Oregon thought it had found its swagger after beating Washington State. But that was expected, right?
Now, the Ducks are searching hard for their mojo after being caught on the side of the road while USC sped by. But wasn’t that expected, too?
Down to its third-string quarterback, Oregon took on a Trojan team focused on nothing less than a big win at home, where it takes a miracle like Stanford for them to lose. We should know by now the Trojans don’t lose two games in a row. It just doesn’t happen.
Of course I thought the Ducks had a shot to win, but wasn’t the common perception that, more likely than not, Troy would come back fuming?
That’s why I didn’t find myself worried after the game. As a realist, one can’t expect a banged-up team with inexperience at its most important position to beat a BCS-caliber team, which USC clearly is. But here’s the good news, Oregon fans. The Trojans are the best team in the Pac-10. After them, it’s anybody’s conference – including the Ducks. If USC can wriggle into the BCS national championship game, that means a shot at the Rose Bowl for No. 2 – and that could be the Ducks.
Look at Oregon’s schedule from here on out; all are winnable.
Oregon’s running game will see no other defense like USC’s for the rest of the season. The Trojans lead the conference in sacks, rushing defense, scoring defense and also have jawdropping depth (Rey Maualuga’s out? OK, just plug another guy in!)
Some have Oregon on upset alert for this weekend, which is fair. Judging a team’s psyche after a loss like last weekend’s isn’t easy, but the players didn’t seem too enthusiastic about themselves early in the week. UCLA could very well change all that. Recall how the climate around the team changed after their rebound win over the Cougars after the Boise State loss. It felt like the missing part had been found, the band was back together, the world had recentered itself and spun at its constant pace once again.
It’s exactly the same situation this week. Oregon stumbled over itself and took an embarrassing fall into the Pac-10 ditch on Saturday. Should they put themselves back onto the road, the Ducks should expect a berth of Roses, or at least a Holiday.
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