SAN DIEGO – Oregon has never had to worry about flash. Its 42-31 win over No. 13 Oklahoma State Tuesday went a long way toward proving the Ducks are ready to sustain some substance for more than one season.
That’s to be seen next year, when quarterback Jeremiah Masoli and running back LeGarrette Blount will return, along with a promising defense, and try to win 10 games again – this time with much higher expectations.
What we know right now – after the trophy celebration where Mike Bellotti rasped into the microphone, “This was for Todd Doxey,” and well after fog had settled into the Qualcomm Stadium bowl hours after fireworks had filled it – is that Oregon made a statement.
For the time being, it helped the Pacific-10 improve to 3-0 in bowl games, and this one came over a 9-4 Oklahoma State team that hadn’t lost to a team ranked lower than No. 3 in the AP poll all season.
It pushed Oregon to a 10 win season, the fourth time in school history that’s been achieved. All have come during Bellotti’s 14-year tenure.
But you see, maybe the most important part about the win was that this wasn’t supposed to happen this year. Quarterbacks were injured or ineffective early in the season to the point that fifth-stringer Masoli was pressed into duty.
Who will take him out now?
For the first half, this win was looking like it wasn’t supposed to happen Tuesday. Down 17-7, the Oregon offense hadn’t lacked its usual explosiveness, with only 11 yards less than the Cowboys’ while running 14 fewer plays.
It was a whole lot of sound and fury, signifying nearly nothing. Big plays like Masoli’s flea-flicker connection with Jamere Holland on the first play of the game for 47 yards led to big letdowns.
The players weren’t immune to doubts after its first half.
“You better believe it man,” center Max Unger said.
The halftime, offensive coordinator Chip Kelly said, “was probably the quietest its been all year.”
Their offense in the second half more than made its share of noise, and for the efficient Oklahoma State team that controlled the ball for nearly 21 minutes in the first half, it must have been deafening.
And for a team characterized by its November no-shows and poor luck in bowl games, a bigger step couldn’t have been made. As important as the Sun Bowl win was to proving the Ducks could bounce back with a resounding win after a disappointing two losses that ended the national title hopes, this win let everyone know the Ducks can sustain their play after a solid finish.
As Unger said, all it took was time to “bust the rust off.”
The drives that ended in two missed field goals in the first half turned into memorable touchdown runs by Masoli, by running over safety Quinton Moore, and LeGarrette Blount, who hopped and stiff-armed his way to a 29-yard touchdown run with three minutes left that kept his teammates raving and the highlights coming.
“I’ve never had a guy who could really capped this many games as he has,” said running backs coach Gary Campbell of Blount, who had late touchdowns in the fourth quarter against UCLA, Stanford, Arizona and Oklahoma State. “He basically put this one away.”
No doubt.