a little, feeling out opposing defenses for tendencies and weaknesses they could later exploit. And exploit they would! But not just yet...

The second quarter wasn't much more exciting than the first. Both teams traded punts again, before Cal finally put together a scoring drive, moving efficiently from their own 17 into the red zone, before stalling and settling for a Jordan Kay field goal. Still, Cal was on the board and the game was tied at 3. I don't know about how you are, but I always get nervous at the beginning of games, especially tough teams on the road, wondering whether Cal can really hang with these guys. Until they've traded a few possessions, until Cal has shown some ability to both score AND play defense, there's always a nagging, irrational worry in the back of my head that the Bears might get run out of the building. Now, with the game tied and Cal's scoring cherry popped, I could relax a little and settle into the rhythm of the game; the Bears might not win, but we have ourselves a game here, folks.

Unfortunately, Oregon would kill my optimism by stringing together the game's first touchdown drive, breaking off yardage in such big chunks that it didn't seem to matter that the Ducks found themselves in 2nd and 15, then 2nd and 14, then 2nd and 15 twice more. Even so, the Bears' defense stiffened on their side of the field, and when Cal stopped Jonathan Stewart for a 5-yard gain on 3rd and 12 from the 42, it looked like the Bears would get the ball back. Except...Marcus Ezeff would be flagged for a personal foul (late hit out-of-bounds) on the play, giving the Ducks a free first down. Stupid, stupid, stupid...the call might have seemed a little ticky-tack, but it's the sort of situation where you should never give the ref the opportunity to throw that flag.

Three plays later, Oregon would punch it into the end zone. Oregon 10, Cal 3. Dammit, we just gave them that touchdown. Marcus Ezeff, however, would redeem himself later...

Not this half, though. Cal would go three and out, and the Ducks took the lead into halftime. Not great, but honestly, down a score at halftime is about where I expected the Bears to be. The important thing was that Cal was hanging with the Ducks, and I still felt optimistic that the Bears had a good shot here.

And indeed, the second half started out well. Oregon goes three and out, and the Bears would march down the field, with Nate Longshore hitting DeSean Jackson a couple times and Justin Forsett ripping off runs of 11, 8, 24 and 7 yards. Tie game, right? Wrong. Not only would Cal stall once again in the red zone, but Jordan Kay's 33-yard field goal attempt sailed...well, I'm not sure where it sailed. It was high, I can tell you that. As I was standing in the end zone behind the play, I had a pretty damn good view of the kick, and to this day I could swear that kick was good. However, it was close, and since the kick was well above the height of the uprights, it was quite difficult to definitively confirm either way. Not that there was any in-stadium replay of the kick or anything. No, that would just be too helpful...I'm not bitter, I'm not, but at this point in the game, I couldn't help but think that but for a couple close calls by the ref, this game could have easily been 6-3 Cal instead of 10-3 Oregon.

No matter. The Defense seemed to have settled down and figured out the Oregon offense, forcing another three-and-out, though the ensuing punt was good enough to force DeSean Jackson to fair catch the ball. Indeed, every team in America saw Jackson's highlight punt return vs. Tennessee earlier that month, and opposing punters would often go to extreme lengths to minimize the damage Jackson could do. Oregon's Josh Syria was better than most, with booming punts coupled with good coverage keeping DJax in check; on the day, Jackson would amass just a single return yard.

DeSean Jackson can hurt you in multiple ways however, and on the next drive, Nate Longshore found him for a 25-yard TD strike that brought the game level again. Touchdown Bears!! Longshore himself was 4/5 on the drive, with completions of 14, 11, 3 and 25 yards to four different receivers. Much maligned for his performance later that year, it should be noted that on this day, Longshore was 28/45 passing for 285 yards, against a good defense on the road, and most importantly, with no big mistakes. You couldn't say that about the flashier Dennis Dixon.

Okay, okay, tie game again. Good. Let's see if the Bears can hold 'em. Oh, wait, they can't? Cr*p. Dixon hits Cameron Colvin from 42 yards out, and the Ducks are back in front. Moreoever, it's starting to get late in this game. The fourth quarter is starting, and Cal is only on its eighth possession of the game.

But Nate Longshore is 5/5 on the ensuing drive, including another long strike to Jackson, and Justin Forsett punches it in from a yard out to level the game once again at 17. Touchdooooowwwwwwwnnn! High fives all around! Now this was starting to feel like the offensive shootout we had all come to witness.

Image via cache.daylife.com

Okay, okay, tie game once again. Now we've really got to hold 'em. And we do! Dixon misfires twice on the next drive, Josh Syria's punt is short, and the Bears get the ball back at midfield! Finally, FINALLY, the Bears have the ball and a chance to take the lead, something that hasn't happened since the beginning of the first quarter. A couple plays later:

Nate Longshore pass complete to DeSean Jackson for 31 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.

Yes, even the ESPN play-by-play lists 'TOUCHDOWN' in all caps. At this point, I'm struggling with how realistic to make this recap, because my personal recollection is filled with "F**k yeah!" and "You're godd**n right!" and other, similar epithets. The Bears were on the road, in the hostile house of the eleventh-ranked team in the country, with a perfect record on the line, and they were winning! In the fourth quarter! 24-17! We can do this! It is at this point, I think, when I really start to believe we might win this game.

No, wait, it was definitely after the ensuing kickoff. Andrew Larson's kick doesn't go that deep, but it perfectly splits two Oregon players, who comically run into each other as they both go to make the catch. Instead, neither of them get ahold of the ball, and gunner extraordinaire Jahvid Best is Johnny-on-the-spot, pouncing on the loose ball and securing it for the Bears.

This was one of those games where it felt like if any team could just put together a two-score lead, they could hold on for victory, and right now, Cal was up 7, with the ball, and in field goal range. Here we go! We're gonna do this!! C'mon BEARS!!!

Uh, not yet. Incomplete pass. Holding. Incomplete pass again. Nate Longshore sacked on 3rd and 20. Ugh. Out of field goal range. Here you go, Oregon. Have the ball back...it's clear we've forgotten what to do with it. Oregon remembers, however, marching down the field for another touchdown. Tie game, 24-all. F**k.

Nor does the Bears' next possession inspire confidence. A nice pass to DJax gets a first down close to midfield, but that's as far as Cal would get. Three plays later the Bears found themselves with fourth down and ten to go; moreover, on the third down play, Oregon linebacker Kwame Agyeman hit Nate Longshore hard, and he went down awkwardly. A scary moment for Cal fans, and none of us knew had bad the injury was. Oh, this is not good, not good at all. The Bears were forced to punt, and with the game still tied and our quarterback limping off the field, momentum had swung firmly back in Oregon's camp. But not for long. In fact, the very next play is where it all started to go really wrong for the Ducks:

Dennis Dixon pass intercepted by Tom Schneider* at the Oregn 21, returned for no gain to the Oregn 21.

What? WHAT?!?! Interception!! I love it! Bears' ball! This game may have started out slow, but the fourth quarter was turning into a heck of an emotional rollercoaster. We're down. We're up! We're gonna win! Oh, just kidding, maybe not. Given how early I had gotten up to attend ESPN's GameDay taping, I'd been hyped up for about 9 hours straight at this point, and these momentum swings were starting to make me giddy.

We had the ball now, in great field position, but the virtually unknown redshirt freshman quarterback Kevin Riley was under center. So what do you do with a green QB late in a tie game in a hostile environment? Hand the ball off to your senior running back, that's what. And it worked! Three Justin Forsett runs later...TOUCHDOWN!!!!! Cal 31, Oregon 24! There we go, there we go! That's what we NEED! Just over three minutes to go. We can do this! C'mon, Bears!

Well, maybe three minutes is too many to give the Oregon offense. Pass complete for 19 yards. Damn. Pass complete for 8 yards. Damn. Jonathan Stewart rush for 23 yards to the Cal 17. Damn damn damn. Waaaay to much time left. At this point, it'd be better to just let them score, giving Cal enough time to drive for a game-winning field goal or something. OR! Instead, much better idea:

Dennis Dixon pass intercepted by Tyson Alualu at the Cal 17, returned for 8 yards to the Cal 25.

Holy cr*p! Another interception?!?! Wahooooo! We're actually gonna pull this out! It was at this point, I think, that the celebrations from the visiting Cal fans really started to go crazy, and my wife's boss (standing next to us) not only hugs me, but kisses me on the cheek too. It was kinda wet, and definitely awkward. And you know what? In the moment, I didn't care that much.

So now, Riley comes out, and it's three straight runs that don't do a whole lot. Honestly, I'm not sure they were intended to. They do force Oregon to use their three timeouts up, but the Ducks still get the ball back with plenty of time. Timeouts are useful on defense, not so much on offense. This sequence right here is pretty much the one quibble I had with Tedford's playcalling that day. Now, I know he was doing the prudent thing, and he couldn't risk doing something tricky that would result in a costly turnover, but I knew the Bears were going to run basically up the middle three straight times. The Ducks defense clearly knew it too. When a first down would have iced the game, when everyone in the stadium knew that the backup QB wasn't going to attempt to pass the ball, perhaps just one pass attempt, something low-risk but a little unexpected to the outside, some misdirection, maybe? To seal the deal? Nope. Bears go three-and-out, the Ducks get the ball back with just under two minutes to play, and this drama has one final act.

And what an act! The Ducks start at their own 23. A six-yard pass out of bounds isn't great. Five more yards isn't too much, just keep that clock running. A 26-yard pass? Sh*t sh*t sh*t! Ok, they're still outside field goal range, and anyway 3 points does them no good...6 more yards, then 14 more! Sh*t, we can't stop these guys, they're at the 20 already! Dixon to Jaison Williams for 15 more yards. Ok, ok, we'll go to overtime. Overtime is ok. We can do this. I am resigned and accepting of overtime as how this game will end. Thankfully, Marcus Ezeff is not.

Redemption! - Image via www.sfgate.com

Ezeff, you'll remember, was responsible for the costly personal foul in the first half of the game which led to the Ducks first touchdown. As Dixon completed another pass to Cameron Colvin, which looks like it might be the game-tying TD, Ezeff redeems himself, hitting Colvin just right. The ball squirts out, rolls into the end zone and out of bounds. Suddenly, Autzen Stadium gets quiet. No signal on the field, but there are smatterings of cheers from Cal fans as we start to figure it out. Fumble, into and out of the end zone? That's a touchback! That's our ball! This game is over! Really, really, finally over!

Oregon fans: "Oh my god. Oh no."

Still no signal. That was a touchback, right? Right?!? They have to call it that way. Again, I was standing behind that same end zone, and had a pretty good view. Even without instant replay in the stadium, I knew it was a touchback. He was not in the end zone, and not out-of-bounds when he fumbled, and you could clearly see the ball go in the end zone and the roll out. Pac-10 refs can't get another one wrong, can they? They gotta get this one right. They just have to. Dan Fouts just can't believe that there still hasn't been a ruling on the field.

Witness Mr. Fouts incredulity at the continuing lack of a call on the field.

And the signal! Touchback!!! It's ours! At least, I think it is. From the signal on the field, we move immediately to one of the longest, tensest, most drawn-out video reviews I can remember. That's the thing about replay...while it's going on, absolutely nothing is happening. No videos or promotions or dot races or anything to distract the fans. The entire game hinges on the outcome of this review, and all we can do is just stand there helplessly and wait for our fate to be decided. Still, in the eternal wait for the final call, Cal fan's confidence starts to grow. The entire end zone starts chanting "That's our ball! That's our ball!" over and over. Looking around the stadium at various Oregon fans, you could tell a lot of them knew it too. If there was hope in their faces at all, it was hope that the refs would get this one wrong, or that they might see something on the replay that hadn't been apparent at full speed.

But then there it is! It's confirmed! Touchback!!! The BEARS are gonna win!!!!! WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! There's jumping and screaming and high-fives and hugging and exhilarated celebration and I don't think any more kisses from my wife's boss, but who knows? It's over! The Bears offense comes out in the victory formation, Nate Longshore takes his place under center to take the final knee, and Cal fans breathe a collective sigh of relief that not only are the Bears 5-0, soon to be ranked No. 3 in the nation, but our starting quarterback has returned and is OK. Nothing can stop us now.

Certainly, nothing stopped the celebration that afternoon and that night. It was an amazing day, an amazing weekend. To actually pull this game out, with all the hype and all the spectacle, to live up to the expectations and win in thrilling fashion with an incredible ending...man, what a game. And now, I will leave you with Reason #428 why I love college football:

Seen while leaving the stadium after Cal's thrilling 31-24 victory over Oregon, a distraught 12-year-old Ducks fan, sitting all alone, holding a homemade sign which read "Dixon Your Mouth".

Because it's so beautiful, here it is one more time:

If I were still 12, I could have wallpapered my room with this image. - Image via www.sfgate.com

*This information, courtesy of ESPN play-by-play, is almost certainly not correct. I don't remember who actually picked off Dixon, but if Cal kicker Tom Schneider was out their playing defense, I'll eat my hat. (Other sources confirm it was, in fact, Anthony Felder).

Inside the Pac-10: A Day Without Defense + Who's Going Bowling?

Avinash Kunnath — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 19:00:17 -0000

Ponder this question in the comments along with your thoughts on the teams and the conference: How many Pac-10 teams will become bowl eligibile, with already nine teams sharing three wins and seven teams with four? Which ones?

Maybe it was because the Oregon schools were off, but it sure seemed a lot like every Pac-10 team was brainwashed into believing they were playing in the Holiday Bowl. Seven Pac-10 teams gave up a combined 3000 yards of total offense to each other and Emu Jimmy Clausen on a ridiculous 6.3 yards per play clip (only 10 teams in the country have given up that much this season). They also gave up 11 offensive touchdowns of 40 yards or more, including TWO OF THE WORST DEFENSIVE PLAYS I'VE EVER SEEN on the game-deciding drives.

And this was with USC playing and Washington State NOT playing! What happened? We look Inside the Pac-10.

California 45, UCLA 26

Cal got the defensive drubbing started on the first drive. I felt the Bears would win if they got to 30 points, and I was ultimately right, but boy did they make things difficult for themselves.

More on this, the rest of Cal-UCLA, plus recaps of the other three games (with video of aforementioned worst defensive plays ever) after the jump.

Let's look at the bright side--outside of one play (like with USC), the run defense remains excellent. The defensive line played great and the linebackers stepped it up in run control after that Franklin TD run, giving up 2.8 rushing yards/carry. If we can keep this up against better backs like Jacquizz, Nance, the Wildcat platoon, and Gerhart, this bodes well when we face better Pac-10 QBs.

The pass defense was, as expected, a struggle. However, despite the whining and bitching about BBDB and all the talk of how Gregory is a Duck saboteur with chainsaws for hands, the Cal pass defense did a lot more in this game than people will give them credit for. There were a lot of periods during the game where they played straight man up (like "men do", as some of the biggest Gregory-detractors have latched onto as their big phrase). It just happened Syd wasn't there for much of the game, it was poor Josh Hill or Bryant Nnabuife (good tacklers, especially HIll, but he still has a bit to learn about covering man). Still, when you go up against Norm Chow, you can expect him to take advantage of the available mismatches, which in this case were those linebackers. He went right at them on several throws, and it was clear they're going to have their growing pains as the year goes along.

Let's also give credit to Prince; he made some GREAT throws even against man coverage! And yes, you'll say those throws wouldn't have been completed against heavy pressure and a youthful Bruin front. But like I said before, Prince still only completed half of his passes against us, Not an overwhelming performance, but efficient enough.

via calbearsonline.com

Although the weakness of the pass rush saddens me, we should probably accept that Cal blitzing too much could burn them. We don't have a pass-rushing linebacker, and sending two or three guys in leaves too much of a responsibility for the other linebackers to handle at this point. Send in a corner or safety blitz leaves us vulnerable deep. The Bears don't have fast coverage men who can get to the quarterback, just solid ones, and we should be happy with that for now. And we still got three sacks.

Finally, despite the lack of defense impressiveness at the end, there were individual playmakers leaving big marks on this one. Darian Hagan re-emerged and stepped up big with several critical deflections, especially in the absence of Syd'Quan. Trevor Guyton forced a huge turnover that gave the Bears a cushion they would hold for most of the day. And the mere threat of Tyson Alualu was not something UCLA wanted to deal with. His one tackle on the day wasn't surprising because he was double-teamed and held up much of the game, as the Bruins tried to do anything outside of the Vulcan nerve pinch to hold him at bay.

Scoring-wise, the pass D still held the Bruins to 19 points and 1 touchdown out of five trips to Bear territory. And although I know people want us to pitch shut-outs like the Florida's and USCs of the world, I'll trade touchdowns for our team with field goals for their teamall day long. Although I agree that 10 man defense was horrifying.

Ultimately, Cal's pass defense didn't play its greatest, but that's been the norm all season, so I wasn't terribly bummed about it. What WAS surprising was the total folding of UCLA's defense, giving up a handful of devastating plays. Credit a great gameplan by Andy Ludwig (who out-Chowed Chow), which ruled the start of the game and left the Bruins reeling with 35 first half points.

via calbearsonline.com

Alterraun Verner, perhaps the best pro prospect corner in the conference, got burned twice on those Jones touchdown catches, even though Verner did everything right in terms of coverage. Good defense, better offense. Kudos to Ludwig for taking advantage of Marvin's skill, as he seems to be assuming the mantle of #1 receiver.

I do agree with some that say that the Bears did struggle to get any consistency going CBKWit did talk about Brian Price being a major disruptor, and I do agree he should get his dap--he disrupted a good deal of the run plays even when facing constant double teams and totally blew up our inside run. Jahvid Best should be happy this is likely his last encounter with the big 92, because outside of that one run he got nothing on the inside or the outside.

However, some of that goes hand-in-hand with line play. I feel Cal's offensive line is going to be up and down the rest of the season--there was bad run blocking everywhere, something Hydro will get to later in his postgame thoughts. Thankfully, the list of good defenses we face the rest of the season is short--Arizona State, Oregon State and Arizona are the best rush Ds left, but the latter two struggle against the pass, so I'd say the Sun Devils are the stiffest test left for this offense on paper.

UCLA did their job on 80% of their plays. Cal's offense won big-time on the other 20%. The Bruins still have a talented defense that could definitely upset a few Pac-10 squads down the stretch, but they let too much go in this one.

Postgame reactions
Great article from Bruins Nation about the logistics of Neuheisel going for it on 4th and short on three times: "However I do think that we should have gone for at least the first and the last situation, short-yardage deals where the odds of converting are slightly higher (see the gap between 4th-and-1 and 4th-and-everything else on that middle graph). For what it's worth here is their graph of what to do/not do on 4th down, based on these findings. Here is a graph that has all three of the above ones merged, you can clearly see that there were higher expected points at the 6, 28, and 46 yard lines for going for it (colored lines) than kicking (black line). Interesting to note that 4th-and-2 is almost always a better decision than kicking from anywhere on the field, and 4th-and-1 is always a better decision, according to this data."

One commenter seems unhappy with his defense: "The absence of a "team" feeling seems especially apparent on defense. On defense I think we do have some very good players. We have some stars actually. But for all the talent I think we have, I wouldn't put $10 on our ability to stop a decent-to-good team on a consistent basis. It's as if the players can't get past the hype that surrounds them. And unfortunately, this has been going on for years. Walker's defenses were always "the strongest unit" on the team, yet we couldn't expect them to win games for us. And great defenses can win games for teams, even with bad offenses. Sometimes it seems our guys think the UCLA logo on the helmet means they are the real deal. Turns out, its just a logo, and means squat on the field."

Bears With Fangs: "Let’s not fully kid ourselves. Saturday’s win over UCLA has confirmed that this team still has a number of issues preventing it from being an elite team. And it’s clear we still have overestimated talent to a certain extent and have underestimated a number of key deficiencies. And it most certainly doesn’t cover up the fact that this team really for the lack of a better word, faceplanted in their two losses against USC and Oregon. But today’s win sure does feel good."

Bear Insider: There was a lot of apprehension among Cal fans coming into the game about how the team had been affected by the two consecutive decisive losses; this victory did a lot to answer those doubts."We're a lot tighter as a family now after what we went through," said Best. We're doing a lot of team bonding and doing everything together and that's been elevated a lot the next couple weeks.
"Coach Tedford pushed for us, when the defense was on the field for the offense to be engaged, rooting them on and not just sitting on the bench," said Best. "It definitely felt like the whole team was behind us this game."

"It was a team effort," said Tedford. "We made a lot of plays on both sides of the ball and played really well together. That was the main focus coming into this game for the last two weeks -that we need to stick together. "As naysayers and critics step up, the players in the locker room believe in each other. They're playing hard for each other and hung in there and kept battling. When they came back we answered and never panicked."

#6 USC 34, #25 Notre Dame 27

via assets.nydailynews.com (Image from Getty)

Didn't see much of this game, as I doubt many Cal fans did, so I can't comment on this much. All I know is USC had a 34-14 lead with about 13 minutes to go into the 4th, and when I switched over, the Trojans were punting up 7. Say what? (It should be noted the Trojans received the good fortune of a missed Irish extra point. Who's to know how much tighter their team would've played on the final drive if Notre Dame had been going for the win rather than the tie?)

People might not realize it, but Pete Carroll, for all the supposed defensive intensity that some Golden Bears yearn for, plays the exact same schemes as Gregory does--BBDB, just with better athletes. And his version gave up 367 yards (not bad, but far from dominant), two touchdowns in the 4th quarter (although one was after a costly Barkley pick) and nearly gave up the game-tying one. There were two or three questionable calls (a Taylor Mays late hit and an extra second put back on the clock for an extra play at the goal-line are the ones that stand out), but USC showed why they are a vulnerable team this year at the end. Oregon better not start looking ahead to Halloween and take care of business next week, because their shot to win the Pac-10 will come down to their tilt in Autzen otherwise.

Anyway, Clausen made a few errant throws and misreads at the end zone, and it was enough for USC. Crisis averted for the Pac-10 and the BCS (11 win Irish team, bleh), and Catholics are sad. Just the way Martin Luther wanted it.

Postgame reactions
Conquest Chronicles: "There is no question that the USC offense has really come together. Barkley once again went into a very hostile stadium and came away with the win. I can probably count 3-5 plays that Barkley made that I could see where he was still a freshman but he managed the game nicely...I cannot get mad at Matt Barkley over that INT. Not after a 370+ yard passing performance with 2 TD's. The O line did a great job for most of the game in giving him pass protection but my concern is the running game...SC had a very difficult time establishing the run. The red zone offense was also a concern. Even though we did get some TD's in the red zone it just did not look crisp. You can tell we miss Stafon..."

Jeff Miller, OC Register: "What was Pete Carroll thinking at that precise moment? After pulling his players off the field in mid-celebration? Having recalled one giant exhale? Knowing victory now would require goal-line stand, the sequel? "Trying to enjoy the heck out of it," Carroll explained, sounding serious and certainly sober. "It was a great moment. Whether we had to go back again or not, that just doubled the fun of trying to get it done...Unfortunately, we made it real dramatic and fun...Stuff happens. Stuff happened.""

USC-Notre Dame highlights, courtesy of Trojan Wire.

I would link to some excellent Notre Dame blogs (Rakes of Mallow and Blue Gray Sky come to mind), but no post-game reactions exist yet...I guess they're either in mourning or do take Catholic Sunday very seriously.

Arizona 43, Furd 38

Welcome to your Defensive Craptacular.

Yeah, that's exactly what it looks like...and it's exactly what these defenses sucked for most of the game.

71% of passes completed, including 78% by Nick Foles. 8 offensive yards per play. Nearly 10 yards per passing play for the teams combined. When the Wildcats keyed to shut down Toby Gerhart (who still rushed for 123 and 2 TDs), Andrew Luck made them pay by nearly throwing 12 yards per attempt. Almost half of the 3rd and 4th downs were converted, and six of those conversions went for touchdowns. 1,137 total yards of offense.

Give credit to Andrew Luck (who led a valiant but failed comeback attempt in the final seconds, and his receivers like Chris Owusu dropped some critical passes that could've sealed the game) and Nick Foles, who do look like the future of Pac-10 quarterbacks right behind Barkley. I don't envy playing them this season and I wholly dread them in the years to come.

Arizona's pass defense, to be frank, sucked. Nine receivers caught a pass for at least ten yards, seven caught one for at least twenty yards, five caught one for at least thirty yards and three caught one for at least forty yards. These receivers included the quarterback, who caught one on a wide receiver pass. Maybe we should run the Wildcat pass, Best to Riley against these guys.

Furd's pass defense wasn't much better, totally helpless against the Airraid attack and Foles dictating it, giving up an unprecedented 78% completion rate.

But nothing the pass coverage gave up on both sides was as galling than the game-deciding scores at 5:15.

1st play: 3rd and 1, Furd up by 12 defending on their own 43, stupidly stack seven on the line against five (can I just rehinge how stupid you have to be to stack seven this far from the end zone--if they decide to run and Nwoko gets to the second level, he is gone), simple draw play to evade the pass rush from the edges for a 43 yard touchdown. Simple play against a dumb defensive scheme.

2nd play: 3rd and 17, Furd up by 5, defending on Arizona's 43, AND THEY STACK SEVEN ON THE LINE AGAIN!!! I was literally dumbfounded watching this on the screen when they did the second stupid thing and all rushed toward Foles again. And then Arizona nearly outstupids them by RUNNING THE BALL instead of taking advantage of single coverage everywhere. But after Grigsby breaks a weak leg tackle from the Furd edge rusher, since everyone rushed, there's no one standing between him and the first down. And because their defenders are slow at the edge, the Cardinal give up ANOTHER DRAW PLAY for a 57 yard game-deciding touchdown. The Furd gave up 100 rushing yards on those two plays after giving up 38 the rest of the game.

Oh well, guess they aren't the Cardinal for nothing.

Postgame reactions

Ted Miller, ESPN: "We're kind of changing the offense to [Foles]," Stoops said. "He's very comfortable with it. He can distribute the football and make the reads and calls. We look a lot more like Texas Tech than we ever have." Foles has progressed from backup best known for his long, 70s rock star hair to perhaps being the frontrunner for first-team All-Conference quarterback. Yes, his coaches are a little surprised by what they suddenly find themselves with at the position. "Nick is not the best practice player," Dykes said. "He's learning to be one, but he's not as good as he should be. We did notice that when he got into games -- even the spring game -- that he's kind of a gamer. He can improvise well and he has a really good feel for making decisions and staying calm."

Ken Roe, Oregonian: "The play call looked disastrous when the Wildcats came to the line, because Stanford was massing for an all-out blitz. Every gap would be filled. Tailback Nic Grigsby, the designated ballcarrier, was going to be swarmed by white jerseys before he ever got out of the backfield. Arizona center Colin Baxter turned to quarterback Nick Foles and begged him to check out of the play. But Foles, as he told the Arizona Daily Star, figured maybe Grigsby could make something happen. Guess what? Grigsby took the handoff, swerved around a blitzing defender and popped through the line of scrimmage and, because of the blitz, found no second level of defense. He went 57 yards for the go-ahead touchdown . "Really honestly," Dykes told the Daily Star, "it was a bad call that just worked.""

Bobby Stover, Daily Wildcat: "Head coach Mike Stoops — normally stoic and business-like following games, win or lose — strolled into the room with a grin on his face as he took his seat in front of the microphone with the Arizona backdrop behind him. As he began detailing the game from his view, he seemed relieved and elated. The reporters’ questions were more casual and Stoops’ responses more light-hearted than usual. After the head coach finished, defensive and offensive coordinators Mark Stoops and Sonny Dykes, respectively, entered and spoke with similar tones. Mark Stoops got the reporters laughing at one point after telling them he gave all the offensive players and coaches a kiss for bailing out his defense that allowed 584 yards of offense from the Cardinal."

Here is the Furd reaction:

Arizona State 24, Washington 17

Don't let that score fool you. This game had 842 yards of offense. Jake Locker struggled with his accuracy and threw a bad red zone pick, but also threw 8 for 10 for 121 yards and a TD on the two second half scoring drives and by sustaining his drives after the first quarter, made sure that Arizona State didn't have great field position for much of the game (well, until the end, but more on that later).

It was a big help to the weak UDub defense, which simply doesn't have the depth yet to stop Pac-10 teams who can both run and pass. That USC game is looking more and more like two coordinators knowing their old coach's tendencies and Aaron Corp being bad bad bad. They gave up 464 yards in all, 169 on the ground to guys like freshman Cameron Marshall and elder statesman Dmitri Nance. Danny Sullivan is not a great quarterback (ASU is 98th in passer rating and 93rd in completion percentage in D-I), but he completed to seven receivers, all with at least one catch of nine yards or more.

All of this production though, was undone because both teams played mind-numbingly stupid football. There were 21 penalties for 223 yards. 223 yards!!! And most of them weren't even of the negative type--there were at least a half-dozen personal fouls, most on that crazy Sun Devil defense. And Washington's coaching staff got penalized again, leading me to wonder if Pete Carroll let Nick Holt go gracefully because he knew that his ex-DC had recently been released from a mental ward.

There was a hilarious drive in the 2nd quarter by the Huskies which went 82 yards, with six penalties in 13 plays, five of those penalties coming in a six play span, giving the Huskies 45 net yards, yet it still ended with a Locker interception. After the turnover, the Sun Devils went 89 yards, only to fumble it twice, recovering it the first time, and losing the second one into the end zone Cameron Colvin style for a touchback.

Vontaze Burfict might be a beast of a defender, but he also might be legitimately insane--he was involved in about half of those penalties, throwing forearms, trash-talked everyone on Washington, and seemed to be trying out for a part in a 50 Cent music video during the middle of the game. The biggest thing I fear about Tempe is the stupidity quotient, where the relative IQ and inebriation of the Sun Devil fanbase and football team infects the Golden Bears as the game goes along, because as some of our commenters noted, Washington sure seemed like they got dragged down to their devilish level. Thank God we're not playing this on Halloween night.

In one of many curious coaching decisions not involving Mike Stoops, with 1:17 left in a tied game, Steve Sarkisian tries to run out the clock (he gets it down to :13), but also does the second dumbest thing by passing on 3rd and 1. If he runs the ball and gets the first down, you go to overtime, and do you trust Sullivan or Locker more to score a touchdown? Rookie coaching mindfuck. Wonder if Tedford had any in 2002.

All of that led to this. Ladies, gentlemen, I present to you, the worst football defense of 2009.

I have no words left.

Postgame reactions

House of Sparky: "Vontaze Burfict is extremely talented, but he needs to check himself before he wrecks himself: He runs around like he is about to kill whoever gets in his way, and I love having him on our side. But at times last night, he was literally out of control. We cannot have him committing so many penalties. It makes us look bad and ruined several good defense stops. In time, he will be considered one of the best. For now, he needs to realize what is important- making plays before the whistle blows."

UW Dawg Pound: "I listened to the past game show and Bob Rondeau asked all the right questions and Coach Sark gave all the right answers. The thing I really like about Sarkisian is he didn't make excuses and took immediate responsibility for the clock management on that last series.

"Hindsight is 20/20, but if I had to do it again, I would've run the ball," Sarkisian said of the third-and-one play. "That's on me. It eats at me because I felt like I could've managed the ballgame better," Sarkisian said. "I try to pride myself in doing that stuff, but I didn't do it tonight."

On the miraculous Arizona State TD play Sark had these comments:

"We jumped a route, a crossing route, and left the middle of the field wide open."

When you look at that final play on film you see a series of broken assignments and a defense that was confused about what it was supposed to do on what should have been the last play before overtime."

Only Bears fans care about these

Penn State 20, Minnesota 0

Reading the gamethread from The Daily Gopher, people were not happy at all with the gameplan and coaching.

Virginia 20, Maryland 9

Testudo Times: "I like Chris Turner a lot, and I can respect what he's done as QB for the better part of three years, but he's been having a rough go of it lately. Yesterday was no exception. First off, his arm was noodle-y and weak, most evidenced by the Torrey Smithunderthrow. Second, he was rarely on target, even with open receivers. And this wasn't just the rain: Jameel Sewell looked better than he did for most of the game. Worst of all, he rarely even looked Torrey Smith's way. Like I said in the recap, Smith was isolated, one on one coverage, with no safety over the top several times, and he was never even glanced at. Turner's gotta get some of that blame."

Poll

How many Pac-10 teams will make it to bowls this season?

Less than 5

6 votes

5

44 votes

6

84 votes

7

41 votes

More than 7

3 votes

178 votes | Poll has closed

Media Wednesday - Respecting the Power of the Juju

David Piper — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 18:17:48 -0000

Its Bear week, and Media Wednesday doesn't need to be reminded that we've lost three in a row and four of five against these guys. We can tell ourselves that this streak will be broken on Saturday but, lets be honest, we have no control over that. No, we must acknowledge the Juju and his power to control the fate of the football universe. Keth Allen's drop? FLUKE. Cameron Colvin's fumble? FLUKE. These excuses are no more. What the Juju wants is our attention and our respect. We respect you, Juju, and stand in awe of the power that you can unleash. In deference to your power, we relive the moments of mayhem that you have caused the last five years, acknowledge your power and implore you to make the Bears respect you the way we humbly do.

2004, the darkest days in decades for our Ducks. However, at the time, we're 5-3, and driving for the game winning field goal against a top ten team when the Juju, clearly visible in this video, turns Keith Allen's hands to butter:

In 2006, we start off 4-0, and head into Berkeley coming off a total blowout of Arizona State. We're ranked #11, and our offense is rolling. Pissed off at Brady Leaf for defying the Juju in OT the year before, the Juju really lets us have it with a primetime national TV meltdown. DeSean Jackson just toyed with us:

Not even Dennis Dixon could overcome the power of the Juju. In what was one of the biggest games in Oregon history. the Ducks all but have the game tying score, when the Juju makes a lifelong goat of poor Cameron Colvin just as he's crossing the goal line:

And, perhaps mercifully, there doesn't seem to be any video of the pain that the Juju caused us last year. Needing only a field goal to tie it in the fourth quarter, the Juju made Jairus Byrd forget to catch the punt, and gave Cal another TD to put the game away.

UPDATE: reader Oskigodummy has added this video for us. I'm not sure if we should thank him or pummel him:

We acknowledge this pain and the power of the Juju to inflict it. You may go elsewhere now Juju, your work will be remembered in Eugene for a long, long time.